Ancient China · Royal Family Member

Hou Ji 後稷

Legendary antiquity

Passages: 7
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Hou Ji was a Royal Family Member.

Life and dates

Attested activity

legendary antiquity
Directly stated · History of Song 106, passages 137, 150

Family

Ancestor of Wu (武)
Hou Ji 後稷 · paternal line
Strongly inferred · History of Song 106, passage 150
Ancestor of Wen (文)
Hou Ji 後稷 · paternal line
Strongly inferred · History of Song 106, passage 150

Places and affiliations

Polity Zhou 周 · Relation Associated with
Directly stated · History of Song 106, passages 137, 150

References in the histories

History of Song, Chapter 106Volume 106 Treatises 59: Rites 9 · 7 passages

熙寧五年，中書門下言：「僖祖以上世次，不可得而知，則僖祖有廟，與商周契、稷疑無以異。 In 1072, the Secretariat argued: "Generations above Xizu cannot be known, and Xizu having a temple scarcely differs from Shang and Zhou honoring Qi and Ji.

故商、周以契、稷有功於唐、虞之際，故謂之祖有功，若必以有功而為祖，則夏後氏不郊鯀矣。 Shang and Zhou honored Qi and Ji as ancestors of merit for their service in the age of Tang and Yu; but if merit alone made one an ancestor, the Xia would not have sacrificed at the border to Gun.

儻謂僖祖不當比契、稷為始祖，是使天下之人不復知尊祖，而子孫得以有功加其祖考也。 To deny Xizu comparison with Qi and Ji as founding ancestor would make all under Heaven cease to honor ancestors properly, and let descendants add merit to their forebears at will.

故子夏序《詩》，稱文、武之功起於後稷。 Hence Zixia, ordering the Odes, said the achievements of Wen and Wu arose from Hou Ji.

僖祖雖為高祖，然仰跡功業，未見所因，上尋世係，又不知所以始，若以所事契、稷奉之，竊恐於古無考，而於今亦所未安。 Although Xizu was great-great-grandfather, tracing upward reveals no enterprise on which to rely and no known beginning to the lineage. To honor him as Qi and Ji were honored lacks ancient warrant and seems unsettling today.

同判太常寺兼禮儀事張師顏等議：「昔商、周之興，本於契、稷，故奉之為太祖。 Acting director Zhang Shiyan of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and Ritual Affairs argued: "Shang and Zhou arose from Qi and Ji and hence honored them as Grand Ancestor.

魏祖武帝則處士迭毀，唐祖景帝則弘農迭毀，此前世祖其始封之君，以法契、稷之明例也。 Wei ancestor Emperor Wu had the Commoner successively destroyed; Tang ancestor Emperor Jing had Hongnong successively destroyed—these former ages honored their first enfeoffed lords, following Qi and Ji's clear precedent.