Is “Reining in the horse to remonstrate and gathering ferns on Shouyang Mountain, refusing to eat the grain of Zhou” true?
attested in history
Records of the Grand Historian, Biography of Boyi and Shuqi clearly records that Boyi and Shuqi grabbed King Wu's horse reins to remonstrate against his attack on the ruler, and later, ashamed to eat the grain of Zhou, they hid on Mount Shouyang, gathering ferns to eat, and starved to death. (「武王已平殷乱,天下宗周,而伯夷、叔齐耻之,义不食周粟,隐于首阳山,采薇而食之。」 Source: Biography of Boyi and Shuqi.txt)
Bo Yi
In official history, he is the son of the孤竹 ruler at the end of the Shang dynasty, a noble hermit who refused to eat the grain of Zhou; in fiction, he is a symbol of unwavering loyalty to his lord.
Other claims about Bo Yi
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