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Overview Names Identity Roles Life and dates Family Origins and identity Career and standing Events and relationships Assessments and attributes Source notes References in the histories
Overview The translated histories identify Xie as an official, royal family member, and ruler. This record brings together 26 passages from 10 chapters across 5 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.
Names Type English Chinese Pinyin
Personal
Xie
契
Xie
Personal name
Qi
契
Qi
Personal
Qi
契
Xie
Personal
Qi
契
Qi
Personal name
Xie
契
Personal name
Xie
𢍆
Personal name
Xie
契
Xiè
Personal
Xie
契
Xiè
Personal name
Xie
契
Xie
Personal
Xie of Yin
殷契
Surname
Zi
子
Surname
Zi
子
Zi
Identity
Historicity Legendary
Identification Named
Sex Male Roles Official Royal Family Member Ruler Life and dates Death Attested activity Family
Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.
Child of Emperor Ku (帝嚳) Kinship Term: father / 父Parentage: biologicalSubject Role: fatherObject Role: son
Parent of Zhaoming (昭明) Kinship Term: father / 父Parentage: biologicalSubject Role: fatherObject Role: son
Child of Jiandi (簡狄) Kinship Term: mother / 母Parentage: biologicalSubject Role: motherObject Role: son
Child of Mother of Qi (契母) Kinship Term: mother / 母Parentage: biologicalSubject Role: motherObject Role: child
Kinship Role: descendant-clansCount: 7Label: Yin, Lai, Song, Kongtong, Zhi, Beiyin, and Moyi / 殷氏、來氏、宋氏、空桐氏、稚氏、北殷氏、目夷氏
Kinship Role: fathersQuantity: traditions disagree: one account says he had a father, another says noneNote: Traditions disagree whether he had a father / 一言有父，一言無父
Career and standing Label: Minister of Education / 司徒Action: appointed
Label: minister of education / 契Action: appointed
Label: Minister of the Multitudes / 司徒Action: appointed
Title: domain of seventy li / 七十里 ·
Action: enfeoffed ·
Authority Person Id: Yao (堯) Place: Shang / 商Action: enfeoffed
Assessments and attributes Assessment: worthy ·
Provenance: Mode: named-source-reportSpeaker Person Id: Master Chu (褚先生) References in the histories Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.
Book of Han, Chapter 75 Volume 64b: Yan, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang, and Jia 2 · 1 passage
故世平主聖，俊艾將自至，若堯、舜、禹、湯、文、武之君，獲稷、契、皋陶、伊尹、呂望，明明在朝，穆穆列布，聚精會神，相得益章。
Thus, in an age of peace under a sage ruler, outstanding elders come of their own accord. Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Kings Wen and Wu obtained the service of Hou Ji, Xie, Gao Yao, Yi Yin, and Lü Wang. Brilliant at court and solemn in their ranks, they joined their finest insights and magnified the glory of ruler and minister alike.
Book of Han, Chapter 76 Volume 65: Dongfang Shuo · 1 passage
Book of Han, Chapter 99 Volume 87b: Yang Xiong 2 · 1 passage
Book of Han, Chapter 117 Volume 100a: Afterword and Family History 1 · 1 passage
Book of Later Han, Chapter 32 Volume 28b: Biography of Feng Yan · 1 passage
History of Jin, Chapter 127 Volume 127 Biographies 65: Xiao You, Wendihanwolubu, Chen Yan, Liu Yu, Meng Xing, Wang Zhen, Liu Zheng, Yin Yi, Chu Chengliang, Wang Qufei, Zhao Zhi, Du Shisheng, Hao Tianting, Xue Jiyuan, Gao Zhongzhen, Zhang Qian, Wang Rumei, Song Ke, Xin Yuan, Wang Yuke · 1 passage
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 2 Annals of Xia · 1 passage
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 3 Annals of Yin · 9 passages
殷契，母曰簡狄，有娀氏之女，為帝嚳次妃。
Xie of Yin was born to Jiandi, a woman of the Yousong clan and secondary consort of Emperor Ku.
三人行浴，見玄鳥墮其卵，簡狄取吞之，因孕生契。
While Jiandi bathed with two companions, a dark bird dropped an egg; she took it, swallowed it, and conceived Xie.
契長而佐禹治水有功。
When Xie came of age he helped Yu manage the flood and earned distinction.
帝舜乃命契曰：「百姓不親，五品不訓，汝為司徒而敬敷五教，五教在寬。」
Emperor Shun appointed Xie and said, "The people are estranged, and the five relationships are not guided. As Minister of Education, spread the five teachings with generous patience."
契興於唐、虞、大禹之際，功業著於百姓，百姓以平。
He rose in the age of Yao, Shun, and Yu the Great; his achievements won renown among the people, and the realm was at peace.
契卒，子昭明立。
When Xie died, his son Zhaoming succeeded him.
成湯，自契至湯八遷。
From Xie to Tang the seat of the line had shifted eight times.
太史公曰：余以頌次契之事，自成湯以來，采於書詩。
The Grand Historian remarks: I ordered Xie's story by the hymns; from Cheng Tang I drew on the Documents and the Odes.
契為子姓，其後分封，以國為姓，有殷氏、來氏、宋氏、空桐氏、稚氏、北殷氏、目夷氏。
Xie's house took the name Zi; later branches used their domains as surnames, yielding houses such as Yin, Lai, Song, Kongtong, Zhi, Beiyin, and Moyi.
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 13 Genealogical Tables of the Three Dynasties · 8 passages
張夫子問褚先生曰：「詩言契、后稷皆無父而生。
Master Zhang asked Master Chu, saying, "The Poetry says that Qi and Hou Ji were both born without fathers.
詩言契生於卵，后稷人跡者，欲見其有天命精誠之意耳。
The Poetry says that Qi was born from an egg, and Hou Ji from human footprints, to show that they had the mandate of heaven and sincere intentions.
堯知契、稷皆賢人，天之所生，故封之契七十里，後十餘世至湯，王天下。
Yao knew that Qi and Ji were both worthy men born of Heaven, and therefore enfeoffed Qi with a domain of seventy li. More than ten generations later, his line reached Tang, who ruled all under Heaven.
詩傳曰：『湯之先為契，無父而生。
The Poetry Commentary says, 'Tang's ancestor was Qi, born without a father.
契母與姊妹浴於玄丘水，有燕銜卵墮之，契母得，故含之，誤吞之，即生契。
Qi's mother and her sisters were bathing in the Xuanhou River, when a swallow carried an egg and dropped it. Qi's mother obtained it, so she held it in her mouth, mistakenly swallowed it, and then gave birth to Qi.
契生而賢，堯立為司徒，姓之曰子氏。
Qi was born wise, Yao established him as Minister of the Multitudes (Situ), and gave him the surname Zi.
孔子曰：『昔者堯命契為子氏，為有湯也。
Confucius said, 'In former times Yao commanded Qi to be of the Zi clan, because there would be Tang.
舜、禹、契、后稷皆黃帝子孫也。
Shun, Yu, Qi, and Hou Ji were all descendants of the Yellow Emperor.
Book of Zhou, Chapter 23 Volume 23 Biographies 15: Su Chuo · 2 passages
故殷、周不待稷、契之臣，魏、晉無假蕭、曹之佐。
That is why Yin and Zhou did not wait for men like Hou Ji and Qi; Wei and Jin did not have to borrow aides like Xiao He and Cao Shen.
誠能監前事之得喪，勞虛己於吐握，其知賢也必用，其授爵也勿疑，則舜禹湯武之德可連衡矣，稷契伊呂之流可比肩矣。
If rulers could truly weigh past success and failure, humble themselves as Duke of Zhou did when he "spit out his food and released his hair grip" to receive men, employ the worthy without fail, and grant office without hesitation, then the virtue of Shun, Yu, Tang, and Wu would stand in one line and men like Hou Ji, Xie, Yi Yin, and Lü Shang could walk shoulder to shoulder.