Weizi 微子 (www.chinaknowledge.de)

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Shang Dynasty

Jul 14, 2012 © Ulrich Theobald

Weizi 微子, personal name Qi 啓, was an older half-brother of the bad last king of the Shang dynasty 商 (17th to 11th cent. BCE), King Zhou 紂. Wei 微 was the name of his state near the capital of the Shang.

Weizi often remonstrated against the evil conduct of government and finally left the court. When King Wu 周武王 of the Zhou 周 (11th. cent.-221 BCE) conquered the Shang kingdom, Weizi submitted, offering to take over the responsibility for his brother's misdoings. After the last rebellious prince of the Shang, Wu Geng 武庚, was defeated, King Wu of Zhou appointed Weizi ruler of the territory of Song 宋. The charge of the investiture was written down in the chapter Weizi zhi ming 微子之命 of the Classic Shangshu 尚書.

Sources:

Cang Xiuliang 倉修良, ed. (1991). Shiji cidian 史記辭典 (Jinan: Shandong jiaoyu chubanshe), 608.

Xiong Tieji 熊鐵基, Yang Youli 楊有禮, ed. (1994). Zhongguo diwang zaixiang cidian 中國帝王宰相辭典 (Wuhan: Hubei jiaoyu chubanshe), 367.

Yi Xingguo 衣興國, ed. (1988). Shiyong Zhongguo renming cidian 實用中國名人辭典 (Changchun: Jilin wenshi chubanshe), 20.

Zhang Huizhi 張撝之, Shen Qihui 沈起煒, Liu Dezhong 劉德重, ed. (1999). Zhonggui lidai renming da cidian 中國歷代人名大辭典 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe), Vol. 2, 2411.