Jiao, Lord of Wey


Jiao, Lord of Wey, also known as Wei Jiao, was a Qin dynasty feudal lord. He was the 44th and the last ruler of the state of Wey. After his death, He did not receive a posthumous name; Jiao was his given name.

Life

Jiao was the heir of Lord Yuan of Wey. His relationship with Lord Yuan is not clear. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, he became the lord of Wey nine years before Qin's unification of China. If the records were correct, his year of accession was 230 BCE. In the first year of his rule, he relocated the state of Wey and its people to Yewang; Today's Qinyang.
After Qin's unification, Wey was the only remaining state out of all the Chinese states established according to the mandate of Zhou dynasty king excluding Qin. For reasons unknown, Qin Shihuang did not remove Jiao from his throne.
In 209 BCE, Emperor Qin Er Shi deposed lord Jiao and made him a commoner. No further records were found in relation to lord Jiao after his deposition. Since Qin was established in 770 BCE, the state of Wey which was established in 1040 BCE was the most longevous state of Zhou dynasty.
Japanese historian Takao Hirase rearranged the annals of Warring states, He argued that Wey was eliminated along with the other six states by Qin. According to Hirase, lord Jiao's year of accession was 241 BCE instead of 230 BCE.