Ancient China · Wei magistrate and hydraulic engineer

Shi Qi 史起

Attested BC 350 - BC 296

Passages: 4
Chapters: 2
Histories: 2

Overview

Shi Qi was a Wei magistrate and hydraulic engineer.

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 350 to BC 300 史起溉灌之法
Strongly inferred · Book of Jin 109, passage 282
BC 318 to BC 296 史起進曰
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 38, passage 18

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Magistrate of Ye 鄴令
Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Han 38, passage 22

Places and affiliations

Polity Wei 魏 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 38, passage 22

Events and relationships

Diverted the Zhang River to irrigate Ye and enrich Henei
Hydraulic · Magistrate
Directly stated · Book of Han 38, passages 18, 22-23

Source notes

Field source-text · Reading 舄鹵、稻粱 · Rejected Reading 秽鹵、稻梁 · The received verse reads saline soil and rice-and-millet; both corrupt glyphs were repaired.
Textual variant · Book of Han 38, passage 23

References in the histories

Book of Han, Chapter 38Volume 29: Treatise on Rivers and Canals · 3 passages

史起進曰：「魏氏之行田也以百畝，鄴獨二百畝，是田惡也。 Shi Qi then said, "Wei allotments are normally one hundred mu, yet in Ye they run to two hundred. That means the soil there is bad.

於是以史起為鄴令，遂引漳水溉鄴，以富魏之河內。 Shi Qi was then appointed magistrate of Ye and diverted water from the Zhang River to irrigate the district, enriching Wei's Henei region.

民歌之曰：「鄴有賢令兮為史公，決漳水兮灌鄴旁，終古舄鹵兮生稻粱。」 The people sang: "Worthy Lord Shi governs Ye; he opened the Zhang to water its fields, and age-old salt flats now bear rice and millet."

Book of Jin, Chapter 109Volume 109 Records 9: Murong Huang · 1 passage

且水旱之厄，堯、湯所不免，王者宜浚治溝澮，循鄭白、西門、史起溉灌之法，旱則決溝為雨，水則入於溝瀆，上無《雲漢》之憂，下無昏墊之患。 Flood and drought, which Yao and Tang did not escape, require dredged canals and irrigation like Zheng Bai, Ximen, and Shi Qi; drought is eased by channels and flood by drainage, ending worry above and mire below.