Biography
Family Background and Early Life
Zhou Qi was born into the Zhou clan of Yixing, one of the most prominent great clans of Jiangnan. His grandfather Zhou Fang had served Eastern Wu as Administrator of Poyang and became famous for using a feigned surrender to defeat the Wei commander Cao Xiu. His father Zhou Chu was likewise a noted figure. In his youth Zhou Chu had been notorious in his locality and was counted together with a white-fronted tiger of the southern mountains and a dragon beneath the long bridge as one of the “three scourges.” He later reformed himself, entered official service under Eastern Wu, and after the Jin conquest rose to Palace Aide to the Censor-in-Chief. He eventually died fighting the Di leader Qi Wannian and was posthumously appointed General Who Pacifies the West. Zhou Chu's death in battle brought considerable prestige to the family and became an important model for Zhou Qi.
As a young man Zhou Qi was said to possess his father's firmness, resolve, and decisiveness, though he was considered less accomplished in letters. He was upright and restrained, avoided casual socializing, and cultivated himself in seclusion. His contemporaries in the literati consequently regarded him with respect and apprehension, and his reputation became considerable in Jiangdong. He repeatedly declined official recruitment by local administrations. Only after a newly appointed Inspector of Yangzhou invited him with exceptional courtesy did he accept service as an Administrative Assistant. He was later repeatedly recommended to higher offices, nominated as a *xiucai*, and appointed Gentleman of the Court.
Three Pacifications of Jiangnan
In 303, during the disorder that followed the War of the Eight Princes, Zhang Chang led a refugee uprising in Jiangxia and attracted widespread support throughout the Jiang and Han regions. The rebels killed several senior Jin commanders. Zhang Chang's subordinate Feng Yun seized Xuzhou, while Shi Bing took Yangzhou, forcing Inspector Chen Hui to flee. Shi Bing's occupation of Yangzhou directly threatened Jiangdong.
Zhou Qi secretly organized resistance. He contacted the former Administrator of Nanping, Wang Ju, and the two men jointly supported Gu Mi, Administrator of Wuxing, as commander of the forces of the nine commanderies of Yangzhou. Their local forces first killed the officials appointed by Shi Bing in Wuxing and then defeated Shi Bing's commander Qiang Du, whom Zhou Qi killed in battle. In 304, Chen Min, then serving in Guangling, came with reinforcements, defeated another of Shi Bing's commanders at Wuhu, and joined Zhou Qi in attacking Shi Bing at Jiankang. Shi Bing fled north to Xuzhou, where he and Feng Yun were soon killed by one of Feng Yun's officers. Xu and Yang provinces were thereby pacified. Zhou Qi did not seek rewards for his role; he disbanded his troops and returned home.
After the defeat of Shi Bing, Chen Min was appointed Chancellor of Guangling. In 305 he rebelled from Liyang and tried to win the support of the Jiangnan aristocracy. He appointed Zhou Qi Administrator of Anfeng and granted him a military rank. Zhou Qi feigned illness and refused the post. Instead, he secretly contacted the Eastern Pacifying General Liu Zhun, offering to act as an internal ally if Liu advanced to the Yangzi. Chen Min's administration failed to win support among the southern clans. In 307 Zhou Qi again coordinated with local elites, persuaded Qian Guang, an officer serving Chen Min's brother Chen Chang, to kill Chen Chang, and then joined Gu Rong, Gan Zhuo, and others in attacking Chen Min. Chen Min's followers collapsed, and he was captured and executed near Jiankang. Sima Yue subsequently sought Zhou Qi's service, while the court offered him other posts, but he declined them. Later that year, when Sima Rui established his headquarters at Jiankang, Zhou Qi joined his staff.
Qian Hui, who had earlier raised troops against Chen Min, was later ordered to march north to join Sima Yue. In 310, while at Guangling, he became fearful because of the advance of Liu Cong's Han forces toward Luoyang and plotted rebellion. He killed officials, burned government depots, styled himself General Who Pacifies the West and Commander of Eight Provinces, briefly used Sun Chong, a son of Sun Hao, as a nominal King of Wu before killing him, and advanced against Wuxing. Sima Rui's forces were initially too weak to engage. Zhou Qi again mobilized local troops and, together with Guo Yi and others, defeated and killed Qian Hui. Sima Rui rewarded him by appointing him Acting General Who Establishes Might and Administrator of Wuxing and enfeoffing him as Marquis of Wucheng County.
Governance of Wuxing and the Creation of Yixing Commandery
After his three military interventions, Zhou Qi became Administrator of Wuxing. The commandery had been devastated by war, with famine widespread and banditry common. Zhou Qi governed with a combination of leniency and authority and restored order within a year, earning the support of the local population. To honor his repeated mobilization of local forces, Sima Rui ordered the creation of Yixing Commandery from Yangxian and neighboring districts drawn from Wuxing and Danyang. According to the geographical treatise of the *Book of Jin*, the new commandery belonged to Yangzhou and administered six counties. Its establishment linked Zhou Qi's home region directly with his political and military achievements.
Northern–Southern Tensions and Death in Resentment
Following the Yongjia disorders, northern aristocratic families migrated south in increasing numbers and came to dominate Sima Rui's administration. These émigré clans gained political influence through their support for Sima Rui and often marginalized established southern families. Zhou Qi's own clan was powerful and locally influential, which also made Sima Rui suspicious of him. Zhou Qi believed that his services had not been adequately rewarded, and his resentment deepened after he was slighted by Diao Xie, a close associate of Sima Rui.
At the same time, Wang Hui of Donglai, a Libationer in the Eastern Pacifying General's headquarters, had been insulted by Zhou Yi. Wang Hui and Zhou Qi then conspired to eliminate the northern aristocrats who dominated the administration and replace them with southern figures such as Zhou Qi and Dai Yuan. Wang Hui secretly contacted the refugee leader Xia Tie in the Huai–Si region, arranging for him to raise an uprising there while Zhou Qi responded in the Three Wu region. In 313, Xia Tie's gathering of several hundred followers was discovered by Cai Bao, Administrator of Linhuai, who killed him before the planned uprising began and reported the matter to Sima Rui. Fearing that the plot would be exposed, Wang Hui fled to Zhou Qi, who killed him and concealed his body.
Although Sima Rui learned of Zhou Qi's involvement, he did not publicly denounce him. Instead, Zhou Qi received a sequence of rapidly changing appointments. He was first summoned as a headquarters officer, then ordered south as General Who Establishes Might and Administrator of Nanjun, and while traveling was recalled to Jiankang and appointed to another staff position while retaining his military rank and receiving promotion in noble status. Zhou Qi understood from these repeated changes that the plot had been discovered. Consumed by resentment and anxiety, he became ill with a severe back abscess and died at the age of fifty-six. Before his death he told his son Zhou Xie that northern émigrés had caused his death and urged him to seek revenge. Sima Rui posthumously appointed him General Who Supports the State and granted him the posthumous title Zhonglie.