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Chong'er
Duke Wen of Jin (697–628BC), born Chong'er (literally "Double Ears"), was a scion of the royal house of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history. He famously endured a long period of exile from his realm before finally being restored to power (r.636–628BC) and rapidly leading Jin to hegemony over the other Chinese states of his time. He is a figure in numerous Chinese legends, including those about his loyal courtier Jie Zhitui, whose death is said to have inspired China's Cold Food and Qingming Festivals. Names "Duke Wen of Jin" is a posthumous name bestowed on him as part of his family's ancestral veneration. It literally means the "Cultured Duke of Jin". Duke Wen's given name was Chong'er. His clan name was Ji. Life Early life Prince Chong'er was born to Duke Xian of Jin in 697 BC. The '' Zuo Zhuan'' notes that "his ribs were all grown together," a sign of strength and leadership. Chong'er's half-brothers included Shensheng and Xiqi. While Shens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jie Zhitui
Jie Zhitui (centuryBC), also known as Jie Zitui, was a Han aristocrat who served the Jin prince Chong'er during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history. Chinese legend holds that when Chong'er finally ascended to power as the duke of Jin ("Duke Wen"), Jie either refused or was passed over for any reward, despite his great loyalty during the prince's times of hardship. Jie then retired to the forests of Jin in what is now central Shanxi with his mother. Supposedly, the duke so desired to repay Jie's years of loyalty that, when Jie declined to present himself at court, he ordered a forest fire to compel the recluse out of hiding. Instead, Jie and his mother were killed by the fire on . By the Han, Jie was being revered in central Shanxi as a Taoist immortal. He was annually commemorated with a ritual avoidance of fire that, despite many official bans, eventually became China's Cold Food and Qingming Festivals. Names Jie Zhitui or Jiezhi Tui is the name given to him i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hu Yan
Hu Yan (715–629BC) was a Di tribesman who served as a minister and general of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history. Hu Yan assisted Prince Chong'er (posthumously the " Wen Duke") during his long exile, his usurpation of his nephew Yu, and his rise to hegemonic status over the other states of the Zhou Kingdom. The Legalist Han Fei considered Hu Yan one of the best advisors of ancient China, and the historian Sima Qian listed him with Sun Tzu as the greatest tacticians of the age. Names Hu Yan is a Chinese name: Hu is the surname and Yan is the given name. His courtesy name was Zifan ("Master" or "Viscount Fan"). Classical sources also refer to him as Jiu Ji and Jiu Fan ("Uncle Fan"),. in reference to his relationship to Chong'er through his mother's line. He is also sometimes known as Sikong Jizi ("Minister of Works"). Life Hu Yan was born in 715BC into the leadership of one of the "barbarian" Di tribes who lived north of China during the Zhou. Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Li Ji Unrest
The Li Ji Unrest or Rebellion (657–651 BCE) was a series of events that took place in the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China, caused by Li Ji, the concubine of Duke Xian of Jin, in order to put her son Xiqi onto the throne of Jin. Background Duke Xian of Jin married six wives who gave birth to five sons. The first was Jia Jun (賈君) from the State of Jia (賈國). Qi Jiang (齊姜) gave birth to Prince Shensheng. Hu Ji (狐姬) was the mother of Prince Chong'er while her younger sister Xiao Rongzi (小戎子) gave birth to Prince Yiwu. Li Ji was the mother of Xiqi while her dowry younger sister Shao Ji (少姬) gave birth to Zhuozi. Duke Xian marries Li Ji At the time Duke Xian considered taking his concubine Li Ji as his first wife. Before doing so he asked the gods through divination whether or not it was wise to do this. The answer he received was that the outcome would not be good. He asked a second time and on receiving a positive respon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke Xian Of Jin
Duke Xian of Jin (, died 651 BC), ancestral name Ji (姬), given name Guizhu (詭諸), was the nineteenth ruler of the State of Jin. He was also the ninth ruler of Jin in the Spring and Autumn period and the second duke of Jin. When his father, Duke Wu of Jin, died in 677 BC, Guizhu ascended the throne of Jin and became Duke Xian of Jin. He reigned for 26 years. He moved the capital from Quwo (曲沃) to Jiang (絳). He was named after a Rongdi tribe (戎狄族) leader Guizhu (詭諸) whom his father, Duke Wu of Jin, captured alive. During his reign, the State of Jin was one of the most powerful and largest states due to his conquests in many small neighboring states. He is also renowned for the slaughter and exile of many royal family members of Jin and for favoring one of his concubines named Li Ji. Rise to power When he ascended the throne, Duke Xian of Jin and the duke of Guo visited King Hui of Zhou and they were given rewards which resulted to the increase of their popula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Li Ji (concubine)
Li Ji (; died 651 BCE) was a concubine and later wife of Duke Xian of Jin, ruler of the State of Jin between 676 and 651 BC during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. Li Ji is best known for starting the Li Ji Unrest which led to the suicide of Prince Shensheng. She also placed her own son Xiqi on the Jin throne after the death of Duke Xian. She was nicknamed as the "Witch of the Age" () because of her devious acts. Biography Li Ji was originally a native of Li Rong (驪戎), one of the northern Rong tribes. In 672 BC, the fifth year of his reign, Duke Xian obtained two daughters of leader of the Li Rong tribe: Li Ji and her younger sister, Shao Ji (少姬). Because of her beauty, Li Ji gained the favor of Duke Xian, therefore he had a desire to make Li Ji his main wife. Before doing so he asked the gods through divination whether or not it was wise to do this. The answer he received was that the outcome would not be good. He asked a second time and on receiving a posit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cold Food Festival
The Cold Food or Hanshi Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday which developed from the local commemoration of the death of the Jin nobleman Jie Zitui in the 7thcenturyBC under the Zhou dynasty, into an occasion across East Asia for the commemoration and veneration of ancestors by the 7th-century Tang dynasty. Its name derives from the tradition of avoiding the lighting of any kind of fire, even for the preparation of food. This practice originally occurred at midwinter for as long as a month, but the hardship this involved led to repeated attempts to ban its observance out of concern for its practitioners. By the end of the Three Kingdoms Period (3rd century), it was limited to three days in the spring around the Qingming solar term. Under the Tang, ancestral observance was limited to the single day which is now the Tomb-Sweeping Festival. The Tomb-Sweeping Festival is a official holiday in several countries, and the Cold Food Festival which stretches either side of it co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke Huai Of Jin
Duke Huai of Jin (died 637BC), personal name Yu, was briefly the duke of Jin (.637BC) during the Spring and Autumn period of the Zhou dynasty. Life Yu's father was the future Duke Hui of Jin, who married a princess of Liang during his exile there. Ji became known as when his father assumed the duchy of Jin. In 643 BC, Prince Yu was sent to the State of Qin as a hostage, where he married Princess Huai Ying (懷嬴), a daughter of Duke Mu of Qin, the powerful ruler of Qin at the time. In 641 BC, Qin conquered and annexed Liang. In 638 BC, Duke Hui of Jin became ill. As Prince Yu was a hostage in Qin and his mother's state had been destroyed, he was worried that Duke Hui might replace him as crown prince with one of his other sons. He decided to escape back to Jin. Huai Ying refused to escape with him but agreed not to reveal his plan. Duke Hui died in the ninth month of 637 BC, and Prince Yu ascended the throne, to be known as Duke Huai of Jin. Duke Mu of Qin, however, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhao Cui
Zhao Cui (died 622 BCE), posthumously known as Zhao Chengzi (; Chengzi of Zhao), courtesy name Ziyu (子餘), was a Chinese monarch. He was a dafu of Duke Wen of the Jin state during the Spring and Autumn period. He was the clan leader of Zhao between 636 and 622 BCE. When Chong'er, later known as Duke Wen of Jin was in exile due to the Li Ji unrest, Zhao Cui had always followed Chong'er. In the state of Qin, they received the assistance of Duke Mu of Qin. After Duke Wen's death, he served Duke Xiang of Jin and participated in the battle of Pengya. Jin army defeated Qin army in this battle. Family Cui's brother was Zhao Su who served Duke Xian of Jin. Zhao Cui married the daughter of Duke Wen of Jin. Before the marriage with the Duke's daughter, Cui had married Shu Kui of Qianggaoru (a branch of the Red Di). He had four sons and named them Zhao Dun (son of Shu Kui), Zhao Tong, Zhao Kuo and Zhao Yingqi ; , posthumous name = ; vi, Triệu Minh Vương , predecessor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xiqi
Xiqi (, 665–651 BC) was briefly the ruler of the Jin (Chinese state), State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. He was the son of Duke Xian of Jin and his favored concubine Li Ji (concubine), Li Ji, and later replaced his older half-brother Shensheng as crown prince. After the death of Duke Xian, he ascended the throne for about a month before being killed by Li Ke. Biography In 665 BC, the twelfth year of the reign of Duke Xian of Jin, Li Ji gave birth to Xiqi. Since Li Ji wanted her son to be the crown prince, she bribed two of Duke Xian's most trusted officials, Liang Wu (梁五) and Dongguan Biwu (東關嬖五). The two officials persuaded Duke Xian of Jin to let princes Shensheng, Duke Wen of Jin, Chong'er and Duke Hui of Jin, Yiwu leave the capital, Jiang (絳). The officials told the duke that the northern Rong tribes (戎族) and Di tribes (狄族) frequently attacked Jin such that the princes were needed to defend their territory. Duke Xia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shensheng
Shensheng (, died 20 February 655 BCESima Qian records the day of Shensheng's suicide as the ''wushen'' day (午申; day 45) of the twelfth month according to the Jin calendar (Sima Qian, 39:1646). This was during the spring according to the Lu calendar, as recorded in the Spring and Autumn Annals (僖5:300§5.1). On the first day of the ninth month of the same year – also an ''wushen'' day – a total eclipse was recorded, which Yang Bojun calculates as being the eclipse of 19 August 655 BCE (''idem.'' p 301§5.8 nn). Shensheng's death took place exactly three sixty-day cycles previously, i.e. 20 February 655 BCE. See Yang Bojun in ''Zuozhuan'', p 300§5.1 for the interval between the Lu and Jin calendars according to Gu Donggao ( 顧棟高) and why Shensheng's death is traditionally dated to 656 BCE; Zhang Peiyu p 133 for the calendars of the years in question.), ancestral name Ji (姬), was the eldest son of Duke Xian of Jin and the Crown Prince of the State of Jin before b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qingming Festival
The Qingming festival or Ching Ming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English (sometimes also called Chinese Memorial Day or Ancestors' Day), is a traditional Chinese festival observed by the Han Chinese of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, and by the ethnic Chinese of Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Panama. It falls on the first day of the fifth solar term of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. This makes it the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, either 4, 5 or 6 April in a given year. During Qingming, Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean the gravesites, pray to their ancestors and make ritual offerings. Offerings would typically include traditional food dishes and the burning of joss sticks and joss paper. The holiday recognizes the traditional reverence of one's ancestors in Chinese culture. The Qingming Festival has been observed by the Chinese for over 2500 years, althou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
