Princess Bo Ji has often been seen as a virtuous Princess. She was willing to die for righteousness rather than live an unrighteous life. Her story has inspired a chastity cult in late imperial China.[1] Thus, she has often been seen as a model Princess that women must follow.[2] She has continued to be admired and praised for thousands of years.
Princess Bo Ji was born sometime in the early sixth century B.C.E.[3] Bo means “eldest daughter.”[4] She lived during the Spring and Autumn period, which lasted from 771 to 453 B.C.E. During this period, Chinese states were declaring their own independence from the ruling Zhou Dynasty to form their own dynasties.[5] She was a Princess of the State of Lu.[6] Her father was Duke Gong of Lu. Her mother was Mu Jiang.[7] She had an older brother who would be known as Duke Cheng of Lu. She was said to be very obedient and virtuous.[8]
In 582 B.C.E., Princess Bo Ji married Duke Gong of the State of Song (which was a larger state and south of Lu).[9] When she arrived in Song, her husband did not personally greet her.[10] She refused to attend the ancestral temple to complete her marriage.[11] She finally went to the ancestral temple to complete her marriage ceremony when her mother begged her to go.[12] Duchess Bo Ji was married to Duke Gong for ten years.[13] Duke Gong died in 575 B.C.E., and Duchess Bo Ji became a widow.[14] It is unknown if she ever had children.[15]
In 543 B.C.E., the palace that Duchess Bo Ji was staying in caught on fire.[16] Duchess Bo Ji did not leave her burning palace.[17] Instead, she waited for both her governess and her matron to accompany her out of the palace.[18] These were part of “the rules of righteousness”[19], which women were required to obey.[20] Her matron arrived to accompany her, but her governess did not.[21] Thus, Duchess Bo Ji sent her matron out to let her rescue herself.[22] However, Duchess Bo Ji stayed behind in the palace and was burned alive.[23] She was in her fifties.[24]
Princess Bo Ji’s death has been seen as heroic by Confucian scholars.[25] She was a Princess who was willing to die for righteousness. In late imperial China, she was the symbol of a chastity cult.[26] Thus, Princess Bo Ji would rather die than live an unrighteous life. She is included in Biographies of Eminent Women under the category “Biographies of the Chaste and Obedient.”[27] Princess Bo Ji has been praised and admired for over two thousand years.[28]
Sources:
Cook, C. A. (2015). “Bo Ji, Wife of Duke Gong of Song”. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E. – 618 C.E. (L. X. H. Lee, Ed.; A. D. Stefanowska, Ed.; S. Wiles, Ed.). NY: Routledge. pp. 7-8.
Eno, R. (2010). 1.7. Spring and Autumn China (771-453). Indiana University, PDF.
Liu, X., Kinney, A. B. (2014). Exemplary Women of Early China: The Lienü Zhuan of Liu Xiang. United Kingdom: Columbia University Press.
[1] Cook, 2015
[2] Cook, 2015
[3] Cook, 2015
[4] Liu & Kinney, 2014, p. 231
[5] Eno, 2010
[6] Cook, 2015
[7] Liu & Kinney, 2014
[8] Cook, 2015
[9] Cook, 2015
[10] Cook, 2015
[11] Cook, 2015
[12] Cook, 2015
[13] Liu & Kinney, 2014
[14] Liu & Kinney, 2014
[15] Liu & Kinney, 2014
[16] Liu & Kinney, 2014
[17] Cook, 2015
[18] Cook, 2015
[19] Cook, 2015, p. 7
[20] Cook, 2015
[21] Cook, 2015
[22] Cook, 2015
[23] Cook, 2015
[24] Cook, 2015
[25] Cook, 2015
[26] Cook, 2015
[27] Cook, 2015, p. 8
[28] Cook, 2015
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