King Xiaowen of Qin

King Xiaowen of Qin (303–251 BC) was a Chinese king, who had a very brief reign. He is also known as Lord Anguo (安國君). His grandson was Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

Biography[]

Xiaowen was a son of the King Zhaoxiang of Qin and Queen Tang and grandson of Queen Dowager Xuan.

He was a king of the Qin for less than one year, and died three days after his coronation.

This gave rise to many theories as to his short reign. The most accepted one is that he was very old when he ascended to the throne (his father ruled for over 50 years).^[1]

However, there is a conspiracy theory: that Lü Buwei poisoned the king or at least hastened his death, to put the next king, King Zhuangxiang of Qin onto the throne. This is supported in a way by the fact that Zhuangxiang reigned for only 3 years.^[2]

Family[]

Queens:

• Queen Dowager Huayang, of the Xiong lineage of the Mi clan of Chu (華陽太后 羋姓 熊氏; 296–230 BC), a royal of Chu by birth
• Queen Dowager Xia, of the Xia lineage (夏太后 夏氏; 300–240 BC), the mother of Crown Prince Yiren

Sons:

• Crown Prince Yiren (太子異人; 281–247 BC), renamed Zichu (子楚); ruled as King Zhuangxiang of Qin from 250–247 BC

Ancestry[]

References[]