kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

State of Xing

1046 BCE – 635 BCE (approx.) · capital Xingtai

A Zhou fief in southern Hebei founded by a son of the Duke of Zhou, rescued from Di raiders by Qi and finally destroyed by its kinsmen of Wey.

Origins

Xing was granted early in the Western Zhou to a son of the Duke of Zhou, a member of the royal Ji clan, as a northern outpost near modern Xingtai in Hebei. Inscribed bronzes such as the Mai vessels record its rulers' audiences with the Zhou king.

Rule and society

As a frontier state Xing guarded the Zhou world against the Di peoples of the Taihang uplands. Little is known of its internal life beyond the bronzes and brief entries in the Zuo zhuan, which show a typical Zhou aristocratic state organised around its ruling lineage and ancestral temple.

Decline and legacy

Di attacks overran Xing in the 660s BCE. Duke Huan of Qi led a coalition to rescue it and resettled its people at Yiyi in 659 BCE. Weakened, Xing was annexed in 635 BCE by the State of Wey, a fellow Ji-clan state, which was criticised for destroying kin.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). State of Xing. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/state-of-xing
MLA
“State of Xing.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/state-of-xing. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “State of Xing.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/state-of-xing.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘State of Xing’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/state-of-xing (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻