Duke Xiang of Qin

Duke Xiang of Qin 秦襄公
Ruler of Qin
Reign	777–766 BC
Predecessor	Duke Zhuang of Qin
Successor	Duke Wen of Qin
Died	766 BC
House	House of Ying
Father	Duke Zhuang of Qin

Duke Xiang of Qin (Chinese: 秦襄公; pinyin: Qín Xiāng Gōng, died 766 BC) was from 777 to 766 BC the sixth ruler of the Zhou Dynasty state of Qin that eventually united China to become the Qin Dynasty. His ancestral name was Ying (Chinese: ) and Duke Xiang was his posthumous title. He was the first Qin ruler to be granted a nobility rank by the king of Zhou, and under his reign Qin was formally recognized as a major vassal state of Zhou China.

Duke Xiang was not the eldest son of his father Duke Zhuang of Qin. Duke Zhuang had three sons, and Shifu (世父) was the eldest and therefore the legal heir. However, Shifu refused the throne, and would rather devote his life to campaigning against the Rong tribes in order to avenge the death of his grandfather Qin Zhong, who was killed in battle against the Rong in 822 BC. Duke Xiang was then made the Crown Prince, and succeeded his father when Duke Zhuang died in 778 BC.

Duke Xiang ruled during a time of turmoil. The Zhou Dynasty had been at war with the western Rong tribes since the time of Duke Xiang's grandfather Qin Zhong. Qin, being the westernmost of the Zhou states, bore the brunt of the fighting against the Rong. Soon after Duke Xiang ascended the throne, in 777 BC he married his younger sister Mu Ying to a Rong leader called King Feng (豐王) in an apparent attempt to make peace. The following year he moved the Qin capital eastward from Quanqiu (犬丘, also called Xichui, in present-day Li County, Gansu) to Qian (汧, in present-day Long County, Shaanxi). Soon afterwards Quanqiu fell to the Rong. Shifu, Duke Xiang's older brother who led the defence of Quanqiu, was captured by the Rong, but was released a year later.

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