The son whom the lords chose
Qi is Yu’s son, born to a daughter of the Tushan clan. The Shiji’s account of his accession places another man between father and son: Yu entrusts the succession to Yi, but the lords turn toward Qi. Their choice is explained through both his own worth and his relationship to the preceding ruler.
益讓帝禹之子啓 ，而辟居箕山之陽。禹子啓賢，天下屬意焉。及禹崩，雖授益 ， 益之佐禹日淺，天下未洽。故諸侯皆去益而朝啓 ，曰「吾君帝禹之子也」。於是啓遂即天子之位，是爲夏后帝啓。
“Yi yielded to Qi, the son of Emperor Yu, and withdrew to the south of Mount Ji. Yu’s son Qi was worthy, and the realm turned its thoughts toward him. When Yu died, although he had entrusted the succession to Yi, Yi had assisted Yu only briefly, and the realm had not yet become attached to him. Therefore the lords all left Yi and paid court to Qi, saying, ‘He is the son of our ruler, Emperor Yu.’ Qi then took the position of Son of Heaven, becoming Emperor Qi of Xia.” — Shiji, Xia Benji, tr. Mythos Atlas
Yi withdraws to the southern side of Mount Ji. The narrative says that he had assisted Yu for only a short time and had not yet gained the confidence of the realm. The lords leave him to pay court to Qi, calling Qi the son of their ruler. Qi then takes the position of Son of Heaven as the Xia sovereign.
This account makes succession a political choice with a hereditary argument. Qi’s merit is named, while his identity as Yu’s son is the reason the lords themselves give for approaching him. The Shiji later records that his own son Taikang succeeds him after his death.
The oath before Gan
The lord of Hu refuses submission, and Qi attacks. The Shiji names him as the king who fights the great battle at Gan and delivers its oath before the engagement. The Shangshu preserves the speech itself, although its text leaves the king unnamed. James Legge notes that the prevailing tradition identifies the speaker as Qi, Yu’s son and successor.
The selected part of the oath assigns responsibility within the chariot force and binds obedience to reward and punishment:
左不攻于左，汝不恭命；右不攻于右，汝不恭命；御非其馬之正，汝不恭命。用命，賞于祖；弗用命，戮于社，予則孥戮汝。
“If you, (the archers) on the left , do not do your work on the left, it will be a disregard of my orders. If you, (the spearmen) on the right , do not do your work on the right, it will be a disregard of my orders. If you, charioteers , do not observe the rules for the management of your horses, it will be a disregard of my orders. You who obey my orders, shall be rewarded before (the spirits of) my ancestors; and you who disobey my orders, shall be put to death before the altar of the spirits of the land, and I will also put to death your children.” — Shangshu, Gan Shi, tr. James Legge
The original commands those on the left and right and the driver; Legge supplies archers and spearmen as explanations within his translation. The orders tie fighting and the management of horses to the king’s command. Rewards are promised before the ancestors, while disobedience brings execution at the altar of the land and a further threat against the offender’s children.
The Shiji continues the story beyond the speech: the Hu clan is destroyed, and all pay court. The oath and the later narrative together give Qi a military act alongside his accession, with disciplined service and severe punishment forming part of his claim to rule.
The ruler with Heaven’s music
The Shanhaijing remembers a more extraordinary Xia ruler. In its account of the lands beyond the western seas, Qi performs a named dance, rides two dragons, and bears ceremonial objects:
大樂之野，夏后啟于此儛九代；乘兩龍，雲蓋三層。左手操翳，右手操環，佩玉璜。
“In the Field of Great Music, Qi of Xia dances the Nine Dai; he rides two dragons beneath a three-tiered cloud canopy. His left hand holds a yi, his right hand holds a ring, and he wears a jade huang pendant.” — Shanhaijing, Haiwai Xijing, tr. Mythos Atlas
The passage gives him a ring in the right hand and a jade huang pendant. The object in his left hand is less certain in meaning; the site translation leaves it under its written name rather than deciding its form.
The Great Wilderness account names its figure Xiahou Kai. Guo Pu’s commentary identifies this Kai with Qi and explains the changed name through avoidance of the Han emperor Jingdi’s personal name. The figure wears green snakes at his ears and rides two dragons. A short passage then links him to music brought down from Heaven:
得九辯與九歌以下。此天穆之野，髙二千仞，開焉得始歌九招。
“He obtained the Nine Bian and the Nine Songs to bring down. This is the field of Tianmu, two thousand ren high, where Kai first performed the Nine Shao.” — Shanhaijing, Dahuang Xijing, tr. Mythos Atlas
The text connects the Nine Bian and Nine Songs with descent and places the beginning of the Nine Shao performance at Tianmu. Together the two western accounts preserve Qi through musical action and striking ceremonial attributes, beside the king who takes the Xia throne and commands at Gan.