Boyi (eldest son of Guzhu monarch at the end of Shang Dynasty)

Boyi (date of birth and death unknown), surnamed Zi, surnamed Motai, named Yun, was born in Guzhu state at the end of Shang Dynasty. He was the eldest son of Yawei, the eighth monarch of Guzhu state at the end of Zhou Dynasty. It is a descendant of Qi in Yin and Shang Dynasties. At the beginning, Guzhu Jun wanted to take his third son Shuqi as his successor. When his father died, Shuqi gave way to Boyi.

Boyi respected his father's order and fled, while Shuqi refused to stand and fled. When Boyi and Shuqi went to Xiqi together, they met King Wu of Zhou to fight against King Zhou. Boyi and Shuqi were not afraid of violence. They kowtowed their horses and admonished the expedition, saying, "is it filial if my father dies and is not buried? Is it benevolent to kill a monarch with a minister? " About to fight, Jiang Ziya said: "these two righteous people also, help and go." In the Later Zhou Dynasty, Boyi and Shuqi were ashamed to eat zhousu and starved to death in Shouyang mountain.

Life of the characters

3000 years ago, the Tang and Qin areas in Eastern Hebei were the central jurisdiction of Guzhu state. Guzhu was founded very early and went through three dynasties of Xia, Shang and Western Zhou. According to archaeological data, Guzhu country has developed culture, prosperous economy, and increasingly busy livestock raising and agricultural and sideline products trading. Wine making, fishing and hunting, salt boiling, smelting and handicraft industry are relatively developed. From the original intention of Guzhu, the writing stationery reflects that the country has a relatively high culture.

Guzhu state is a clan state of Shang Dynasty, and its monarch is Mohist. In the literature, Mohist can be regarded as Mohist or Muyi. According to the book of history and Yin Benji, "Qi was the surname of Zi, and then it was divided into Yin, Lai, song, Kongtong, Zhi, Beiyin and Muyi.". In other words, Guzhu monarch is the descendant of Qi, the ancestor of Shang tribe who established Shang Dynasty. According to this, some historians speculate that Guzhu state could be established in Xia Dynasty, and it was a vassal state with the same surname in Shang Dynasty. From Qi to Tang Dynasty, Xia Jie was destroyed and Shang Dynasty was established. In such a long historical period, with the continuous expansion of Shang tribes, Guzhu state, as its clan state, played a strategic support of material and personnel transportation for the final establishment of Yin Shang monarchy. [1]

In the late Shang Dynasty, the Guzhu kingdom had the beautiful talks of Yiqi rangguo, koumajian cutting, shame eating zhousu, Gan hungry Shouyang. It turned out that the Guzhu monarch had three sons. The eldest son was named Yun, which was later named Boyi. The name of the young son is Zhi, and the word is Gongda, which means that his posthumous title is Shuqi. Guzhujun intended to establish Shuqi as his heir and inherit his career. Later, Prince Hong of Guzhu Kingdom, according to the social etiquette at that time, the eldest son should ascend to the throne. But Boyi, who is honest and self-defense, said: "we should respect my father's will before he died and give way to Shuqi." So he gave up his right to inherit the throne and fled to Guzhu. They also elected Shuqi as king. Shuqi said, "if I succeed to the throne, I will not only destroy the etiquette, but also be disrespectful to my brothers." He also fled to Guzhu and met his elder brother on the way to Xiqi. The Chinese inherited the throne.

They heard that King Wen of Zhou was good at raising old people, so they both went to join him. Soon King Wen died and King Wu succeeded.

They went to Mengjin and were driving King Wu to overthrow Zhou. The two brothers were not afraid of violence. They took the reins of King Wu's horse and said, "your father died. He didn't stay at home to be filial. He also had a big fight. Can this be called filial piety? As a subject of the Shang Dynasty, you went to kill your own monarch. Can this be regarded as benevolence and righteousness? " The entourage around King Wu of Zhou wanted to kill them. Lu Shang said, "this is a man of integrity." So he helped them to leave. [2] When King Wu conquered the merchants, Boyi Shuqi lived in seclusion for ambition, refused to be associated with Wu Zhou, and declined the reward and high official position of King Wu of Zhou. At this point, the Yi Qi brothers "picked Wei and ate" until they starved to death in Shouyang mountain.

The story of Boyi Shuqi has been handed down through the ages. Yiqi's noble conduct of patriotism, honesty, benevolence, comity and filial piety is the precious wealth of the Chinese nation and human society; it is the spiritual source of the Chinese people's pursuit of truth, bravery and generosity; it is the model of abiding by rules, family harmony and social harmony; it is the eternal Monument and spiritual home of international friendship, world harmony and human life.

Historical records

Biographies of Boyi in historical records

Boyi was the eldest son of guzhujun in the late Shang Dynasty, and his surname was Motai. At the beginning, guzhujun wanted to take his second son Shuqi as his successor and his father's death, so Shuqi gave way to Boyi. Boyi had disobeyed his father's order, so he fled, and Shuqi refused to stand, so he fled. Later, they heard that xibochang was good at raising old people, and they went back together. When Xibo died, King Wu was setting up an army to subdue Zhou. They kowtowed and admonished him, saying, "if my father dies, he will not be buried, so he will fight. Is that filial piety? Is it benevolent to kill a monarch with a minister? " King Wu's subordinates wanted to use force, but he was stopped by Jiang Taigong, saying: "this righteous man also helped him to go away.". Later, King Wu conquered the Shang Dynasty and ruled the Zhou Dynasty. Boyi and Shuqi were shamed of eating zhousu. They hid in Shouyang mountain, collected wild vegetables and ate them. They were starving to death and sang songs. His words said, "I'm going to climb the western mountain, and I'm going to pick up the Wei.". I don't know if it's right to be violent. Shennong, Yu and Xia suddenly disappeared, and I'll go home in peace? Yuyuxi, the decline of life! So he starved to death in Shouyang mountain.

Boyi and Shuqi are the two sons of guzhujun. His father wanted to make Shuqi king. When his father died, Shuqi would give up the throne to Boyi. Boyi said, "this is my father's will." So he ran away. Shuqi refused to inherit the throne and fled. The Chinese had no choice but to support guzhujun's second son. At this time, Boyi and Shuqi heard that xibochang could support the elderly well, so they thought why not go to him! But when he got there, xibechang was dead. His son king Wu respected xibechang as King Wen, and carried his wooden Spirit card on the chariot to fight against Yin Zhou in the East. Boyi and Shuqi held King Wu's horse reins to admonish him and said, "if my father dies, he will not be buried. Can we say that he is filial? Is it benevolence and justice to kill a monarch as a minister? " King Wu's entourage wanted to kill them. Lu Shang said, "this is a man of integrity." So he helped them to leave. But Boyi and Shuqi thought it was a shame. They insisted on benevolence and righteousness, refused to eat the grain of the Zhou Dynasty, and lived in seclusion on Shouyang mountain, picking wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger. When he was about to starve to death, he wrote a song, which said: "climb up the west mountain and pick osmanthus there. It's a mistake to trade a tyrant for a tyrant. The peaceful and prosperous times of Shennong, Yu and Xia disappeared. Where is our destination? Oh, there is only death, and fate is so bad! " So he starved to death in Shouyang mountain.

[appreciation] the significance of biographies of Boyi in historical records lies in the expression of the blockbuster in one's mind. Taking advantage of the opportunity of Boyi's biography, he raised angry questions about the society where good people suffered and bad people enjoyed happiness at that time, and strongly doubted the so-called "heavenly way" which was used to anesthetize and comfort people. This is full of criticism and fighting. At the same time, "running for righteousness" and "giving way to the state" are the virtues that Sima Qian praised, which is in sharp contrast to the collusion between monarchs and ministers, fathers and sons, and brothers in the ruling group since the founding of the Han Dynasty.

Based on the principle of historical data processing, the author narrates the short deeds of Boyi and Shuqi in a large number of comments. At first, they refused to accept the throne and let the country flee; when King Wu conquered Zhou, he remonstrated with benevolence and righteousness; after the reign of Zhou, he was ashamed to eat Zhou millet and eat Wei, singing and expressing his ambition, so he starved to death on Shouyang mountain. The author extols their noble character of benevolence and integrity, and expresses his many feelings.

Sima Qian deeply realized the contradiction and paradox between fate and morality. It seems reasonable that "heaven has no relatives, often with good people". However, there are always such exceptions in history. Among the disciples of Confucius, Yan Hui was the most studious and lived a poor life all the time, and eventually died early. However, the villain is often rich and prosperous, and his life is smooth. The famous villain steals his feet and does all kinds of evil, but he dies. This is a vivid reflection of this contradiction. However, when "righteousness" and "benefit" can not be achieved at the same time, people with moral cultivation, especially scholar officials with Confucian belief, often choose to die for their own aspirations. This is the choice of Boyi Shuqi, and also the choice of thousands of scholar bureaucrats since Confucius. Sima Qian himself is no exception. He wrote a petition for Li Ling and was sent to prison. For the trust of his father, he endured corruption and was sneered at by people. What he chose to stick to was his ideal just like Boyi Shuqi, and the spirit of being willing to die for his ambition was the essential factor for Sima Qian to write historical records as the best work.

And Yanshan Qin school

Most of the ancient sages were good at playing the Guqin. Boyi was a Guqin master. His Guqin song Boyi Cao has been handed down to this day. Boyi mainly lived in Tangshan area, South Yanshan Road. There have always been many hermits in Yanshan area. They are good at playing guqin, so the legacy of Boyi is also passed on. As a result, gradually formed a Guqin school in this area, called Yanshan Qin school. From generation to generation, the disciples of the Yanshan Qin school have been handed down to each other. The wind of the Qin has made the clouds clear and the sky clear, which adds a great legend to the spirit of Boyi.

People all know Boyi virtuous, who heard Boyi piano sound far. As Yanshan comes, Wang Yanxi's song "solitary bamboo" is spread all over the world.

Historical evaluation

Boyi and Shuqi were respected and praised by sages and scholars of all ages. Jiang Taigong once commented: "this righteous person also!"

Guanzi said, "so Boyi and Shuqi were not famous on the day of their death, and they went on to practice more."

Confucius said: "ancient sages are also."

Mencius said, "the sage is pure."

Mao Zedong: he was irresponsible to the people of his own country, fled, and opposed the people's Liberation War led by King Wu at that time. He had some ideas of "democratic individualism".