Jizi 箕子 (www.chinaknowledge.de)

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Shang Dynasty

Jul 14, 2012 © Ulrich Theobald

Jizi 箕み子こ, personal name Xu Yu 胥余, was an uncle of the bad last ruler of the Shang dynasty 商しょう (17th to 11th cent. BCE), King Zhou 紂, and occupied the position of Grand Preceptor (taishi 太ふとし師し). Ji 箕み was the name of his state.

When King Zhou was drinking day and night and lost awareness of time, Jizi was one of the few persons conscious of the coming downfall of the kingdom, yet he did not dare to criticize his nephew out of fear for his life. Asked for the daytime, he therefore pretended not to know it.

Yet Jizi is also known as a very upright minister who frequently remonstrated against King Zhou's conduct of government. In the book Hanfeizi 韓非子かんぴし, his critique towards the king's use of ivory chopsticks is mentioned. After King Zhou had his upright minister Bi Gan 比ひ干ひ killed, Jizi feigned to be mad in order to escape disaster, but he was incarcerated.

When King Wu 周しゅう武たけし王おう of the Zhou 周しゅう (11th. cent.-221 BCE) conquered the Shang kingdom, Jizi was ennobled and became a subject of the Zhou. He is said to have been the author of the cosmological chapter Hongfan 洪ひろし範はん in the Classic Shangshu 尚書しょうしょ.

From the Han period 漢かん (206 BCE-220 CE) on, Jizi is said to have migrated to Korea (Chosŏn 朝鮮ちょうせん), where he introduced agriculture and so became the cultural hero Gija. His transfer to the Korea is described in the Shangshu dazhuan 尚書しょうしょ大傳だいでん.

Sources:

Cang Xiuliang 倉くら修おさむ良りょう, ed. (1991). Shiji cidian 史記しき辭典じてん (Jinan: Shandong jiaoyu chubanshe), 646.

Feng Kezheng 馮克正ただし, Fu Qingsheng 傅でん慶けい升ます, ed. (1996). Zhuzi baijia da cidian 諸子しょし百ひゃく家いえ大だい辭典じてん (Shenyang: Liaoning renmin chubanshe), 3.

Gao Wende 高だか文德ふみのり, ed. (1995). Zhongguo shaoshu minzu shi da cidian 中國ちゅうごく少數しょうすう民族みんぞく史し大だい辭典じてん (Changchun: Jilin jiaoyu chubanshe), 2453.

Yi Xingguo 衣ころも興國こうこく, ed. (1988). Shiyong Zhongguo mingren cidian 實用じつよう中國ちゅうごく名人めいじん辭典じてん (Changchun: Changchun wenchi chubanshe), 19.

Yuan Ke 袁珂, ed. (1985). Zhongguo shenhua chuanshuo cidian 中國ちゅうごく神話しんわ傳說でんせつ詞し典てん (Shanghai: Shanghai cishu chubanshe), 420.

Zhang Huizhi 張ちょう撝之, Shen Qihui 沈起煒, Liu Dezhong 劉りゅう德重とくしげ, ed. (1999). Zhongguo lidai renmind da cidian 中國ちゅうごく歷代れきだい人名じんめい大だい辭典じてん (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe), Vol. 2, 2469.