The Case of Yu Qing Renouncing Office to Rescue Wei Qi

During the Warring States period, Wei Qi, former Chancellor of Wei, had severely humiliated Fan Ju. After Fan Ju became Chancellor of Qin, he sought revenge, and Qin pressured Zhao to hand Wei Qi over. Wei Qi sought refuge with Lord Pingyuan. When Qin detained Lord Pingyuan to force Zhao’s compliance, Yu Qing, the Chancellor of Zhao, chose to abandon his high office to protect Wei Qi out of loyalty and friendship. Together, they fled into hiding. Eventually, cornered and hopeless, Wei Qi committed suicide. Yu Qing’s political career ended, and he lived in seclusion, writing philosophical works.

Wei Qi committed suicide to avoid capture; Fan Ju achieved his revenge; Yu Qing lost his position and spent his later life in seclusion as a writer, never serving in office again.

The conflict between personal loyalty and state duty; whether a minister’s moral obligation to a friend overrides his responsibilities to the state; the ethics of granting political asylum under duress from a foreign power.

Yu Qing’s act became an enduring symbol of selfless loyalty and the "shi" (scholar-knight) spirit in Chinese culture. Recorded in Sima Qian’s *Records of the Grand Historian*, the case has been celebrated for centuries as an exemplar of valuing righteousness above personal fortune, profoundly influencing Confucian and literary notions of honor, friendship, and sacrifice.