Name

The title 王 was held by the paramount leaders of Shang and Zhou-era China and is usually translated into English as "king". Under the Han and later Chinese dynasties, however, it was also used for appanages of the imperial families who had no independent sovereignty of their own. In such contexts, it is more common to translate the title as "prince". Sima Qian lists Jia as a lesser lord in his treatment of the state of Zhao, but still describes him as an independent king rather than reducing his rank.

Life

Zhao Jia was the eldest son of King Daoxiang of Zhao, but was passed over in succession in favor of his younger brother (who became known as King Youmiu) because of the machinations of the boy's mother, the concubine Chang Hou.

Qin forces captured the Zhao capital of Handan in 228 BCE and captured King Youmiu. It is likely that Zhao Jia was not in Handan at the time, for shortly afterwards he led several hundred clan members towards Dai Commandery, whose seat was southwest of present-day Yuxian in Hebei. This controlled the northeastern quarter of the Zhao kingdom. There, having been proclaimed King by his courtiers, King Jia allied himself with King Xi of Yan against Qin forces, which were poised to invade Yan after Jing Ke's failed assassination attempt on King Zheng of Qin.

At the Battle of Yi River in 226 BCE, the combined forces of Yan and Jia's Kingdom of Dai were defeated by Qin forces, with King Xi of Yan fleeing to Liaodong. Seeing this, King Jia urged King Xi to kill Jing Ke's patron, Prince Dan of Yan, in an attempt to appease the King of Qin. This, combined with the commencement of Qin wars against Wei and Chu, delayed the conquest of Dai for some years.

Ultimately, in 223 BCE, Qin forces under Wang Ben conquered the rump Yan state in Liaodong. On their way back to Central China, they conquered Dai as well. King Jia was taken prisoner, thus extinguishing the last remnant of the Zhao state.

It is unlikely that King Jia was treated too harshly, as his son was sent by the Qin court as an emissary to the Xirong. The descendants of Zhao settled in Tianshui in modern-day Gansu.

Legacy

The site of the ancient city of Dai is now preserved in Yu County, Hebei, under the name "Dai King City" (代王城) in Zhao Jia's honor. He was also seen in Manga Kingdom.

生平

王子嘉本是趙悼襄王的嫡長子，但悼襄王因寵愛倡後，聽信倡後讒言陷害王后母子而將二人廢黜，改立倡後所生的王子遷為太子，王子遷後來繼位，就是趙幽繆王。

秦王政十九年（趙王遷八年，前228年）李牧死後的第二年，秦將王翦率大軍破趙，殺趙蔥，顏聚逃走，長驅直入，破邯鄲。俘趙幽繆王，流放到河南房陵。趙公子嘉率其宗族幾百人逃到趙的代郡（今河北蔚縣西南），大臣共立趙嘉為代王。代王嘉聯合燕王喜抵抗秦軍，燕代聯軍由燕太子丹統領，敗於易水，燕王逃往遼東，代王嘉勸燕王殺太子丹向秦國求和，秦軍暫緩攻勢。秦王政二十五年（前222年）王賁攻遼東，擄燕王喜，燕國滅亡，王賁轉攻代郡，擄代王嘉，趙徹底滅亡。

秦使趙嘉之子趙公輔主西戎，西戎懷之號曰趙王，世居隴西天水西縣，開天水趙氏一脈祖。