Jizi
Semi-legendary Chinese sage and culture hero in Korean tradition.
Jizi, known in Korean as Kija, is a semi-legendary Chinese sage said to have ruled Kija Chosŏn in the 11th century BCE. Early Chinese texts describe him as a virtuous relative of the last Shang king who was punished for remonstrating, and later gave advice to King Wu of Zhou. Han dynasty sources claim he was enfeoffed as ruler of Chaoxian and brought agriculture and sericulture there, though modern Korean historians question the historical legitimacy of this account.
Quick Facts
- Also known as
- Kija (Korean)
- Qizi
- Kizi
- Earliest mention
- Book of Change (Mingyi hexagram)
- Period of alleged rule
- 11th century BCE
- Dynasty associated with
- Shang, Zhou
- Mausoleum established
- 1102 (Goryeo period)
Facts from the source article.
In ancient Chinese texts
The earliest known reference to Jizi appears in the Mingyi hexagram of the Book of Change. According to the Book of Documents, the Analects, and the Bamboo Annals, Jizi was a relative of King Zhou, the last Shang ruler, and was one of the three wise men of Shang, alongside Weizi and Bi Gan. He is often identified as the Grand Tutor of the king. For remonstrating against King Zhou's misrule, Jizi was either imprisoned or enslaved; a later version claims he feigned madness after Bi Gan was killed. Following the Shang dynasty's overthrow by the Zhou in the mid-11th century BCE, King Wu released Jizi and sought his advice on governance. These early texts do not mention Chosŏn or any descendants of Jizi, portraying him solely as a virtuous man trusted by King Wu. The first explicit connection between Jizi and Chosŏn appears in Han dynasty sources from the 2nd century BCE. The Shangshu dazhuan, a commentary on the Book of Documents attributed to Fu Sheng, states that King Wu enfeoffed Jizi as ruler of Chosŏn, making him a subject of Zhou. Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian offers a similar account but notes that Jizi did not become King Wu's subject. The Book of Han claims Jizi taught the people of Chosŏn agriculture, sericulture, weaving, and proper ceremony, and may have introduced the law of Eight Prohibitions. The Records of Three Kingdoms asserts that Jizi's descendants ruled Chosŏn for forty generations until overthrown by Wei Man in 194 BCE.
Interpretations of Kija
The first extant Korean text to mention Kija is Kim Pusik's Samguk sagi, completed in 1145, which notes that Kija was enfeoffed in Haedong by the Zhou court but expresses uncertainty due to limited sources. By the 13th century, Korean texts began integrating Kija more fully into national history. The Samguk yusa (1281) states that Kija replaced Tan'gun's descendants as ruler of Chosŏn, while the Jewang Ungi (1287) identifies Tan'gun and Kija as the first rulers of former and latter Chosŏn respectively. In 1102, during the Goryeo period, King Sukjong built a mausoleum to Kija near Pyongyang at a site believed to be his tomb, and a sadang called Kijasa was also erected there. The mausoleum was rebuilt in 1324 and repaired in 1355. After the Chosŏn Dynasty was established in 1392, the cult of Kija spread widely as Neo-Confucian scholars promoted him as a culture hero who elevated Korean civilization to China's level. From the late 16th to 18th centuries, scholars published numerous works on Kija, including Yun Tusu's Kijaji (1580) and Yi I's Kija Silgi, which praised Kija for introducing agriculture, sericulture, decorum, the well-field system, and the Eight Prohibitions. Temples called Kijayeongjeon, housing portraits of Kija, were built in the 18th century in South Pyongan Province. By the late Chosŏn period, worship of Kija had become integral to Korean cultural identity, and some clans claim direct descent from him.
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