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Surname traced to the state of Qi
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QI is not a big family name in China, yet Qi Jiguang, together with his Qi’s Army, is a celebrated name from the Ming Dynasty.
An estimated 360,000 people surnamed Qi live in China. They are ranked 227th in terms of population. The number of Qis accounts for about 0.028 percent of the population.
A major branch of the Qi family originated from the family of Ji. A descendant of King Wu from the Wei Kingdom, surnamed Ji, in the Spring and Autumn Period fled to Jin and Qi kingdoms. When he returned to Wei later, he was granted the Qi State, and surnamed the family after the state.
Lying at the strategic location that linked Jin, Zheng, Wu and Chu kingdoms, the Qi State was once a prosperous city, the relic of which can still be found in Fuyang in Henan Province today.
There are also recorded descendants of the royal family of Song Kingdom surnamed Qi. Considering the Song Kingdom was established by the adherents of the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th century BC) surnamed Zi, scholars believe that this branch of families shifted their surnames from Qi.
Qi families are also found in minority groups like Man, Mongolia, Hui, Bai, Miao and Tujia.
After the Wei Kingdom was conquered, the Qis moved to south Shandong and north Jiangsu provinces where they prospered. The traces of Qi expanded quickly by the end of Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). Jinhua of Zhejiang Province and Changzhou of Jiangsu Province were the two areas where many Qi families gathered during the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279). The Qis migrated even southwards to Yunnan, Guangxi and Taiwan later.
Some of the famous personalities include Qi Wenxiu, famous painter in Song Dynasty and Qi Jiguang, the great general in Ming Dynasty, who fought the Japanese.
After defeating the Japanese pirates along the coastline in Shandong Province, Qi Jiguang was sent to fight the Japanese in Zhejiang Province. He recruited 3,000 men, namely peasants and miners, who came to known as the Qi’s Army.
Qi came up with the “mandarin duck array” that consisted of 12 soldiers — a team which was protected by two shields in the front, a team leader in the center, six long weapons in the middle and three short weapons at the back — perfect to beat the Japanese.
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