Feizi

Feizi (Chinese: 非子; pinyin: Fēizǐ, died 858 BC), also known by the title Qin Ying (Chinese: 秦嬴; pinyin: Qín Yíng), was the founder of the ancient Chinese state of Qin, predecessor of the Qin Dynasty that would conquer all other Chinese states and unite China in 221 BC.

Mythical origin of Qin

According to the founding myths of Qin recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian by Han Dynasty historian Sima Qian, Feizi descended from the mythical Yellow Emperor and his grandson and successor Zhuanxu. Zhuanxu's granddaughter Nüxiu (女脩) gave birth to Daye (大業) after swallowing an egg of a swallow. Daye's son Boyi (伯益) was awarded the ancestral name Ying (嬴) by the mythical Chinese ruler Shun.

Ancestry

During the Shang Dynasty, Boyi's descendant Zhongjue was in charge of Xichui (西垂, also called Quanqiu, in present-day Li County, Gansu) in the midst of the Rong tribes. Zhongjue's son Feilian (蜚廉) and grandson Elai served King Zhou of Shang, and Elai was killed when King Wu of Zhou overthrew Shang and founded the Zhou Dynasty. Feizi's father Daluo (大骆) was the great-great-grandson of Elai. However, Daluo's legal heir was not Feizi, but his other son Cheng, because Cheng was born to Daluo's main wife, daughter of the Marquis of the state of Shen.