Duke Dao of Qi

Duke Dao of Qi , personal name Lü Yangsheng, was from 488 BC to 485 BC the monarch of the Qi state.

Accession to the throne Prince Yangsheng was a middle son of Duke Jing of Qi. In the summer of 490 BC, the 58th year of Duke Jing's reign, the crown prince of Qi died. Although Duke Jing had at least five other grown sons, he made Prince Tu, his youngest son by his favourite concubine Yu Si, the new crown prince. Because Prince Tu was a young boy and his mother was of a lowly status, Duke Jing ordered the ministers Guo Xia of the Guo clan and Gao Zhang of the Gao clan to support Prince Tu and exile the other princes to the remote city of Lai.

Enraged by Lu's refusal to send his wife, in 487 BC Duke Dao dispatched Bao Mu to invade Lu with the Qi army, taking the cities of Huan (讙) and Chan (闡). Lu was forced to send Ji Ji to Qi, and Qi returned the two cities to Lu. In the same year Duke Dao killed Bao Mu for trying to incite rebellion among the Qi princes.

Death In 485 BC, the fourth year of Duke Dao's reign, the states of Wu, Lu, Zhu and Tan (郯) invaded Qi. Fuchai, the king of Wu, was the commander of the allied forces as Wu was at the time the most powerful state of China.

By the time the invading forces reached southern Qi, Duke Dao had been killed by a Qi official, probably Tian Heng, who had succeeded his father Tian Qi as leader of the Tian clan. When the obituary reached King Fuchai, he suspended the campaign and for three days cried outside the army camp, according to the etiquette of the time. After the mourning period was over, Fuchai launched a naval attack on Qi, but was defeated and forced to retreat. Duke Dao's son Prince Ren subsequently ascended the throne, to be known as Duke Jian of Qi.

Family Wives: Ji Ji, of the Jisun lineage of the Ji clan of Lu , a daughter of Viscount Huan of Ji and a younger sister of Viscount Kang of Ji ; married in 490 BC

Sons: Prince Ren (; d. 481 BC), ruled as Duke Jian of Qi from 484 to 481 BC Prince Ao (; d. 456 BC), ruled as Duke Ping of Qi from 480 to 456 BC

Ancestry