Prince Bigan (), surnamed " Zi" (子), was a prominent Chinese figure during the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...

. He was a son of King Wen Ding, and an uncle of King Zhou, and served as the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of the Kingdom of Shang. He was later worshipped as the God of Wealth.

History

Prince Bigan was the prime minister of the Kingdom of Shang during the late Shang dynasty, and a member of the Shang royal family. His

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

was " Zi" (子). He was the son of King Wen Ding and served his nephew, King Zhou. Zhou, the last king of the Shang dynasty, has been traditionally regarded as notoriously cruel, immoral, and wasteful. According to the account recorded by

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 ...

in his ''

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 ...

'', King Zhou's minister Prince Weizi admonished him to reform his ways several times, but his admonitions fell on deaf ears. Prince Weizi then decided to withdraw from the court, but Prince Bigan argued that to serve as minister meant doing what was right even if it meant death. Prince Bigan continued to strongly criticise his ruler's conduct, and an enraged King Zhou ordered his execution, proclaiming that he wanted to see if it was true that a sage's heart had seven apertures. David Schaberg has argued that the tendency for later politicians to adopt an indirect style of critique when disagreeing with their rulers was influenced by the gruesome fate of figures like Prince Bigan.

Reputation

In the ''

Analects The ''Analects'', also known as the ''Sayings of Confucius'', is an ancient Chinese philosophical text composed of sayings and ideas attributed to Confucius and his contemporaries, traditionally believed to have been compiled by his followers. ...

'', Prince Bigan was honored by

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

as one of "the three sages" of the Shang dynasty, together with Prince Weizi and Prince Jizi. Prince Bigan later became an exemplar of the loyal advisor willing to lose his life for giving truthful advice. When the Spring and Autumn-era general and politician of Wu,

Wu Zixu :''Note: names are in simplified characters followed by traditional and Pinyin transliteration.'' Wu Yun (died 484 BC), better known by his courtesy name Zixu, was a Chinese military general and politician of the Wu (state), Wu kingdom in the Spr ...

, was ordered to commit suicide, his last words were, "After my death, later generations will definitely think that I was loyal. They will indeed match me up to the Xia and Yin .e., Shangeras, making me a companion of Longfeng and Bigan”. When Hu Yuan, who served

King Min of Qi King Min of Qi (), personal name Tian Di, was a king of the Qi state. During his reign, the troops of Yan, Qin, Zhao, Han, Wei, and Chu launched the Battle of Jixi (濟西之戰) against Qi, resulting in Qi's defeat. Life "Famous for his p ...

, was about to be executed, he referenced both Prince Bigan and Wu Zixu: "Yin had its Bigan, Wu had its Zixu, and Qi owhas its Hu Yuan. his statenot only didn't make use of apt words, it also executed their speaker at its eastern gate. By being executed, I will form a triad with those two masters." The historian ranked Prince Bigan alongside Guan Longfeng,

Qu Yuan Qu Yuan ( – 278 BC) was a Chinese poet and aristocrat in the State of Chu during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry and verses, especially through the poems of the '' ...

Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang () (181September or October 234), also commonly known by his courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman, strategist, and inventor who lived through the End of the Han dynasty, end of the Eastern Han dynasty ( 184–220) and t ...

, and

Wei Zheng Wei Zheng (580 – 11 February 643), courtesy name Xuancheng, posthumous name Duke Wenzhen of Zheng, was a Chinese politician and historian. He served as a chancellor of the Tang dynasty for about 13 years during the reign of Emperor Taizong. H ...

as one of the great frank and courageous patriots of Chinese history.

God of Wealth

Later accounts of the life of Prince Bigan added details, including that his execution came at request of King Zhou's notorious concubine Daji, because she objected that Prince Bigan had remonstrated with King Zhou for wasting money meant for the common good. These depictions were an influence on Prince Bigan's later deification as a Caishen, or God of Wealth. A notable example of this version of Prince Bigan's story can be seen in the famous

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

novel '' The Investiture of the Gods''. In the end,

Jiang Ziya Jiang Ziya ( century BC – 11th century BC), also known by several other names, also known by his posthumous name as the Duke Tai of Qi, was the founding monarch of the Qi state. He was a military general and strategist who as ...

appointed him as Wenquxing (文曲星, 'Star of Literature').

Notes

References

Taoist deities Chinese gods Deified Chinese men 11th-century BC Chinese people Shang dynasty government officials Investiture of the Gods characters {{tao-stub