Overview
Feizi (; died 858 BC), also known as Qin Ying and Ying Feizi, was the founder of the state of Qin.
Mythical origin of Qin
According to the founding myths of Qin recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian by Han dynasty historian Sima Qian, Feizi descended from the mythical Yellow Emperor and his grandson and successor Zhuanxu. Zhuanxu's granddaughter Nüxiu (女脩) gave birth to Daye (大業) after swallowing the egg of a swallow. Daye's son Boyi (伯益) was awarded the ancestral name Ying (嬴) by the mythical Chinese ruler Shun.
Ancestry
During the Shang dynasty, Boyi's descendant Zhongjue was in charge of Xichui (西垂, also called Quanqiu, in present-day Li County, Gansu) in the midst of the Rong tribes. Zhongjue's son Feilian (蜚廉) and grandson Elai served Di Xin, and Elai was killed when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang and founded the Zhou dynasty. Feizi's father Daluo (大骆) was the great-great-grandson of Elai.
Founding of Qin
Feizi lived in Xichui and was a skilled horse breeder. This was the beginning of the State of Qin that would, over six centuries later, conquer all of the other Zhou states and unify China under the rule of Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty. At this time Qin was only a minor state classified as an "attached state" (附庸, fuyong), and Feizi did not receive any noble rank. Qin would not become a major vassal state until five generations later, when King Ping of Zhou granted Duke Xiang of Qin a formal noble rank and recognition as a feudal lord for protecting the king during the invasion of the Quanrong nomads which drove the Zhou out of their western capital.
After death
Feizi died in 858 BC and was succeeded by his son, known as the Marquis of Qin. In 842 BC the Rong people rebelled, destroying the clan of Feizi's half-brother at Xichui. Twenty years later, Feizi's great-grandson Qin Zhong was also killed by the Rong in 822 BC. However, Qin Zhong's son and successor Duke Zhuang of Qin defeated the Rong and annexed Xichui, thus reuniting the territories of the two branches of the House of Ying.