Shu Qi (叔齊) | 24 Histories

Overview

Shu Qi was a Legendary recluse and younger brother of Bo Yi.

Life and dates

Death

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

Attested activity

逸民
Directly stated · History of Jin 127, passage 49
legendary antiquity
Dated from the passage context · Book of Northern Qi 47, passage 74
legendary antiquity
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 30, passage 123; Book of Liang 31, passage 139; Book of Liang 38, passage 274; Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 11, 15, 19, 21, 28, 34, 37, 58; Book of Wei 96, passage 3
c. BC 1046 traditional date of King Wu's conquest of Shang
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 23, 28

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Sibling of Bo Yi (伯夷)
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)
father 父 · paternal line
son 子 · paternal line
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 15-16

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Entered
Hermit
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 28

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

Events and relationships

Grasped bridle and remonstrated
Political · Remonstrator · With King Wu of Zhou (武王)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 23-24
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
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
Would not have succeeded if set to guard the western river
Hypothetical · Guardian · At western river 西河 · Mode quoted-speech Speaker Emperor Wu of Liang (梁武帝)
Directly stated · Book of Liang 38, passage 274
Yielded to Bo Yi then fled
Political · Heir designate refuser · With Bo Yi (伯夷)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 61, passages 16, 19

Assessments and attributes

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 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 Later Han 30, passage 123; Records of the Grand Historian 61, passage 15

References in the histories

Search passages

History

17 passages

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

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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 76Volume 65: Dongfang Shuo · 2 passages

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

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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.'

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

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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 31Volume 31: Yuan Ang; Yuan Junzheng · 1 passage

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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.

Book of Liang, Chapter 38Volume 38: Zhu Yi; He Chen · 1 passage

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向使叔齊守于西河，豈能濟事？ If Shu Qi alone had held the western river, would anything have been accomplished?

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 61Biographies: Biography of Bo Yi · 9 passages

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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."

伯夷、叔齊，孤竹君之二子也。 Bo Yi and Shu Qi were sons of the ruler of Guzhu.