| Boyi Kao | |||||||||
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| Chinese | 伯邑考 | ||||||||
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Boyi Kao was the oldest son of King Wen, founder of the Zhou Dynasty. It is known that he died before his father but the cause of death was not recorded in history.
Boyi Kao is featured as a character in the epic fantasy novel Fengshen Bang. He is the oldest and most outstanding son of Ji Chang, the Western Duke of the Shang Dynasty. Not only is he versed in music and the arts, he is also handsome in appearance and is known to be a filial son. At one point, the tyrannical King Zhou of Shang become suspicious of Ji Chang and places him under house arrest in Youli (羑里) for seven years.
Boyi Kao brings several precious gifts to meet King Zhou and pleads with the king to release his father. King Zhou's concubine Daji finds Boyi Kao attractive and requests that the king let Boyi Kao teach her how to play the guqin. During a lesson, Daji attempts to seduce Boyi Kao but he rejects and ridicules her. Daji's infatuation with Boyi Kao turns into hatred and she complains to King Zhou that Boyi Kao molested her and insulted the king through his music. King Zhou is furious and he orders Boyi Kao to be executed, minced into pieces and made into meat cakes. The king then sends the meat cakes (containing Boyi Kao's flesh) to Ji Chang to test Ji Chang's divination ability. Ji Chang knows divination and has already foreseen his son's fate. In order not to arouse King Zhou's suspicion, Ji Chang endures the emotional pain and consumes the cakes. King Zhou thinks that Ji Chang is lying about his knowledge of divination, so he lowers his guard against Ji Chang and allows him to leave. On the way home, Ji Chang vomits out the meat cakes, which transform instantly into three white rabbits. The rabbits are later brought under the care of the moon goddess Chang'e.