Wong Tai Sin Oracle

Wong Tai Sin Sign 39夷齊讓園The Righteous Brothers' Sacrifice

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You're facing a situation where your principles are being tested against practical considerations.

Denouncing the favour of the Chau Dynasty, The saintly brothers took mountain fern for food.

Their names should forever be remembered, For they died for the principle and for the good.

WONG TAI SIN
Traditional fortune poem
Story

The Righteous Brothers' Sacrifice

This story comes from ancient China, around 1100 BCE. Brothers Bo Yi and Shu Qi were princes of a small kingdom called Guzhu. When their father died, each brother refused the throne, insisting the other should rule instead. Eventually they fled together. Later, when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the corrupt Shang Dynasty, the brothers were horrified — not because they supported Shang, but because they believed overthrowing any ruler, even a tyrant, was morally wrong. They refused to eat grain from the new Zhou kingdom, considering it tainted. Instead, they retreated to Mount Shouyang and survived on wild ferns. They eventually starved to death, becoming symbols of unwavering moral principles. Chinese culture remembers them as examples of integrity taken to its ultimate extreme.

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