Today his name is usually Romanized as Jie Zitui or Jie Zhitui,³ but references also suggest Jiezi Tui or Jiezhi Tui;⁴ in addition, some sources say his original name was Wang Guang.⁵ He is popularly associated with the Cold Food Day, part of the spring Qingming Festival.⁶

A native of Jin (in Shanxi) in the service of Chong Er, he followed Chong Er into exile in 635 BCE; after they returned 19 years later, Chong Er became duke and Jiezi, being slighted, went into seclusion at Mount Mian, with his mother.⁷ His friends campaigned on his behalf, leading the duke to go look for Jiezi without finding him. Another story says the duke tried to smoke him out of the forest, but instead burned him and his mother to death.

Yuefu Shiji, Folio 57, #22 has a set of four lyrics called Lament of a Gentleman Losing his Will (Shi Shi Zhi Cao⁸) which it attributes to Jiezi Tui. This entry is as follows.

Qin Shi mentions only the title Long She zhi Ge, quoting the second of the four poems, supposedly written at the time he went into seclusion. But see the Qin Ji comment above.

The original biography in Qin Shi begins:

Further details in preparation.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 介之推 Jiezhi Tui; Qin Cao has 介子綏 Jiezi Sui (372.8, same as Jiezi Tui).

2 13 lines (Return)

3 A conclusion based on a net search. See, e.g., Wikipedia under Duke Wen of Jin (i.e., 重耳 Chong Er). (Return)

4 This is almost impossible to confirm, since in writing Chinese characters one does not make such a distinction. (Return)

5 For example, Liexian Zhuan (he doesn't seem to be in Liexian Quanzhuan) calls him 介子推 Jiezi Tui but says his original name was 王光 Wang Guang. (Return)

6 See online references such as the one on China the Beautiful. (Return)

7 晉 Jin (part of modern 山西 Shanxi province); 重耳 Chong Er, also called 晉文公 Duke Wen of Jin; 綿山 Mount Mian (28343.7 has several; the second, in 山西介休縣 Jiexiu district of Shanxi, is given an association with Jiezi Tui). (Return)

8 士失志操 Shi Shi Zhi Cao (Melody of a Gentleman Losing his Will)
This title, attributed to Jiezhi Tui and itself included in ancient melody lists such as the one in Qinyuan Yaolu, is said to be the same as Long She Ge (see next footnote). (Return)

9 龍蛇之歌 Long She Ge (Dragon and Snake Song)
Long She Ge, or Long She zhi Ge (49828.359) is introduced in Qin Cao, where it is Hejian Zage #8. Qin Cao calls the author 介子綏 Jiezi Sui. The title is said elsewhere to refer to the same melody as Shi Shi zhi Cao (see previous footnote). (Return)

10 (Return)

11 (Return)

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