The Gathering Storm in Xianyang

The execution of Shang Yang by chariot-tearing sent shockwaves through Qin’s aristocratic circles. As snow blanketed the capital, the residence of Grand Tutor Gan Long became an unlikely hub of activity. Nobles in ceremonial robes arrived in ornate bronze carriages, their festive mood belying the grim nature of recent events. The courtyard buzzed with carefully measured small talk about weather and harvests – anything but state affairs – as the elite awaited some unspoken development.

This carefully choreographed gathering revealed much about Qin’s political climate. The old guard, represented by white-haired Gan Long in his simple hemp robe, stood in stark contrast to the richly dressed nobility. Their coded exchanges and Gan Long’s cryptic dismissal (“State matters belong in court”) masked a brewing conspiracy against the reforms that had transformed Qin into a formidable power.

The Yiqu Enigma: A Five-Century Blood Feud

Two weeks later, a disguised ox cart bearing Gan Long’s eldest son Gan Cheng and companion Du Tong embarked on a treacherous journey northwest through melting snows. Their destination: the semi-nomadic Yiqu kingdom, a persistent thorn in Qin’s side for five hundred years.

The Yiqu people traced their origins to the Zhou dynasty’s collapse when eight western tribes, including the “Ox-Demon Yiqu,” sacked the capital Haojing. Qin’s subsequent victories planted seeds of enduring hatred. Later conflicts saw Yiqu pushed to the Ordos region, then nearly annihilated by Duke Mu of Qin. Their resilience became legendary – retreating when pressed, only to resurge when Qin’s attention wavered.

Gan Long himself had negotiated a fragile peace decades earlier during Duke Xian’s reign. Now, with Shang Yang dead and Qin at a crossroads, his son sought to rekindle this volatile alliance.

Ritual and Rebellion in the Ox Kingdom

The Yiqu settlement presented a surreal spectacle. Warriors in animal skins tended sacred cattle (believed to be ancestral spirits) while half-naked women serviced the beasts in bizarre fertility rites. The political center, marked by a black banner bearing a bull-headed deity, housed the aging Great Ox Chieftain – a wily leader surrounded by armed guards and ritual objects.

Negotiations unfolded with elaborate ceremonial exchanges:

“Ox, our birth parents!” challenged the guards.
“Men, the spirit of oxen!” replied Gan Cheng.

The chieftain, lounging on a heated kang platform with female attendants, proved no simple barbarian. He demanded concrete proof of the nobles’ promises, ultimately securing the ultimate guarantee – a blood oath on sheepskin signed by thirty-two Qin aristocrats pledging Yiqu’s independence in exchange for military support.

The Unraveling of a Conspiracy

Beneath the surface, both parties played a dangerous double game. The Qin nobles saw the western tribes as disposable tools, planning to crush them after securing power. The Yiqu chieftain, aware of this likelihood, took the blood oath as insurance against betrayal.

As Gan Cheng and Du Tong continued their mission to other tribes, their private conversation revealed the conspiracy’s true nature: “Once we hold power, we’ll immediately exterminate these barbarians. How can we restore Duke Mu’s systems with such bird-kingdoms at our rear?”

Legacy of a Failed Revolt

This episode illuminates several key aspects of Warring States politics:

1. The fragility of reform: Even successful transformations like Shang Yang’s could be undone by reactionary forces
2. Frontier dynamics: Semi-nomadic groups like Yiqu maintained complex relationships with sedentary states
3. Political theater: Both sides employed elaborate rituals to mask their true intentions
4. The limits of blood oaths: Such agreements often created more problems than they solved

Ultimately, the conspirators underestimated the resilience of Shang Yang’s institutional reforms. Their planned aristocratic restoration failed, and Qin’s centralization continued apace – though the Yiqu would remain a persistent challenge for generations.

The blood oath episode stands as a microcosm of Warring States intrigue, where temporary alliances between “civilized” and “barbarian” masked deeper power struggles, and where ritual often served as cover for realpolitik. It reminds us that China’s unification under Qin emerged not from straightforward linear progress, but through complex negotiations, betrayals, and the careful management of peripheral peoples.