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

Bi Gan, or Bigan, was a prominent Chinese figure during the last days of the Shang Dynasty, and played an important role in the Ming Dynasty novel 'Fengshen Yanyi'. Bi Gan was the son of King Wen Ding, and uncle to King Zhou of Shang, last of the Shang Dynasty. King Zhou was infamous for his corruptive and cruel ways, especially after his betwitching by the fox spirit Su Daji, and became annoyed with Bi Gan's constant advice and attempts to rectify his ways. It is said that, on Daji's whisperings, King Zhou ordered Bi Gan to be executed through the extraction of his heart, under the pretext of curiosity on whether 'a good man's heart has seven openings'. In 'Fengshen Yanyi', Su Daji plots to kill Bi Gan after he kills some of her fellow fox spirits. The sage Jiang Ziya, predicting that Bi Gan will die soon, gives him a charm that will save his life. After his heart is removed, Bi Gan does not die immediately, and follows Jiang Ziya's instructions to go straight home without looking back. On the way home however, he is fooled by the malevolent spirit Pipa Jing to turn around, collapsing and then dying on the spot. Bi Gan was honoured by Confucius as 'one of the three men of virtue' of Shang, and he was later deified as Cai Shen, the god of fortune. Editor: Anandajoti