Wei (/weɪ/;Chinese:衞;pinyin:Wèi), commonly spelledWey to distinguish from the contemporary largerWei (魏) state, was anancient Chinese state that was founded in the earlyWestern Zhou dynasty and rose to prominence during theSpring and Autumn period. Its rulers were of the surname Ji (姬), the same as that of the rulers of Zhou. It was located in modern northeasternHenan Province, east ofJin (and later Wei魏), and west ofCao.

Wei 衛
c. 1040 BCE–209 BCE
Zhou dynasty in the 5th century BCE
Status	Duchy
Capital	Zhaoge (ca. 1040 BCE – 661 BCE) Chuqiu (659–629 BCE) Diqiu (629–241 BCE) Yewang (241–209 BCE)
Religion	Chinese folk religion ancestor worship
Government	Monarchy
History
• Establishment ofZhou dynasty	c. 1040 BCE
• Annexed byQin	209 BCE

Wey
"Wey" inseal script (top), Traditional (middle), and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese	衞
Simplified Chinese	卫
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wèi Gwoyeu Romatzyh Wey Wade–Giles Wei4 IPA [wêɪ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Waih Jyutping Wai6 IPA [wɐj˨] Southern Min Tâi-lô Uē Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Hjüèi Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *[ɢ]ʷ(r)a[t]-s

The history of Wey dates back to the beginning of the Zhou dynasty and theRebellion of the Three Guards. After theDuke of Zhou successfully defeated the rebellion,Kang Shu, a younger brother ofKing Wu of Zhou was given a fief centred onZhaoge, the capital of theShang dynasty, which had been the centre of the rebellion.

The State of Wey was at its peak during the early Spring and Autumn period, underDuke Wu of Wey, who reigned for 55 years. In the reign of subsequent rulers, however, the state was plagued by succession troubles, untilDuke Yi of Wey took the throne; his dissolute rule and obsession with cranes weakened the state, and in the eighth year of his reign theRong peoples successfully attacked the capital at Zhaoge, killing the Duke and nearly destroying the state as well (660 BCE). It was only with the aid ofDuke Huan of Qi that the state was eventually restored, with its capital moved to Chuqiu.

In 632 BCE Wey was once conquered byDuke Wen of Jin, because when Duke Wen (called Chong'er then) exiled to Wey,Duke Wen of Wey hadn't treated him well, andDuke Cheng of Wey (son of Duke Wen of Wey) was nearly poisoned by Duke Wen of Jin, but eventually the state was restored. (Before theBattle of Chengpu, whenChu was attackingSong, Jin attacked Wey andCao as a diversion.)

In 492 BCEDuke Chu of Wey (出公) succeeded the throne from his grandfather Duke Ling (灵公), while his father Kuaikui (蒯聩), who was the heir of Duke Ling, had been deposed and exiled. To get the throne, Kuaikui fought against his own son and managed to exile Duke Chu in 481 BCE, and was titled as Duke Zhuang II (后庄公), but was killed three years later. Duke Chu was restored in 475 BCE. The conflict between father and son weakened Wey, and Wey soon became attached to House of Zhao ofJin.

In 346 BCE the duke of Wey degraded himself to a marquis. In 320 BCE the marquis of Wey again degraded himself to only ajun (lord). By then Wey only possessed a single county calledPuyang (濮陽). In 254 BCE King Anxi ofWei (魏) killed Lord Huai of Wey (衞怀君), but two years later he declared his son-in-law, who was from the house of Wey, to be lord of Wey, so Wey became a dependency of the Wei Kingdom. In 239 BCE thestate of Qin occupied Puyang, and Wey migrated toYewang (野王) in order to preserve its existence.

The state was so weak that it was presumably ignored byQin Shi Huang, and was only abolished in 209 BCE whenQin Er Shi deposedJiao, Lord of Wey (衞君角), two years before the collapse of the Qin dynasty.

Vassals of Wey include Shi clan, Ning clan, Kong clan, Beigong clan, Nan clan and Sun clan. They were mostly cadet branches of Wey. Kong clan, which came from the state ofNan Yan, was an exception.

• Wei River, a tributary of the Grand Canal named for the former state