Jie Zitui

Also known as Jie Zhitui · Jie Tui · Jie Zi

Jie Zitui, also written Jie Zhitui, was a man of Jin who followed Prince Chong'er during his years of exile. When Chong'er returned to rule as Duke Wen in 636 BCE and rewarded his companions, the Zuo Tradition (Zuozhuan) says that Jie did not speak of reward and none came to him. Telling his mother that Heaven had given Jin its ruler and the others were claiming Heaven's work, he went into hiding with her until they died. When searchers could not find him, Duke Wen set aside the fields of Mianshang in his name, to record his own fault and honour a good man. The story of Jie cutting flesh from his thigh to feed his lord appears in the Zhuangzi, and the tale of his death in a mountain fire comes from later writers. By the Eastern Han, people around Taiyuan let their fires go out and ate cold food in his memory each year.