Bo Yi (伯夷) | 24 Histories

Overview

Bo Yi was an aristocrat and Hermit.

Life and dates

Death

Starvation · At Mount Shouyang 首陽山
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 34; Records of the Grand Historian 124, passage 13
starved below Shouyang 餓於首陽之下
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passage 310

Attested activity

伯夷丑周，餓死首陽山
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 124, passage 13
逸民
Directly stated · History of Jin 127, passage 49
legendary antiquity
Directly stated · Book of Northern Qi 29, passage 135; Book of Later Han 30, passage 123; Book of Later Han 32, passage 134; Book of Later Han 94, passages 87, 291; Book of Liang 31, passage 139; Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 9, 11, 15, 21, 28, 34, 37, 58; Records of the Grand Historian 84, passage 155; Records of the Grand Historian 99, passage 14; Book of Wei 96, passage 3
legendary antiquity
Dated from the passage context · Book of Northern Qi 47, passage 74
c. BC 1046 traditional date of King Wu's conquest of Shang
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 23, 28
BC 1050 to BC 1040 伯夷餓不食周粟
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 74, passage 40

Show 4 more source-backed claims

BC 1050 to BC 1046 太公起海濱而即三公
Directly stated · Book of Han 65, passage 154
BC 1050 to BC 1040 夷、惠舛而齊聲
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 117, passage 204
BC 1046 夷抗行于首阳
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 117, passage 262
c. BC 1046 量交
Dated from the passage context · Book of Liang 14, passage 245

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Sibling of Shu Qi (叔齊)
Boyi and Shuqi 伯夷、叔齊 · Full siblings
Boyi and Shuqi 夷齊 · Full siblings
brothers 兄弟 · Full siblings
brothers 兄弟 · Uncertain siblings
Sources vary in certainty · Book of Later Han 30, passage 123; Book of Wei 96, passage 3; Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 15; History of Jin 127, passage 49
Sibling of Middle son of the Lord of Guzhu (孤竹君之中子)
brothers 兄弟 · Full siblings
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 15, 20
Child of Lord of Guzhu (孤竹君)
son 子 · paternal line
father 父 · paternal line
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 15-16
Sibling of Shu Qi (叔齐)
younger brother Shu Qi 叔齐 · Full siblings
Strongly inferred · Book of Later Han 94, passage 87

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Entered
Hermit
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 28
Entered
Retirement
Directly stated · Book of Han 65, passage 154

Places and affiliations

Guzhu 孤竹
Relation Born to
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 15
Zhou 周
Relation Refused to acknowledge
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 28
At Mount Shouyang 首阳 · Relation Sojourned at
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 262
At Mount Shouyang 首陽山 · Relation Hid at
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 28, 34

Works and attributed material

Song of Bo Yi and Shu Qi 采薇歌
Relation Author
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 29-33
Poem · Author · Direct quotation
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 30-33
Remonstrance · Speaker · With King Wu of Zhou (武王) · Direct quotation
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 23-24
Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 17

Events and relationships

Fled rather than succeed
Political · Heir refuser · With Shu Qi (叔齊)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 16-18
Grasped bridle and remonstrated
Political · Remonstrator · With King Wu of Zhou (武王)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 23-24
Hid and would not serve
Political · Refuser · With King Zhou of Shang (紂)
Directly stated · Book of Han 65, passage 154
Refused to eat Zhou grain and lived on ferns
Personal · Refuser · With King Wu of Zhou (武王)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 28
Starved rather than eat Zhou grain
Refusal · Subject
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 74, passage 40
Upheld his conduct on Mount Shouyang
Personal · Actor
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 262

Show 2 more source-backed claims

Went to attach to
Travel · Migrant · With King Wen of Zhou (周文王)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 21-22
Type associated-with · Person Shu Qi (叔齊)
Directly stated · Book of Han 76, passage 310

Assessments and attributes

Assessment differed in conduct from Hui yet shared one moral voice · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 204
Assessment good man who accumulated benevolence and pure conduct · Mode historian-judgment Speaker Sima Qian (司馬遷)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 37-38
Assessment praised as recluse by Confucius · Mode named-source-report Speaker Confucius (孔子)
Directly stated · History of Jin 127, passage 49
Assessment true exemplar; fame fills heaven and the abyss · Mode speaker-judgment Speaker Host (主人)
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 262
Assessment worthy; name made more illustrious through the Master · With Confucius (孔子) · Mode historian-judgment Speaker Sima Qian (司馬遷)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 58

Source notes

Historicity legendary
Directly stated · Book of Northern Qi 29, passage 135; Book of Later Han 30, passage 123; Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 15; Records of the Grand Historian 99, passage 15

References in the histories

Search passages

History

31 passages

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 29Volume 29 Biographies 21: Li Hun; Zi Zhan; Hun Dihui; Zuzi Gongxu; Li Yu; Di Jin; Zu Dixiao; Zheng Shuzu; Zi Yuande · 1 passage

Open chapter

時穆子容為巡省使，嘆曰：「古人有言：『聞伯夷之風，貪夫廉，懦夫有立。』 At the time Mu Zirong was touring inspector; he sighed and said, "The ancients said: 'Hear the wind of Bo Yi, and the greedy grow honest; the timid stand firm.'

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 47Volume 47 Biographies 39: Cruel Officials · 1 passage

Open chapter

對捍使者尚得死坐，況遊道吐不臣之言，犯慢上之罪，口稱夷、齊，心懷盜跖，欺公賣法，受納苞苴，產隨官厚，財與位積，雖贓汚未露，而姦詐如是。 Resisting an envoy earns death; how much more unministered words, slighting superiors, mouth naming Yi and Qi while heart harbors robbers, deceiving the public, taking bribes—wealth piled with rank though bribery was not yet exposed.

Book of Han, Chapter 65Volume 56: Dong Zhongshu · 1 passage

Open chapter

伯夷、太公皆當世賢者，隱處而不為臣。 Men like Boyi and the Grand Duke were the age’s finest, yet they hid and would not serve.

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

Open chapter

是以伯夷、叔齊避周，餓於首陽之下，後世稱其仁。 Boyi and Shuqi fled the Zhou and starved on Shouyang; later ages honor their humanity.

非夷齊而是柳下惠，戒其子以上容：「首陽為拙，柱下為工； He rejected Bo Yi and Shu Qi's example in favor of Liuxia Hui's, counseling his son to bend with the times: "Retreat to Mount Shouyang was clumsy; service beneath the pillar was skillful;

Book of Han, Chapter 117Volume 100a: Afterword and Family History 1 · 2 passages

Open chapter

三仁殊而一致兮，夷、惠舛而齊聲。 The three benevolent worthies walked different paths to the same goal; Yi and Hui clashed in style yet harmonized in purpose.

若乃夷抗行於首陽，惠降志於辱仕，顏耽樂於簞瓢，孔終篇於西狩，聲盈塞於天淵，真吾徒之師表也。 Then there were Boyi, who upheld his conduct on Mount Shouyang; Liuxia Hui, who humbled his aspirations to take a dishonorable post; Yan Hui, who delighted in his basket of rice and gourd of water; and Confucius, who brought his classic to an end with the hunt in the west. Their fame fills the space between heaven and the abyss; they are truly exemplars for men such as us.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 30Volume 27: Biographies of Xuan, Zang, Two Wangs, Du, Guo, Wu, Cheng, Zheng, Zhao · 1 passage

Open chapter

囂意雖相望，且欲優容之，乃出令曰：『杜伯山天子所不能臣，諸侯所不能友，蓋伯夷、叔齊恥食周粟。 Wei Ao still wanted his service yet meant to indulge him, and issued a proclamation: 'Du Boshan cannot be bound as a subject to the Son of Heaven nor kept as a friend by any prince—he is another Boyi and Shuqi, ashamed to eat the grain of Zhou.'

Book of Later Han, Chapter 32Volume 28b: Biography of Feng Yan · 1 passage

Open chapter

就伯夷而折中兮，得務光而愈明。 I seek Boyi for balance and find Wuguang until my purpose shines clearer.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 94Volume 83: Biographies of Hermits · 3 passages

Open chapter

周不待伯夷、叔齐，而王道以成。 Zhou needed neither Bo Yi nor Shu Qi to perfect the royal Way.

伯夷、叔齐不食周粟，太原周党不受朕禄，亦各有志焉。 Bo Yi and Shu Qi spurned Zhou grain; Taiyuan's Zhou Dang spurns our stipend—each follows his star.

方今明明，四海开辟，巢、许无为箕山，夷、齐悔入首阳。 Today the sage shines and the seas are open—Chao and Xu need not idle on Ji Ridge; Bo and Yi would rue Shouyang.

History of Jin, Chapter 127Volume 127 Biographies 65: Xiao You, Wendihanwolubu, Chen Yan, Liu Yu, Meng Xing, Wang Zhen, Liu Zheng, Yin Yi, Chu Chengliang, Wang Qufei, Zhao Zhi, Du Shisheng, Hao Tianting, Xue Jiyuan, Gao Zhongzhen, Zhang Qian, Wang Rumei, Song Ke, Xin Yuan, Wang Yuke · 1 passage

Open chapter

孔子稱逸民伯夷、叔齊、夷逸、硃張、柳下惠、少連，其立心造行之異同，各有所稱謂，而柳下惠則又嘗仕於當世者也。 Confucius praised the recluses Boyi, Shuqi, Yiyi, Zhuzhang, Liuxiahui, and Shaolian; though their purposes and conduct differed in ways that earned each his own epithet, Liuxiahui had also once held office in his own time.

Book of Liang, Chapter 14Volume 14: Jiang Yan; Ren Fang · 1 passage

Open chapter

故輪蓋所遊，必非夷、惠之室； Thus wherever carriage wheels travel, it is not Bo Yi and Liu Xiahui's house;

Book of Liang, Chapter 31Volume 31: Yuan Ang; Yuan Junzheng · 1 passage

Open chapter

及抗疏高祖，無虧忠節，斯亦存夷、叔之風矣。 when he stood firm in his memorial to Emperor Gaozu without failing in loyalty — this too preserves the spirit of Boyi and Shuqi.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 61Biographies: Biography of Bo Yi · 11 passages

Open chapter

孔子序列古之仁聖賢人，如吳太伯、伯夷之倫詳矣。 Confucius arranged and set forth the ancient benevolent sages and worthy men, including figures such as Wu Taibo and Bo Yi, in detail.

孔子曰：「伯夷、叔齊，不念舊惡，怨是用希。」 Confucius said, "Bo Yi and Shu Qi do not remember old wrongs; therefore resentment toward them is rare."