Bi Gan (比干) | 24 Histories

Overview

Bi Gan was a Shang noble executed for remonstrating with King Zhou.

Life and dates

Death

Execution · Cause Heart cut out · Authority King Zhou of Shang (紂)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 3, passage 218
Disembowelment · Authority King Zhou of Shang (紂)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 23, passage 78
killed 殺 · Authority King Zhou of Shang (紂)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 88, passage 89
Cause Execution · Executed for trying to do good with Jie and Zhou
Directly stated · Book of Han 22, passage 15
Execution · Cause Trying to do good with tyrants
Directly stated · Book of Han 20, passage 14
Heart cut open
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 83, passage 166

Show 1 more source-backed claim

died and Zhou was awakened
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 178, passage 256

Attested activity

legendary antiquity
Directly stated · Book of Han 20, passage 14; Book of Han 22, passage 15; Records of the Grand Historian 88, passage 89
BC 1100 商末
Directly stated · Book of Liang 16, passage 176
c. BC 1046 武王克商之際
Dated from the passage context · Book of Later Han 28, passage 48
BC 1046 武王比干
Strongly inferred · Book of Jin 127, passage 232
c. BC 1100 to BC 1046 殷紂 / 比干
Strongly inferred · Records of the Three Kingdoms 61, passage 224
BC 1046 比干 as Shang minister recalled in 封比干之墓
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 136

Show 4 more source-backed claims

BC 1075 to BC 1046 比干
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 3, passages 202, 218
BC 1050 比干剖心
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 83, passage 166
BC 1100 to BC 1046 比幹死而啟周
Strongly inferred · New Book of Tang 178, passage 256
BC 1046 紂剖比干
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 23, passage 78

Family

Kinship Role descendants · Quantity unspecified
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 83, passage 205

Key source chapters

Origins and identity

As Stated Prince 王子
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passage 300

Career and standing

Suffered
Execution
Directly stated · Book of Han 22, passage 15

Places and affiliations

Shang 商
Relation Served
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 23, passage 78
Polity Shang 商 · Relation Associated with
Strongly inferred · New Book of Tang 178, passage 256
Polity Shang 商 · Relation Associated
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 88, passage 89
Polity Yin-Shang 殷 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · Records of the Three Kingdoms 61, passage 224
Polity Yin 殷 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 136

Events and relationships

Grave mound raised
BC 1046 武王伐紂 · Ritual · Posthumous honoree · With King Wu (武王)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 136
Put to death for loyalty
Legal · Victim
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 61, passage 224
Sought good and was executed
Political · Counselor · With Jie (桀), King Zhou of Shang (紂)
Directly stated · Book of Han 20, passage 14
Sought to join in good
Political · Counselor · With King Jie of Xia (夏桀), King Zhou of Shang (紂) · Outcome Executed
Directly stated · Book of Han 22, passage 15
Relation Minister of · Person King Zhou of Shang (紂)
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 23, passage 78
Type minister-of · Person King Zhou of Shang (紂)
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passage 300

Assessments and attributes

Item grave 墓 · Relation Honored by · With King Wu (武王)
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 28, passage 48

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Records of the Three Kingdoms 61, passage 224; Records of the Grand Historian 55, passage 136; New Book of Tang 178, passage 256
Historicity legendary
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 88, passage 89

References in the histories

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History

19 passages

Book of Han, Chapter 20Table of Ancient and Modern Persons · 1 passage

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桀紂，龍逢、比干欲與之為善則誅，于莘、崇侯與之為惡則行。 By contrast, with Jie and Zhou, Long Feng and Bi Gan were executed for trying to do what was right with them, while Yu Xin and the Marquis of Chong were followed when they proposed evil.

Book of Han, Chapter 22Volume 20: Prominent People from the Past Until the Present · 1 passage

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桀紂，龍逢、比干欲與之為善則誅，于莘、崇侯與之為惡則行。 By contrast, with Jie and Zhou, Long Feng and Bi Gan were executed for trying to do what was right with them, while Yuxin and the Marquis of Chong were followed when they proposed evil.

Book of Han, Chapter 76Volume 65: Dongfang Shuo · 2 passages

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先生對曰：「昔者關龍逢深諫於桀，而王子比干直言於紂，此二臣者，皆極慮盡忠，閔王澤不下流，而萬民騷動，故直言其失，切諫其邪者，將以為君之榮，除主之禍也。 The gentleman replied, saying: "Formerly Guan Longpeng remonstrated deeply with Jie, and Prince Bigan spoke straight with Zhou—these two ministers both exhausted thought and fulfilled loyalty, pitied that the king's grace did not flow downward while the myriad people were restless; therefore they spoke straight of his faults and cut remonstrance of his wickedness, intending thereby to be the lord's glory and remove the ruler's disaster.

太公、伊尹以如此，龍逢、比干獨如彼，豈不哀哉！ The Grand Duke and Yi Yin met with such success, while Guan Longpeng and Bigan met with the opposite fate. Is that not tragic?

Book of Later Han, Chapter 28Volume 25: Biography of Zhuo, Lu, Wei, Liu · 1 passage

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夫名冠天下，當受天下重賞，故武王誅紂，封比幹之墓，表商容之閭。 A reputation that towers over the empire deserves the empire's richest honors—King Wu slew Zhou yet honored Bi Gan's grave and marked Shang Rong's gate.

Book of Jin, Chapter 127Volume 12 Records 27: Murong De · 1 passage

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邃答曰：「武王封比干之墓，漢祖祭信陵之墳，皆留心賢哲，每懷往事。 Sui replied, 'King Wu of Zhou closed Bi Gan's tomb, Han's Gaozu sacrificed at Lord Xinling's grave—both fixed their hearts on worthies and often cherished old deeds.

Book of Liang, Chapter 16Volume 16: Wang Liang; Zhang Ji; Wang Ying · 1 passage

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陳吏部尚書姚察曰：孔子稱「殷有三仁：微子去之，箕子爲之奴，比干諫而死。」 Chen Minister of Personnel Yao Cha said: Confucius said, "Yin had three worthies: Weizi left; Jizi became a slave; Bigan remonstrated and died."

Records of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 61Volume 61: Book of Wu 16: Biographies of Pan Jun and Lu Kai · 1 passage

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若比干、伍员，以忠见戮，以正见疑，自谓毕足，无所餘恨，灰身泉壤，无负先帝，原陛下九思，社稷存焉。 If, like Bigan or Wu Zixu, I die for loyalty or fall under suspicion for candor, I will count my life well spent and go to my grave without shame before your father. I beg you to ponder this again and again—the altars themselves hang in the balance.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 3Annals of Yin · 4 passages

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王子比干諫，弗聽。 Prince Bigan remonstrated; Zhou would not hear him.

比干曰：「為人臣者，不得不以死爭。」 Bigan said, "A minister who will not risk death is no minister."

剖比干，觀其心。 He cut Bigan open to look at his heart.

釋箕子之囚，封比干之墓，表商容之閭。 He freed Jizi, sealed Bigan's grave, and honored Shang Rong's lane.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 23Treatise on Ritual · 1 passage

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紂剖比干，囚箕子，為炮格，刑殺無辜，時臣下懔然，莫必其命。 Zhou disemboweled Bi Gan, imprisoned Jizi, devised the heated-pillar torture, and punished and killed the innocent. At that time, the ministers below were terrified, and none were certain of their fate.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 55House of Marquis of Liu · 1 passage

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武王入殷，表商容之閭，釋箕子之拘，封比干之墓。 When King Wu entered the Yin capital, he honored the village gate of Shang Rong, freed Jizi from prison, and raised a memorial mound over the grave of Bigan.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 83Biographies of Lu Zhonglian and Zou Yang · 3 passages

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臣聞比干剖心，子胥鴟夷，臣始不信，乃今知之。 Your servant had heard that Bi Gan's heart was cut open and that Wu Zixu's body was sewn into a leather sack. I did not believe such things at first, but now I know they can happen.

封比干之後，修孕婦之墓，故功業復就於天下。 They enfeoffed the descendants of Bi Gan and restored the tombs of the innocent—and so their achievements were brought to fruition throughout the realm.

今夫天下布衣窮居之士，身在貧賤，雖蒙堯、舜之術，挾伊、管之辯，懷龍逢、比干之意，欲盡忠當世之君，而素無根柢之容，雖竭精思，欲開忠信，輔人主之治，則人主必有按劍相眄之跡，是使布衣不得為枯木朽株之資也。 Now consider the scholars of the realm who dwell in poverty and low estate. Though they may possess the arts of Yao and Shun, wield the eloquence of Yi Yin and Guan Zhong, and harbor the devotion of Long Pang and Bi Gan, wishing to devote their utmost loyalty to the ruler of their age—yet lacking anyone to introduce them or vouch for their worth—no matter how they exhaust their minds and seek to offer their faithfulness, the ruler will inevitably greet them with a hand on his sword and a suspicious glare. This is what prevents men of humble birth from gaining even the advantage of the gnarled log and the rotten stump.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 88Biography of Meng Tian · 1 passage

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桀殺關龍逢，紂殺王子比干而不悔，身死則國亡。 The tyrant Jie killed the loyal Guan Longfeng, and the tyrant Zhou killed Prince Bigan without remorse. Both perished, and their kingdoms fell with them.

New Book of Tang, Chapter 178Volume 178 Biographies 103: Liu Fen · 1 passage

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昔龍逄死而啟商，比幹死而啟周，韓非死而啟漢，陳蕃死而啟魏。 Formerly Long Feng died and Shang was awakened; Bi Gan died and Zhou was awakened; Han Fei died and Han was awakened; Chen Fan died and Wei was awakened.