魏武侯 / Marquis Wu of Wei
魏武侯 / Marquis Wu of Wei appears in 《资治通鉴·周纪》07丨两起刺杀（2） as 魏文侯’s son and successor. The episode treats his accession as the third major notice in 397 BCE, after the solar eclipse and the 聂政 assassination.
His page is source-scoped. It anchors the transition of 魏国 from the Wenhou generation into a new ruler’s reign, without attempting a full biography.
《资治通鉴·周纪》08丨一代名将吴起惨死（1） develops that reign through two court scenes. On the West River, Wei Wuhou praises natural barriers, and 吴起 warns him through Virtue Over Natural Barriers / 德胜地险 that the state’s true security depends on virtue and internal political order. In the chancellor sequence, Wei Wuhou’s recent accession creates the unstable context in which 田文 is judged more fitting than Wu Qi.
The same source also makes Wei Wuhou vulnerable to court manipulation. 公叔’s marriage-proposal test tries to turn Wu Qi’s refusal of a princess into evidence that he lacks commitment to Wei.
《资治通鉴·周纪》08丨一代名将吴起惨死（2） follows the consequence from Wu Qi’s side: after recognizing the danger, Wu Qi fears Wei Wuhou may kill him and flees to 楚国. Wei Wuhou therefore becomes the ruler whose court politics push Wu Qi out of Wei and into the Chu reform arc.
《资治通鉴·周纪》09丨战国时代的世界大战 makes Wei Wuhou a ruler in broad conflict rather than only court politics. The episode places him in the Han-Zhao-Wei rescue of Yan, the fighting with Zhao and Qi, Chu’s opportunistic pressure, and the detached Zhongshan problem around his brother 魏挚.
Connections
- 魏国 - polity he rules.
- 魏文侯 - predecessor and father in the source.
- 周安王 - annalistic reign frame.
- 战国时期 - period setting.
- 吴起, 田文, 公叔, Virtue Over Natural Barriers / 德胜地险, and Transition Fit Over Merit / 过渡期适任优先于功劳 - early-reign court-politics branch.
- 楚国 and Warring States Reform Backlash / 战国变法反噬 - downstream branch after Wu Qi’s flight.
- Early Warring States Interstate War / 战国早期诸侯混战, 中山国, and 魏挚 - Zhouji 09 interstate-war and frontier-control branch.