Shensheng (, died 20 February 655 BCE Sima 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 The ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' () is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. The '' Annals'' is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 241-year period from 722 to 48 ...

(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 Yang Bojun (; 1 September 1909 − 1992) was a Chinese philologist best known for his ''Chunqiu Zuozhuan Zhu'' (), an annotated commentary of the ancient Chinese historical text and Confucian classic '' Zuo Zhuan''. The work took him more than ...

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 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, ...

and the Crown Prince of the State of Jin before being replaced by his half-brother

Xiqi Xiqi (, 665–651 BC) was briefly the ruler of the 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, and later replaced his older half-brother Shensheng as c ...

. One of his sisters, Lady Mu, later became the wife of

Duke Mu of Qin Duke Mu of Qin (died 621BC), born Renhao, was a duke of Qin (659–621BC) in the western reaches of the Zhou Kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history. Sometimes considered one of China's Five Hegemons, he greatly expanded ...

Biography

Shensheng was the son of Qi Jiang (齊姜), the first wife of Duke Xian of Jin. Because Duke Xian of Jin favored his concubine Li Ji, in 665 BCE he sent away three of his older sons. Shensheng was sent to live in Quwo, modern Quwo County in

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

. In 661 BCE, in order to ensure Shensheng's continued political isolation from the Jin court, Duke Xian split a branch off his army and made Shensheng its general, with the command to garrison Quwo. Three years later, Duke Xian officially replaced Shensheng as crown prince with Li Ji's son Xiqi. In 656 BCE, the

Li Ji Rebellion 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 ...

started with the scheme that caused the suicide of Shensheng. Shensheng was asked to offer sacrifices to his deceased mother, Qi Jiang. Shensheng sent some of the food blessed by the gods to Duke Xian. Li Ji had secretly placed poison in the food in order to frame Shensheng for murder. Before Duke Xian began eating, he gave a part of the food to a dog to check for poison whereupon the dog immediately collapsed. Discovering the poison in the food, Duke Xian killed Shensheng's teacher Du Yuankuan (杜原款) and sent men to Quwo to arrest Shensheng. Shensheng was advised to defend himself in front of Duke Xian by revealing Li Ji's plot. Shensheng replied that he wouldn't like to break his father's heart by revealing Li Ji's plot. When Chong'er advised him to escape, he replied that if he escaped it would appear as if he really had planned to kill his father, and no one in the world would protect him then. Shensheng subsequently hanged himself. Due to the filial piety and loyalty of Shensheng, he was given the

posthumous title A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishment ...

"Gong Taizi" (恭太子) or "Gong Shizi" (恭世子), both meaning "the respectful crown prince". According to the ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'',

Duke Hui of Jin Duke Hui of Jin (died 637BC), born Yiwu, was the duke of Jin (.650–637BC) during the Spring and Autumn Period of China's Zhou dynasty. Life Early life Yiwu was one of the nine sons of Duke Xian. His mother was Xiao Rongzi. He was the youn ...

disrespectfully transferred Shensheng's burial to another place which made the spirit of Shensheng angry. The spirit of Shensheng then appeared in front of the Jin official Hu Tu (狐突) and told him that Shensheng has pleaded to the heavenly god to let the

State of Qin Qin () was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Traditionally dated to 897 BC, it took its origin in a reconquest of western lands previously lost to the Rong; its position at the western edge of Chinese civilization permitted ...

conquer the State of Jin as a punishment. After persuasions made by Hu Tu, Shensheng replied that the heavenly god has allowed that Duke Hui of Jin be defeated in battle at the land of Han as a punishment. After that, the spirit disappeared.Sima Qian, 39:1651.

References

Bibliography

Liu Xiang Liu Xiang or Liuxiang may refer to: People *Liu Xiang, Prince of Qi (died 179 BC), prince during the Han dynasty *Liu Xiang, Prince of Liang (died 97 BC), prince during the Han dynasty *Liu Xiang (scholar) (77 BC – 6 BC), Han dynasty scholar-off ...

, ''說苑校證 (Annotated

Shuoyuan The ''Shuo Yuan'' (), variously translated as ''Garden of Stories'', ''Garden of Persuasions'', ''Garden of Talks'', etc., is a collection of stories and anecdotes from the pre-Qin period (先秦) to the Western Han Dynasty. The stories were comp ...

)'', s BCE Xiang Zonglu (向宗魯), ed. Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing, 1987. *

Lü Buwei Lü Buwei (291–235 BCE) was a Chinese merchant and politician of the Qin state during the Warring States period. Originally an influential merchant from the Wei () state, Lü Buwei met and befriended King Zhuangxiang of Qin, who was then a ...

''呂氏春秋集釋 (Collected Readings of the

Lüshi Chunqiu The ''Lüshi Chunqiu'', also known in English as ''Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals'', is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BC under the patronage of the Qin Dynasty Chancellor Lü Buwei. In the evaluation of Mic ...

)'',

39 BCE 39 may refer to: * 39 (number), the natural number following 38 and preceding 40 * one of the years: ** 39 BC ** AD 39 ** 1939 ** 2039 * ''39'' (album), a 2000 studio album by Mikuni Shimokawa * "'39", a 1975 song by Queen * "Thirty Nine", a song ...

Xu Weiyu (許維遹),

933 Year 933 ( CMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Hugh of Provence, king of Italy, launches an expedition to Rome to remove ...

ed. 2 vols. Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing,

009 009 may refer to: * OO9, gauge model railways * O09, FAA identifier for Round Valley Airport * 0O9, FAA identifier for Ward Field, see List of airports in California * British secret agent 009, see 00 Agent * BA 009, see British Airways Flight 9 ...

2010. * Sima Qian, ''史記 (

Shiji ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

)''

0s BCE The 0s BC were the period between 9 BC and 1 BC, the last nine years of the before Christ era. It is one of two "0-to-9" decade-like timespans that contain nine years, along with the 0s. This is a list of events occurring in the 0s BC ordered ...

10 vols. Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing,

959 Year 959 ( CMLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * April - May – The Byzantines refuse to pay the yearly tribute. A Hungar ...

1963. *

Wang Chong Wang Chong (; 27 – c. 97 AD), courtesy name Zhongren (仲任), was a Chinese astronomer, meteorologist, naturalist, philosopher, and writer active during the Han Dynasty. He developed a rational, secular, naturalistic and mechanistic acco ...

, ''論衡集釋 (Collected Readings of the

Lunheng The ''Lunheng'', also known by numerous English translations, is a wide-ranging Chinese classic text by Wang Chong (27- ). First published in 80, it contains critical essays on natural science and Chinese mythology, philosophy, and literature ...

)'', 0s Liu Pansui (劉盼遂)

932 Year 932 ( CMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Alberic II leads an uprising at Rome against his stepfather Hugh of Provenc ...

annotation; Huang Hui (黃暉), ed. 4 vols. Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing, 1990. * Xu Yuangao ( 徐元誥), ed., ''國語集解 (Collected Readings of the Guoyu)''. Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing, 2002. *

, ed., ''春秋左傳注修訂本 (Annotated Zuozhuan, Revised Edition)''. 4 vols. Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing, 9811993. * Zhang Peiyu (張培瑜), ''中國先秦史歷表 (Historical Almanac of Pre-Imperial China)''. Jinan: Qi Lu Publishing, 1987. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shensheng Zhou dynasty nobility Jin (Chinese state) 655 BC deaths Year of birth unknown Suicides by hanging in China Suicides in China Ancient people who committed suicide