Dai Zhide (戴至德) (died March 16, 679兩千年中西曆轉換
/ref>), formally Duke Gong of Dao (道恭公), was an official of the Chinese

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, serving as

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

during the reign of Emperor Gaozong.

Background

It is not known when Dai Zhide was born. His uncle Dai Zhou served as a

during the reign of Emperor Taizong but was sonless, and so adopted Dai Zhide as his son. After Dai Zhou's death in 633, Dai Zhide therefore inherited the title of Duke of Dao, a title that Emperor Taizong posthumously created Dai Zhou.

Service under Emperor Gaozong

Not much is known about much of Dai Zhide's career as an imperial official, although it was known that he was serving as an assistant to

Li Hong Li Hong ( zh, s=, c=李弘, t=) (652 – 25 May 675), formally Emperor Xiaojing (孝敬皇帝, literally, "the filial and respectful emperor") with the temple name of Yizong (義宗), was a crown prince (not emperor, despite his formal title) of ...

, the son and

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

of Emperor Taizong's son and successor Emperor Gaozong in 671, when Emperor Gaozong and his wife Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian) left the capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

and took up residence at the eastern capital

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

, rarely returning to Chang'an thereafter. Emperor Gaozong left Li Hong in charge of Chang'an, but because Li Hong was often ill, it was said that the major decisions were largely made by Dai and his colleagues Zhang Wenguan and Xiao Dezhao (蕭德昭). As of 667, Dai was serving as ''Xi Tai Shilang'' (西臺侍郎), the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (西臺, ''Xi Tai''), when he was given the additional designation of ''Tong Dong Xi Tai Sanpin'' (同東西臺三品), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. In 672, he became the minister of census and continued to serve as chancellor ''de facto''. In 675, Dai became ''Puye'', a co-head of the important examination bureau of government (尚書省, ''Shangshu Sheng''), serving with the famed general

Liu Rengui Liu Rengui (劉仁軌) (602 – March 2, 685), courtesy name Zhengze (正則), formally Duke Wenxian of Lecheng (樂城文獻公), was a Chinese military general and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of E ...

. It was said that they rotated listening to the people's petitions on every other day, and that Liu, who often would give the petitioners encouraging words, quickly gained a good reputation among them, while Dai was more careful with his words with them but often advocated for them before the emperor. Nevertheless, because of Liu's words, the common people came to believe that he was capable and Dai was not, and on one occasion, it was recorded that an old lady submitted a petition to Dai, believing that he was Liu, and once she realized her mistake, she yelled at Dai, "I thought I am giving my petition to the ''Puye'' who can do things, but instead I am giving it to the useless ''Puye''. Give me back my petition!" Dai laughed and gave her petition back to her. When asked about this, Dai said, "Awards and punishments are within the authority of our sovereign. Given that we are subjects, how can we fight for this authority with him?" When Emperor Gaozong heard this, he greatly approved of Dai. Dai died in 679, and Emperor Gaozong sent the imperial officials to his house to mourn him.

Notes and references

* ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

'', vol. 70. * ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'', vol. 99. * ''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

'', vols. 201, 202. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dai, Zhide Chancellors under Emperor Gaozong of Tang 679 deaths Year of birth unknown