Great Ji (大姬) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Great Ji as a consort, diviner, named individual, and royal family member. This record brings together 2 passages from 2 chapters across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Great Ji	大姬	Daji
Alternate	Great Ji	大姬
Personal name	Tai Ji	大姬	Dà Jī

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Female

Value: female
Explicit · hanshu:020:s0019, hanshu:022:s0022

Roles

Consort
Diviner
Named Individual
Royal Family Member

Life and dates

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 大姬 · Western Year: c. BC 1045
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:022:s0022

Places and affiliations

陳
Explicit · hanshu:020:s0019
Place: Chen / 陳 · Relation: associated-with
Explicit · hanshu:022:s0022

Learning and skills

Belief: shamanic spirit sacrifice / 巫怪好祭鬼神 · Relation: practitioner-of
Explicit · hanshu:022:s0022

Events and relationships

Kind: ritual · Role: influencer · Action: spread-illicit-cults · Place: Chen / 陳 · Outcome: people of Chen followed into proliferating illicit cults
Explicit · hanshu:022:s0022

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: shamanistic and given to illicit cults, yet relevant to ranking discussion · Provenance: Mode: commentator-judgment · Speaker Person Id: Zhang Yan (張晏)
Explicit · hanshu:022:s0022

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Book of Han, Chapter 20Table of Ancient and Modern Persons · 1 passage

Open chapter

張晏曰：「老子玄默，仲尼所師，雖不在聖，要為大賢，文伯之母達於禮典，動為聖人所歎，言為後世所則，而在第四。田單以即墨孤城復強齊之大，魯連之博通，忽於榮利，藺子申威秦王，退讓廉頗，乃在第五。大姬巫怪，好祭鬼神，陳人化之，國多淫祀，寺人孟子違於大雅，以保其身，旣被宮刑，怨刺而作，乃在第三。嫪毐上烝，昬亂禮度，惡不忍聞，乃在第七。其餘差違紛錯不少，略舉揚較，以起失謬。獨馳騖於數千歲之中，旁觀諸子，事業未究，而尋遇竇氏之難，使之然乎？」 Zhang Yan said, "Laozi was deep and silent, and Confucius regarded him as a teacher. Though not ranked among sages, he surely counts as a great worthy. Wenbo's mother mastered the ritual classics; the sage praised her conduct and later ages took her words as a model—yet she appears in the fourth grade. Tian Dan restored great Qi from the isolated city of Jimo; Lu Lian was broadly learned yet disdained fame and profit; Lord Lin awed the King of Qin and yielded to Lian Po—yet they are placed in the fifth grade. Great Ji practiced sorcery and loved sacrificing to ghosts and spirits; the people of Chen were transformed by her and the state was full of improper cults. The eunuch Mengzi, turning from the great elegant style to preserve himself—after castration, wrote in resentment—yet is placed in the third grade. Lao Ai committed incest at court and threw ritual order into chaos, in deeds too foul to bear hearing—yet he is placed in the seventh grade. Discrepancies and errors are many; I have cited a few to expose the faults. Did he gallop alone across thousands of years, looking on at the various masters while his work remained unfinished, then soon meet the Dou family's disaster—and did that make it turn out this way?"

Book of Han, Chapter 22Volume 20: Prominent People from the Past Until the Present · 1 passage

Open chapter

大姬巫怪，好祭鬼神，陳人化之，國多淫祀，寺人孟子違於大雅，以保其身，旣被宮刑，怨刺而作，乃在第三。 Tai Ji indulged in shamanic superstition and spirit sacrifices, and the people of Chen followed her into proliferating illicit cults. The palace eunuch Master Meng, straying from lofty orthodox standards to save himself, later wrote resentful satires after his castration, yet is ranked in the third class.