Qi (state)

Qi (state)

Qi (Chinese: 齊; pinyin: Qí; Wade–Giles: Ch'i) was a powerful state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China. Its capital was Linzi, in present-day Zibo, Shandong Province.

Qi was founded around in 1046 BC as one of the many vassal states of the Zhou Dynasty. The first ruler of Qi was Jiang Ziya, the most powerful official during that time. The Jiang family ruled Qi for several centuries before it was replaced by the Tian family in 386 BC. In 221 BC, Qi was the last state of pre-Imperial China to be conquered by the State of Qin, which became the Qin Dynasty, the first centralized empire of China.