The Analects – Chapter 113 (5.23). Bo Yi and Shu Qi’s boundless forgiveness

5.23

The Master said, “Boyi and Shuqi never bore old ills in mind and had but the faintest feelings of rancour.”

子曰：「伯夷、叔齊不念舊惡，怨是用希。」

Notes

Boyi (Bo Yi) and Shuqi (Shu Qi), sons of the ruler of Guzhu at the end of the Shang dynasty, famously yielded the throne to each other and fled their state. After King Wu of Zhou overthrew the tyrannical King Zhou, they condemned the rebellion as “replacing violence with violence” and withdrew to Shouyang Mountain. Refusing to eat grain of the new Zhou dynasty, they sustained themselves on wild herbs until starving to death.

Confucius praised their boundless forgiveness:

“They held no grudges against past wrongs”.

This profound capacity to release resentment – neither seeking revenge nor harboring bitterness – meant others seldom resented them. Such forgiveness embodied the highest form of clemency in Confucian ethics.

Both Confucius and Mencius held Bo Yi and Shu Qi in high esteem, and there are many references to them in The Analects and Mencius.

Zigong asked: “What kind of men were Bo Yi and Shu Qi?” The Master replied: “They were worthies of ancient times.” Zigong asked: “Did they harbor any resentment?” The Master replied: “They sought benevolence and attained benevolence. What resentment could they have?”(Analects 7.15)

It defines their moral stature with the epithet of “worthies of ancient times”, and affirms their choices of abdicating the throne and refusing to eat the grain of the Zhou Dynasty by virtue of the notion “seeking benevolence and attaining benevolence”. It holds that upholding morality in itself constitutes the fulfillment of value, embodying the core Confucian tenet that righteousness outweighs profit, and moral aspiration outweighs official position.

The Master said: “They did not lower their aspirations, nor did they disgrace their persons – such were Bo Yi and Shu Qi!”(Analects 18.8)

It highly summarizes their core moral character of “abdicating the throne and renouncing their position, refusing to eat the grain of the Zhou Dynasty”, regarding them as paragons of reclusive worthies who uphold their aspirations and preserve their integrity. It emphasizes that personal dignity and moral adherence are above secular interests.

Mencius said: “Bo Yi would not serve a ruler whom he did not approve of; he would not stand in the court of a wicked man, nor would he converse with a wicked man. To stand in the court of a wicked man or converse with a wicked man was to him like sitting in mud and charcoal while wearing his court robes and cap.”(Mencius 3.9)

It intensifies the ultimate manifestation of their incorruptibility – the absolute commitment to righteousness and refusal to compromise with secular power, which is perfectly consistent with Confucius’ evaluation of them as “not lowering their aspirations, nor disgracing their persons”.