Li Ji Jin

Background

Li Ji was a daughter of a chief of the Li Rong, an ethnic group from western China. There is no exact information about the date and the place of her birth.

Career

In 672 BC, Li Ji became a concubine of Duke Xian. She soon became his favorite, and he appointed her as his legal consort after the death of his wife, Qi Jiang, mother of the heir apparent, Shensheng.

In 665 BC, Li Ji gave birth to Prince Xiqi. Because she wanted her son Xiqi to be appointed heir apparent, Li Ji persuaded Duke Xian to send his other three sons, including Shensheng, away from the court, ostensibly to keep control over the duke’s ancestral city (Quwu) and the two frontiers. Then she persuaded the duke that the people loved Shensheng and that he could very well rebel against his father for the sake of the people.

In 656 BC, the 21st year of the reign of Duke Xian, Li Ji plotted a scheme whereby Prince Shensheng went to Quwo and offered sacrifices for his deceased mother, Qi Jiang. Shensheng sent some of the food blessed by the gods to Duke Xian. Li Ji had secretly placed poison in the food in order to frame Shensheng for murder. Before Duke Xian began eating, he gave a part of the food to a dog to check for poison whereupon the dog immediately collapsed. Discovering the poison in the food, Duke Xian sent men to Quwo to arrest Shensheng. Upon hearing the news, Shensheng committed suicide.

Duke Xian attempted to have his other two sons put to death but they managed to flee. Li Ji’s son Xiqi was appointed heir apparent and upon the death of Duke Xian he ascended the throne. Three murders then took place in rapid succession: Xiqi was killed, his brother Zhuozi was placed on the throne and then killed, and Li Ji was “whipped and killed.”

Achievements

• Li Ji Jin was notoriously known for plotting against the heir apparent, causing the death of princes and throwing the state into disorder for five successive reigns.

Personality

Li Ji was known as clever and insidious woman. She was nicknamed as the "Witch of the Age" because of her devious acts.

Connections

Li Ji became a concubine of Duke Xian after he had killed her father and defeated the Li Rong. Later she became his wife. Li Ji also placed her own son Xiqi on the Jin throne after the death of Duke Xian.

husband:

Xian

Duke Xian was the nineteenth ruler of the State of Jin from 676 B.C. to 651 B.C.

Son:

Xiqi

Xiqi was briefly the ruler of the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. After the death of Duke Xian, he ascended the throne for about a month before being killed by Li Ke.

References

• The Position of Woman in Early China According to the Lieh Nu Chuan, The Biographies of Chinese Women.
  1971
• Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E. - 618 C. This new volume of the "Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women" spans more than 2,000 years from antiquity to the early seventh century. It recovers the stories of more than 200 women, nearly all of them unknown in the West.
  1998
• The Chinese Classics Volume V: The Ch'un Ts'ew with the Tso Chuen.
  1970