kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Kingdom of Di (206 BC)

206 BCE – 206 BCE · capital Gaonu

The northernmost of the Three Qins, given in 206 BCE to the former Qin officer Dong Yi and lost to Liu Bang within months.

Origins

Dong Yi was a Qin commander who urged Zhang Han to surrender to Xiang Yu in 207 BCE. As a reward, Xiang Yu made him King of Di, ruling the old Shang commandery in northern Shaanxi from Gaonu near modern Yan'an, one of three kingdoms meant to contain Liu Bang.

Rule and society

Di was a thinly populated frontier region on the Loess Plateau, facing the Xiongnu. Its king had no local support, and the kingdom existed only a few months.

Decline and legacy

When Liu Bang broke out of Hanzhong in 206 BCE, Dong Yi surrendered and his kingdom became Han territory. Like Sima Xin of the Kingdom of Sai, he later returned to Xiang Yu and killed himself after the Chu defeat on the Si River near Chenggao in 203 BCE.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Di (206 BC). In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-di-206-bc
MLA
“Kingdom of Di (206 BC).” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-di-206-bc. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Di (206 BC).” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-di-206-bc.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Di (206 BC)’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-di-206-bc (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻