This article means to solicit second thoughts on Duke Shien of Jin’s (晉獻公) merits and demerits in Jin’s hegemony. Such a symposium will definitelytrigger off heated debates hovering over the duke’s reputation as aninnovator. They run the gamut in the court politics from Duke Shien’s enigmatic relationship with Prince Shen-shen (太子申生), a war tugged betweena fraternal bond and a vertical pedigree as their titles suggest, to the conspiracy leading directly to Duke Wu’s (晉武公) premature death, and then to Duke Shien’s own subdued wrath under the clan pressure from Huan and Juang (桓莊). Court politics also help us profile and reconstruct a PrinceShen-sheng whose strategies to survive these struggles were found to noavail. Deprived of power and a prospect, he was driven to desperation by hanging himself as a protest against his duke-father’s decision to disinherit him. A princedom in name never grows into a scepter in hand. Shen-sheng’s heirship was a thorn in the duke’s side, a permanent tickle that sometimes threatened to gore deeper. Such a lurking menace allude to usurpation or a coup d’etat. Concubine Li-ji’s Revolt (驪姬之亂) was no better than a false accusation inflicted upon the underdog in the power struggle, even though the duke withdrew his offensive remarks and disclaimed an intention to execute his own heir.