Shensheng (, died 20 February 655 BCE

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

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 242-year period from 722 to 481&nbs ...

(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 tw ...

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 (), personal name Ji Guizhu, was a ruler of the Jin state, reigning for 26 years. He moved the capital from Quwo (曲沃) to Jiang (絳). He was named after the Rongdi (戎狄) leader Guizhu (詭諸), whom his father and predece ...

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

Xiqi Ji Xiqi was briefly a ruler of the Jin state. He was the son of Duke Xian and his favored concubine Li Ji, and later replaced his older half-brother Ji Shensheng as crown prince. After the death of Duke Xian, he took the throne for about a mon ...

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

Duke Mu of Qin Duke Mu of Qin (died 621BC), born Ying Renhao, was a duke of the state of Qin. Sometimes considered one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period, Duke Mu greatly expanded the territory of Qin during the reign of King Xiang of Zhou. ...

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; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

. 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 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, and 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 before 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 mainly to revered dead people in East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments ...

"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 The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

'',

Duke Hui of Jin Duke Hui of Jin, personal name Ji Yiwu, was duke of the Jin state from 650 BC to 637 BC. Life Early life Yiwu was one of the nine sons of Duke Xian. His mother was Xiao Rongzi. He was the younger sibling of Shensheng and Chong'er (later Du ...

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 (, , or ''Ch'in'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. It is traditionally dated to 897 BC. The state of Qin originated from a reconquest of western lands that had previously been lost to the Xirong. Its location at ...

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, ''說苑校證 (Annotated Shuoyuan)'', 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 Wey () 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 239BC under the patronage of late pre-imperial Qin Chancellor Lü Buwei. In the evaluati ...

)'', 39 BCE Xu Weiyu (許維遹),

933 Year 933 ( CMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Hugh of Provence, king of Italy, launches an expedition to Rome to remove the Roman ruler (''princeps'') Albe ...

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 ...

2010. *

, ''史記 (

Shiji The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st cen ...

)'' 0s BCE 10 vols. Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing, 9591963. *

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 Eastern Han dynasty. He developed a rational, secular, naturalistic and mecha ...

, ''論衡集釋 (Collected Readings of the Lunheng)'', 0s Liu Pansui (劉盼遂)

932 Year 932 (Roman numerals, CMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Alberic II of Spoleto, Alberic II leads an uprising at Rome against his stepfather Hugh of Italy, Hu ...

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 The ''Zuo Zhuan'' ( zh, t=左傳, w=Tso Chuan; ), often translated as ''The Zuo Tradition'' or as ''The Commentary of Zuo'', is an ancient Chinese narrative history traditionally regarded as a commentary on the ancient Chinese chronicle the '' ...

, Revised Edition)''. 4 vols. Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing,

981 Year 981 ( CMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Emperor Otto II (the Red) leads the imperial court to Rome, making the city his imperial capital, and receiv ...

1993. * 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 People of Jin (Chinese state) 650s BC deaths Year of birth unknown Suicides by hanging in China Suicides in the Spring and Autumn period