Ji Dan, better known as the Duke of Zhou, was a renowned statesman of the Western Zhou Dynasty. As the son of King Wen of Zhou and the younger brother of King Wu of Zhou, he stood out from his siblings for his filial piety and kind nature even in his father's time. After King Wu ascended the throne, the Duke of Zhou frequently assisted him in campaigns against the Shang tyrant King Zhou. When the Shang fell, he was enfeoffed as the Duke of Lu, but he declined to take up his post, choosing instead to remain at court to support King Wu.
Two years after King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty, the realm remained unsettled. When the king fell gravely ill, his ministers were helpless. His brother, the Duke of Zhou, reverently performed divination, offering himself as a sacrifice. He prayed, "Your ancestral kings have a duty to protect their descendants before Heaven. Let me, Ji Dan, take the place of King Ji Fa. He received his mandate from Heaven to safeguard the people of the four corners!" Before the three ancestral kings, every divination was auspicious. The next day, King Wu recovered.
After King Wu of Zhou died, King Cheng was still very young, so the Duke of Zhou acted as regent, governing on his behalf.
Guan Shu and other brothers were unconvinced, saying, "The Duke of Zhou will harm King Cheng."
Duke of Zhou said to Grand Duke Wang and Duke of Shao, "I feared the realm would rebel against Zhou, leaving me unable to console our former kings, so I ignored gossip to wield power. Our three founding kings toiled long to win this realm. King Wu died young, and King Cheng is still a child—for Zhou's sake, I did what I did!" Thus, the Duke of Zhou assisted King Cheng and sent his own son, Boqin, to take his place as ruler of the Lu state.
The Duke of Zhou cautioned Boqin, "I am the son of King Wen, the younger brother of King Wu, and the uncle of King Cheng—my status in the realm is not low. Yet I often pause mid-wash, clutching my hair, and set down my meal three times to receive guests, fearing I might neglect worthy scholars. When you reach the state of Lu, never be arrogant!"
When Guan Shu and Cai Shu plotted to seize power, allying with Wu Geng, son of the tyrant King Zhou of Shang, to launch a rebellion, the Duke of Zhou, Dan, raised an army to march east, executing Guan Shu and Wu Geng while exiling Cai Shu, after which all the feudal lords submitted to the Zhou dynasty.
Duke of Zhou established the rites and music system, creating various institutions and regulations, while personally valuing virtue and respecting the wise, earning the people's support. He successively assisted King Wu and King Cheng; after King Cheng grew up, Duke of Zhou returned the reins of government to him, allowing him to personally handle state affairs. Duke of Zhou made significant contributions to the founding and development of the Zhou Dynasty.
Later, the idiom "Holding Hair and Spitting Out Food" came to describe treating talented people with utmost respect and hospitality.
Source: *Records of the Grand Historian*, "Hereditary House of Lu"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "握发吐哺" came to describe how treating talented people with utmost respect and hospitality.