King Min of Qi

Who is King Min of Qi?

King Min of Qi was a notoriously unsuccessful king of the northeastern Chinese state of Qi during the Warring States period. "Famous for his paranoia and megalomania, the king was the archetype of the unworthy and unaware ruler" and in the end "he suffered the greatest disgrace in the world", his country was invaded and devastated and he was murdered.

Qi was one of the most powerful countries in China at his accession, if not the most powerful.

In 288 BC. King Min took the title of Di of the East, and his ally King Zhaoxiang of Qin called himself Di of the West But so many people objected that both kings were forced to return to the title of "king" and there was no Di in China until Qin Shi Huang unified China in 221 BC and gave himself the title of Huang Di, which we translate as Emperor.

King Min, like his predecessors, supported scholars in the Jixia Academy and inviting prominent visitors to talk with him. Su Qin was one of his advisors; Lord Mengchang was for a while his chancellor. But "all of King Min's assessments were like this [i.e. foolish], which is why his state was destroyed and his person placed in harm's way." King Min had his critics executed, sometimes in cruel ways such as being boiled alive or cut in two at the waist; he gradually alienated the commoners, his own royal clan, and the great ministers.