Malaysia / China: Carving of Bo Yikao, depicting his role in the 16th Century Ming...

Bo Yikao was the eldest son of King Wen of Zhou, and brother to the future King Wu, founder of the Zhou Dynasty. He predeceased his father, most likely at the hands of King Zhou of Shang, with his death possibly being the first instance of 'lingchi' ('death by a thousand cuts'). Some sources say that he simply did not inherit the kingdom, either as an abberant occurrence, or due to an older Zhou tradition of passing over the eldest son in favour of a younger son. In the Ming Dynasty novel 'Fenghsen Yanyi', his life and death are dramatised. After his father was imprisoned by King Zhou, Bo Yikao - who was described as handsome and filial, skilled in music and the arts - was the one who came with the bribes to free him. King Zhou's concubine and secretly a vixen spirit, Su Daji, immediately fell in love with him, and had the king employ Bo Yikai to teach her how to play the 'guqin' (musical instrument). When she tries to seduce him, Bo Yikai rejects and ridicules her, turning her infatuation into hatred. She subsequently complains to King Zhou that Yikao molested her and insulted the king in his music. He orders Yikao to be executed, minced into pieces and then made into meat cakes. Not content with that, he then sends the cakes to Yikao's father, who through his divination, had already foreseen his son's fate, but eats the cakes anyway, so as not to arouse the king's suspicion. He vomits out the cakes on his way home, transforming into three white rabbits, later brought under the care of the moon goddess Chang'e. Editor: Anandajoti