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Fan Li
Counsellor of Yue who helped King Goujian destroy Wu, then left the court and, by the Shiji's account, grew rich in trade at Tao as Lord Zhu of Tao
Mural of the event “Legend of Xi Shi”, which this person took part in.
Around 490 BCE, following defeat at Kuaiji, King Goujian adopted strategic counsel to select Xi Shi from Zhuji's Zhuruo Mountain, instructing her in courtly dance and ritual before sending her to King Fuchai of Wu.
Also known as Fanshao Bo · Taozhu Gong · Chiyi Zipi
Fan Li, courtesy name Shaobo, came from Wan in Chu according to older texts quoted by commentators on the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), and entered the service of King Goujian of Yue. When Goujian was trapped at Kuaiji, Fan Li urged him to seek peace from Wu with humble words and rich gifts, and then spent two years in Wu as a hostage. Over the next two decades he and Wen Zhong helped Yue rebuild until it conquered Wu. The Shiji says he judged Goujian a ruler with whom one could share hardship but not success, so he sailed to Qi under the name Chiyi Zipi, later settled at Tao as Lord Zhu of Tao, grew rich in trade and died there in old age. Its chapter on money-makers says he made a fortune three times in nineteen years and twice gave it away to poor friends and distant kin, and 'Taozhu' came to mean a wealthy merchant.
Life and times
- UnknownBorn
Zhoulate Spring and Autumn period - 490 BCELegend of Xi Shi
Took partSelected from Zhuji to enter the Wu court, Xi Shi's presence in Guanwa Palace and afterlives across Lake Tai shaped the most enduring cultural memory of the Wu-Yue rivalry.- Selection of Xi Shi at Zhujic. 490 BCEAround 490 BCE, Goujian selected Xi Shi from Zhuji's Zhuruo Mountain and sent her to the Wu court after training in palace dance and ritual.
- Traditions of Drowning and Five Lakes473 BCEAfter Wu fell, parallel traditions of Xi Shi's drowning and Fan Li's departure across the Five Lakes turned the Wu–Yue story into a lasting Jiangnan literary motif.
- Selection of Xi Shi at Zhuji
- 473 BCEGoujian Conquering Wu
Took partAfter captivity in Wu, Goujian rebuilt Yue's army and economy, then captured the Wu capital and ended Fuchai's reign.- Goujian Endures Hardship494 BCEKing Goujian endured servitude in Wu, sleeping on brushwood to rebuild Yue's economic and martial strength.
- Fan Li Sails the Five Lakesc. 473 BCEAfter Yue defeated Wu, the tradition of Fan Li leaving Yue by boat on the Five Lakes became a lasting model of retirement after achievement.
- Goujian Endures Hardship
- UnknownDied
Connections
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