Speaking of the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history, it is estimated that many friends who do not know much about history can also think of the Zhou Dynasty, after all, the Zhou Dynasty has too much influence on the Chinese folk, so that the current culture, folklore, and living habits are closely related to the Zhou Dynasty. Moreover, thanks to the novelist's later interpretation, the story of "Wu Wang Fa Lu" is even more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Before that, a friend asked me a question, in the early days of the Wu Dynasty, several sons of The Marquis Jichang of Xibo were all surnamed Ji with the same surname as him, so why was the eldest son called Bo Yikao? Was King Ji Fa of Zhou Wu adopted, or was his eldest son, Bo Yikao, adopted?
Photo: Stills of the sons of Xi Bohou Jichang
First, everything originates from the Xiqi harvest
1. The king's worries
First of all, Dahui can tell all his friends that neither Ji Fa nor Bo Yikao was adopted by Ji Chang, but indeed his own son.
The story in "Fengshen Yanyi" has a long and sustained influence on the folk of our country, and everyone has a more or less understanding of the Wu King, among which the "Wu King" is the Zhou Wu Wang Ji Fa, and his father is the Zhou Wen Wang Ji Chang who made up gossip.
Their family has always been semi-independent in the western part of China, but on the surface they also have to submit to Yin Shang, and when Ji Chang was the main ruler, the territory was well governed, and he himself was deeply loved by the people, which was in stark contrast to the brutal rule of the King of Shang.
Because of his fame, he aroused the suspicion of the King of Shang, so there was a bridge section to imprison Ji Chang in the city of Qiangli, according to the interpretation, the King of Ji was naturally an out-and-out emperor, and Ji Chang loved the people like a son, so everything happened with a reason.
However, from the historical records, the king of Ji was also a good monarch at the beginning of the succession, the reason why he ordered Ji Chang to be arrested was out of political considerations, after all, Ji Chang's reputation is rising day by day, which is not a good thing for any emperor, once Ji Chang has a disobedient heart, with his strength and appeal, it is definitely enough for Yin Shang to drink a pot.
Photo: Stills of Ji Chang before he was imprisoned by king Huan
2. The sacrifice of the eldest son, Bo Yikao
For the sake of yin shang's stable rule, the king of Lu made this decision, which in my opinion is also beyond reproach, and under the premise of not turning their faces to each other, he finally put Ji Chang back, which is a bit of a meaning of letting the tiger return to the mountain.
When Ji Chang returned to his hometown, he began to constantly recruit soldiers and horses, and also gathered a lot of capable people and strangers, which obviously had a negative intention, and later after the unremitting efforts of Ji Chang's father and son for two generations, the great cause of cutting down business was finally successful, and the Zhou Dynasty was established.
In the "Fengshen Yanyi", Ji Fa is Ji Chang's second son, and there is a big brother named Bo Yi kao, if he did not die too early, the foundation laid by Ji Chang should have been inherited by Bo Yi Kao, when his father was imprisoned by the King of Sui, Bo Yi Kao was brutally killed by Yin Shang in order to save his father, and even made a meat cake alive, forcing Ji Chang to eat it, in order to test whether the Ji Chang clan had a heart of betrayal.
In the view of the cruel King of Lu, once Ji Chang found out the truth and refused to eat his son's meat, then he could take the opportunity to play and directly kill him, fortunately, Ji Chang was a calm and calm person, knowing that the eldest son was in trouble, but he still generously ate the meat and drank the soup, which did not give the King of Qi a handle, and finally won back Xiqi.
Considering that Ji Chang had died when he sent troops against the Shang, so the heir to the highest power became Ji Chang, which was somewhat "pie in the sky", but some people believed that even if Bo Yikao was still alive, it might not be his turn, why do you say so?
Photo: Stills of the eldest son Bo Yi kao
Second, the relationship between Bo Yikao and Ji Fa
1. There is no doubt about identity
Even if Bo Yikao is alive, it is unlikely to become an heir, so who will it fall into? Some friends who hold negative opinions believe that it will still be Ji Fa, and the reason given is that Bo Yi kao is not surnamed Ji, and it is likely that he is not Ji Chang's own child.
After all, from the name point of view, Ji Chang, Ji Fa family father and son are surnamed Ji, but Bo Yi Kao is different, this is not the same surname, naturally the identity is not very "authentic", so how to inherit the family inheritance?
Dahui believes that this statement lacks factual basis, first, even if Bo Yikao is alive, he may not really compete with his brother Ji Fa, and secondly, the root cause lies in other factors, not the surname problem.
Image: Stills of Ji Fa and big brother Bo Yi Kao
In ancient China, there were many descendants of a family, in order to distinguish between them, the relationship between the size and the inferiority, they would be crowned with some fixed words in the name, such as the "Bo, Zhong, Uncle, Ji" and so on, which we are most familiar with, and the later it represents the younger the age.
There is a "Bo" in the name Bo Yikao, if nothing else, because he is the eldest son of the family, the eldest son of Ji Chang himself, not only his own birth, but also the highest status of all sons, and legally speaking, he is also the most likely to inherit the family business.
Similar situations include the Sun brothers in Jiangdong in the Three Kingdoms period, the eldest Sun Ce zi Bofu, the second sun quan zi Zhongmou, etc., which is also the meaning, if it were not for Sun Ce's early death, where would Jiangdong Jiye get Sun Quan!
Bo Yi Kao is the boss, very high status, is a natural heir, and the last few words are the real name, we can also read "Ji Kao".
Image: Stills of Bo Yi kao talking to an official
2. Legal heirs
From a modern point of view, he is surnamed Bo, in fact, the family name is Ji, Bo is to highlight his identity and status in the family, and slowly it has become Bo Yi kao. However, from the historical records, although he is the eldest, he is slightly inferior to his younger brother Ji Fa in terms of personal talent.
According to the description of the "Chronicle of History", Ji Chang had ten sons under his knees, of which Ji Fa and Ji Dan were the most virtuous, and had always been the right and left hands of Ji Chang's career, in addition, according to the records, when Bo Yikao was still alive, he had been driven out of the position of "prince" by Ji Chang, so in essence, Ji Fa was the designated heir of the family, after all, it was not yet the feudal era at that time, and the inheritance system of the eldest son was not so fixed.
More importantly, Ji Chang's purpose was to overthrow Yin Shang's centuries-old rule, and at this time when the family was related to the survival of the family, as his heir, he must be wise and talented, otherwise if he made a mistake, then not only himself, but also the entire family would fall into a situation of no return.
Photo: Ji Chang and his second son Ji Fa still
In summary, we do not have to dwell on the identity of Bo Yikao, the identity of King Ji Fa of Zhou Wu is not doubtful, and there is no such sword and soldier as the later "Nine Dragons Take the Wife", and the blood and rain are bloody, this is just the historical process of the rise of a family.
Article author: Dahui
The entire graphic was produced by the team of the Big Cafe Say History Studio!