Biodata
| Feature | Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Great Qi (大齐) |
| Type | Imperial dynasty and state |
| Capital | Bianjing 354 |
| Imperial House | Chen Clan 251 427 |
| State Ideology | Confucian learning, upheld through the Academy 253 323 |
| Status | In Xie Guan's era, politically compromised and facing widespread unrest; Chancellor Su Jing has secretly siphoned its dragon vein and national fortune, while the Red-Eyed Army threatens Bianjing. Great Sui's army also advances during the dynasty's crisis. 370 461 469 |
| First Appearance | 245 |
Background / History
Great Qi's founding has two recorded accounts. Dong Cheng, the Master of the Academy, states that he named his son Qi, helped him establish Great Qi, and founded the Academy. A separate historical account credits Chen Qiao with founding the dynasty with the Master and Confucian worthies' assistance; the available accounts do not reconcile these versions. 251 388
Great Qi's historical records also describe its founding ruler as an orphan from a Yue fishing-village tribe who encountered the first-generation Master at the village entrance. This account differs from Dong Cheng's description of raising his own son. The dynasty's Yue ancestry later gives the performance of “Song of the Yue People” particular cultural significance among Bianjing's nobles. 361 388
The imperial family's legitimizing genealogy traces its descent to Chen Zhi, one of the Three Excellencies of ancient Yan. Legends associate the founding ruler's birth with the Shaking Light Star piercing the moon and identify him as the young son of the mythical Heavenly Emperor Shaohao. The Master disputed the celestial omen, saying that he personally delivered the child and witnessed only incessant crying; consequently, the imperial family rarely repeated the claim. 265
The dynasty endured for more than a thousand years, an exceptional span compared with earlier states. Its stability rested not only on imperial rule, but on the Academy, its Masters, martial cultivators, Divine Soul cultivators, and aristocratic families who controlled texts and avenues of advancement. 291
For much of its history, the Master personally selected crown princes. His recognition became a core source of imperial legitimacy; many subjects revered him above the emperor himself. 253
The Master's intervention also restrained imperial misconduct. Emperor Gaozong nearly surrendered the dynasty's authority to a minister's handsome son whom he had appointed grand marshal. The Master removed the favorite from the palace, after which Gaozong died of grief. 323
Two centuries before the present era, the Master departed overseas in search of immortals and did not return. His absence enabled maternal relatives and the Nine Great Surnames to expand their influence over the court. 253 342
This prolonged absence is the public account of his whereabouts. Xie Guan later encounters Dong Cheng in person and hears his account of founding Great Qi, the death of his son, and the growing fear of him among subsequent imperial descendants. 388
In a much later account, Xie Guan is identified as a figure of Great Qi who attained the Dao in this world six thousand years earlier and split open the world at sixteen. His name, alongside Lu Chen's, was praised over the following three thousand years, though later generations regarded the timing of their achievements as unusually fortunate. 668
Government and Legitimacy
| Institution / Figure | Role in Great Qi |
|---|---|
| Emperor | Formal sovereign of the dynasty. Emperor Chen Yan was described as a puppet of the Nine Great Surnames after the palace coup in Xianhe's third year. He subsequently became engrossed in mystical cultivation and neglected affairs of state. 245 354 |
| Nine Great Surnames | Intermarried aristocratic clans that dominate high office, military influence, wealth, and access to cultivation inheritances. They comprise the Su, Zhuge, Li, Zhao, Yuan, Xie, Sima, Xue, and Zhang families. 245 326 354 |
| Chancellor Su Jing | Grand Chancellor and Grand Commandant who holds authority over court and country; he is later revealed to have engineered the Nine Great Surnames as part of his Corpse Liberation scheme. He also concurrently serves as Director of the Secretariat and Vice Director of the Censorate. 248 267 381 |
| The Academy | Great Qi's foremost scholarly and cultivation institution, central to the dynasty's cultural authority and political legitimacy. 253 |
| Suspended Mirror Bureau | State bureau capable of suppressing politically dangerous investigations through the Grand Chancellor's seal. 457 |
| Divine Hidden Office | Supervises demon territories within Great Qi; some members of Demonkind serve within it. 253 |
| Demon-Slaying Office | Official institution associated with demon suppression. Its commander reports to Su Jing, and Xue Hong previously served within it. 330 370 |
| Director of Astronomy | Assesses celestial signs and the dynasty's remaining national fortune. 461 |
The Su and Zhuge families form a powerful court alliance. Both the Empress Dowager and the empress belong to the Zhuge Clan, extending the alliance's influence into the inner palace and leaving the emperor little more than an ornament. The reigning empress is Zhuge Nanyue. 267 354
The palace upheaval of Xianhe's third year implicated the Wang and Xie main branches. Xie Ling exposed the attempted rebellion involving the emperor and Xie Yuan, preserving himself and receiving important duties for his service to the court. His daughter's marriage into the Su Family further tied his household to the dominant political order. 245
National Fortune
Great Qi's national fortune is both a political symbol and a cultivable power. The Director of Astronomy and the Academy's gentlemen judged that the dynasty retained four hundred years of fortune, based on celestial signs around the Emperor Star. 461
This assessment is challenged by Great Qi's social conditions. Xie Guan argues that the dynasty's real foundation has already eroded because the people's hearts have turned away from it. 461
Su Jing later reveals that he used a corpse-liberated body within the palace to steal Great Qi's dragon vein and national fortune. He deceived the Nine Great Surnames by claiming to distribute this fortune among them while actually giving them corpse qi. 370
The dynasty is also embedded in the Master's own Corpse Liberation Method. According to Su Jing, the Master infused corpse qi into Great Qi, the Academy, and Confucian learning throughout the realm. So long as the dynasty, Academy, and Confucian School endured, the Master could continue to exist through his six rebirths of corpse liberation. 381
The Third Master had expected Su Jing to consume the Master's remaining corpse qi and end his influence through Statecraft Learning. Instead, Su Jing followed the same underlying path, creating the Nine Great Surnames and perpetuating corpse qi through intermarriage among their lineages. 381
“As long as the Master remained in Great Qi, Great Qi remained.” 253
Social Order and Inheritance
- Filial piety — Great Qi governs through Confucian filial obligations. Senior family members wield extensive authority, and resisting a household mistress is treated as gravely unfilial. Even a powerful family head yields the foremost seat to his mother. 271 302
- Eldest Son Succession System — A lineage's legitimate eldest son inherits its bloodline responsibilities, lands, property, official positions, status, and reputation, giving him a standing distinct from other clan children. 330
- Marriage authority — Marriage follows parental commands and a matchmaker's arrangements; personal refusal cannot easily overcome these obligations. 256 360
- Live-in sons-in-law — Men who marry into their wives' households cannot take the imperial examinations, take concubines, transmit their own surname to their children, or claim the household's property. They may be expelled after their wives' deaths and are excluded from certain military rewards, including distributions of beef. 256
- Lowly registers — Registration as a person of lowly status bars entry to the imperial examinations, academies, and official employment, regardless of literary talent. 360
- Birth-based hierarchy — Illegitimate and servant-born children face severe prejudice even within the Nine Great Surnames. Xie Guan's treatment demonstrates that talent does not automatically overcome this inherited status. 245 327 436
The Academy of Great Qi
The Academy was founded by the Master and serves as the source of scholarly legitimacy within Great Qi. Without its recognition, an emperor's rule is widely considered incomplete. 253
Its six-floor library preserves classics as well as martial and Divine Soul cultivation methods. The Academy has four principal disciples and a small body of students, giving its internal divisions national consequences. 253
| Academy Figure | Known Position / Condition |
|---|---|
| The Master / Dong Cheng | Founder of the Academy; departed overseas roughly two hundred years ago in search of immortals. He later personally meets Xie Guan. 253 388 |
| First Disciple | Left for Great Sui, Great Qi's principal rival. 253 |
| Second Disciple | Gravely ill. 253 |
| Third Disciple | Oversees the Academy. 253 |
| Fourth Disciple, Su Jing | Controls Great Qi's court as Grand Chancellor, creating a deep Academy–court divide. 253 370 |
The four disciples have distinct artistic specialties: the First Master excels in painting, the Second in calligraphy, the Third in music, and Su Jing in Go. 361
Under the Master's supervision, academies were established throughout the provincial circuits and in larger counties and commanderies. Their heads were drawn from the central Academy's teachers, extending its intellectual authority across the state. 323
Admission to the Academy is a lifelong ambition for many scholars, offering advantages in both official employment and scholarly achievement. 253
Confucian learning is honored above other schools within Great Qi. Buddhism has little institutional footing, with only a handful of recognized temples such as Clear-Cool Temple and Jade Buddha Temple. 323
The Academy's religious exclusivity also affects admission: in Xie Guan's era, a practitioner of Buddhist techniques would have difficulty entering because the institution does not permit those methods among its students. 414
The imperial examinations are a major route to office, but patronage heavily affects success; candidates historically had to disclose their names, origins, residences, ancestors' offices, and teachers. 249
Cultivation and Military Learning
Sima Ting describes Great Qi as foremost under heaven in both martial and Primordial Spirit cultivation. Great Sui has recently drawn level with it in martial cultivation, but remains weaker in Primordial Spirit cultivation because Great Qi possesses the Academy. Even within Great Qi, cultivators who attain the Upper Three Realms are uncommon. 279
The Founding Ancestor's Six Sacred Ape Forms is a widespread orthodox martial foundation used by noble children and common martial schools alike. It is attributed to Great Qi's founding ancestor and was revised by two generations of Masters. Publicly circulating versions cover only the Lower Three Realms: Tendon Tempering, Bone Forging, and Blood Qi. 289
Great Qi also holds martial examinations, including provincial examinations and a later Martial Assembly. Their practical value is limited: even a Martial Laureate receives no important appointment, leaving the highest examination distinction largely nominal. Xie Ling instead pursued advancement through military service and won his marquisate through battlefield merit. 330
Foreign Relations and Security
- Great Sui — Great Qi's longstanding rival. The two states resumed peace negotiations, redrew their border, and formally allied after the Academy's Third Master delivered the Master's warning against rash war. The settlement provoked public discontent and calls for war from four of the Nine Great Surnames; the emperor's self-blaming edict did little to calm the unrest. 262
- Proxy warfare — The alliance does not end strategic rivalry. Great Qi has supported Wu against Song, which is backed by Great Sui, for roughly a century. Xie Guan identifies support for smaller states as a means of continuing the struggle without openly violating the pact. 265
- Dragon Palace and Jiannan demons — Demonkind in Jiannan Circuit presents a strategic threat near Bianjing. Great Qi fears that their submission to the Dragon Palace, backed by Great Sui, would expose the dynasty's northwestern approaches. 264
- Zhuya Commandery — A western border fortress vital to containing Great Sui. A proposed strategy called for deploying troops there while relocating Jiannan's population to Longyou Circuit. 264 265
- Eternal Heaven — Northern grassland power ruled by a Great Khan. Its crown prince was historically sent to study in Bianjing as a de facto hostage under Great Qi's former dominance. 331 412
- Southern Buddhist Kingdom — Southern power whose crown prince was likewise sent to Bianjing as a de facto hostage. 265 412
- Young Phoenix Terrace — The Bianjing residence complex for foreign crown-prince hostages; it remains an important imperial site. 412
At its height, Great Qi fielded a million troops, but its international standing depended equally on the Master and the Academy's traveling gentlemen. Surrounding nations admired its culture, prosperity, and wealth while fearing its power. Smaller states followed the major powers in sending their crown princes to Bianjing. 253 412
As Great Qi declines, the hostage princes gain considerable influence and become difficult to restrain. Some behave tyrannically toward Bianjing's women, particularly the son of Eternal Heaven's Great Khan. Great Sui's Crown Prince Chongwen, sent as a hostage at seventeen, instead cultivates a restrained reputation through Confucian scholarship and calligraphy. 412
The possibility of an alliance among Great Sui, Eternal Heaven, and the Southern Buddhist Kingdom further threatens Great Qi's position. Great Sui's strength is no longer considered inferior to Great Qi's. 412
Internal Demon Security
The court's Divine Hidden Office oversees demon territories and includes some demon personnel, reflecting a policy of administrative supervision alongside military suppression. Xie Guan's father previously earned military honors by quelling a demonic uprising. 253
A major historical rebellion at Marsh Lake was led by a half-blood Demon Marshal who had reached the Xuan Core Realm. His tens of thousands of demon soldiers ravaged neighboring counties and commanderies, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries. The Master's intervention ultimately forced the commander to take his own life in atonement. 253
Decline and Major Crises
Northern uprisings, Yellow River flooding, displaced refugees, and grain hoarding by the Nine Great Surnames drive severe inflation and food insecurity. The gap between aristocratic wealth and common suffering becomes increasingly visible. 289
Bianjing's concentration of wealthy merchants makes it the center of grain-price control throughout Great Qi. Aristocratic families exploit privileged information to accumulate wealth, while impoverished households sell children into domestic service, pleasure establishments, or military prostitution to survive. 321
Some rebellions invoke the slogan “Restore Great Yan,” challenging both Great Qi's political authority and the Confucian establishment's deteriorating moral standing. 289
The Red-Eyed Army exploits this resentment through proclamations condemning the emperor and Nine Great Surnames, promising to abolish harsh rule and restore equality. 461
After the Red-Eyed Army annihilates Great Qi's 100,000-strong force in Jiangnan Circuit, Xie Guan predicts that it will seize canal transport, granaries, and treasury funds before marching directly on Bianjing. He estimates that the capital could fall within half a year. 461
The defeat leaves Xie Ling and his eldest son Xie Mu missing, with neither confirmed alive nor dead. Xie Guan maintains his prediction despite the two intervening circuits and the 600,000 imperial troops stationed between Jiangnan and Bianjing. 461
Great Qi's court, however, continues to rely on astronomical assurances of long national fortune despite rebellions spreading across the circuits and provinces. 461
The dynasty's crisis also draws foreign opportunists. A Great Sui nobleman traveling with his country's army declares that Great Qi is certain to lose and describes seeking valuables and bargains along the army's route. This establishes Great Sui's military advance during the unrest, but does not by itself confirm Bianjing's fall. 469
During fighting around the Ascension Platforms, nine Grandmasters jointly attacked the Master. Their strike caused a section of city wall to sink three chi. 483
Notable Quotes
“People's hearts no longer face toward Great Qi... People can no longer survive.” 461
“Great Qi has lost virtue, and the Nine Great Surnames have stolen the sacred cauldron!” — Red-Eyed Army proclamation 461
“As long as Great Qi did not fall, the Academy did not collapse, and the Confucian School did not die, the Master would exist forever.” — Su Jing, explaining the Master's Corpse Liberation Method 381