Kong Rong () (151/153 – 26 September 208),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Wenju, was a Chinese poet, politician, and minor warlord who lived during the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

of China. He was a 20th generation descendant of

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

. As he was once the

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 ...

of Beihai State, he was also known as Kong Beihai. He was defeated by Yuan Tan in 196 and escaped to the capital

Xuchang Xuchang ( zh, s=, t= ; postal: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It is bordered by the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe ...

. For being a political opponent of

Cao Cao Cao Cao (; ; ; 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation f ...

and humiliating him on multiple occasions, Kong Rong was eventually put to death on various charges. Famed for his quick wits and elaborate literary style, Kong Rong was ranked among the Seven Scholars of Jian'an, a group of representative literati of his time. However, most of his works had been lost. Those that survived can be found in compilations from the Ming and Qing dynasties. A well-known story commonly used to educate children – even in contemporary times – on the values of courtesy and fraternal love involves a four-year-old Kong Rong giving up the larger pears to his older and younger brothers. This story, commonly known as "Kong Rong giving up pears" (), is also mentioned in the '' Three Character Classic'', a text used for elementary education since the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

Early life and career

Born in the former Lu state (present-day southern

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

and northern parts of

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

and

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

), Kong Rong showed quick wit from a young age. His father was Kong Zhou. According to the ''Epilogue of Han'' () by Sima Biao (), when he was a teenager, Kong Rong paid a visit to an official named Li Ying, who received no one but the very eminent and his own relatives. Claiming to be a relative, Kong Rong was brought before Li Ying, who asked how they were related. Kong Rong answered that his ancestor

was a student and friend of Lao Tzu (whose family name was said to be Li()). Another guest present was not impressed, however, commenting that a person who showed great ability at a young age might not grow up to be especially capable. Kong Rong immediately retorted, "I suppose you were really smart when you were young." Li Ying laughed at this and predicted the child would grow up to be a great man. When he grew older, Kong Rong entered the bureaucracy of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was successively promoted and in 190 was appointed

of Beihai State, situated in Qing Province, the area most heavily contested by the Yellow Turban rebels during the 180s. Upon taking up office, Kong Rong concentrated on reconstruction of the city and the establishment of schools. He promoted Confucian studies and provided proper burial for deceased refugees who had no family members to look after their funeral affairs. During this time, he was besieged by a remnant Yellow Turban army led by Guan Hai (). Kong Rong sent

Taishi Ci Taishi Ci () (166–206), courtesy name Ziyi, was a Chinese military general who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He had served as a minor Han official, before eventually coming to serve warlords Liu Yao, Sun Ce, and Sun Ce' ...

to seek help from

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a China, Chinese warlord in the late Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty who later became the founding Emperor of China, emperor of Shu Han, one of the Three Kingdoms of ...

, then the Prefect of Pingyuan County. Taishi Ci returned with 3,000 elite troops, whereupon the rebels dispersed. In 195, through Liu Bei's nomination, Kong Rong was further promoted to be the Inspector of Qing Province.

Stay in Xuchang

The next year, however, the warlord

Yuan Shao Yuan Shao (, ; died 28 June 202), courtesy name Benchu (), was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He occupied the northern territories of China during the civil wars that occurred tow ...

sent his eldest son Yuan Tan to attack Qing Province. Kong Rong was defeated and his family was captured. He escaped to the capital

, where he was subsequently appointed Minister Steward (). During his stay in Xuchang, Kong Rong often opposed policies of the warlord

, who controlled Emperor Xian and the Han central government. When Cao Cao imposed a ban on alcohol due to crop shortage, Kong Rong wrote to him saying, "Since the kings Jie and Zhou (the last rulers of the

Xia dynasty The Xia dynasty (; ) is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, it was established by the legendary figure Yu the Great, after Emperor Shun, Shun, the last of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Fiv ...

and

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...

respectively) were overthrown due to their desire for women, why don't you ban marriage as well?" Kong Rong was then stripped of his official post but soon reinstated, albeit to a titular position. However, because of his hospitality, his house was always filled with guests. During this time Kong Rong befriended

Mi Heng Mi Heng ( 173198), courtesy name Zhengping, was an ancient Chinese writer and musician who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He is best known for his ''fu'' rhapsody "''Fu'' on the Parrot", which is his only work that has survived to mo ...

Jing Province Jingzhou or Jing Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China referenced in early Chinese texts such as the ''Yu Gong, Tribute of Yu'', ''Erya'', and ''Rites of Zhou''. Jingzhou became an administrative division during the reign of E ...

(present-day

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

and

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

). Despite being very learned, Mi Heng was unconventional and unconstrained. Upon reaching Xuchang, he wrote a prose piece putting down every eminent person there. When asked whom he would consider talented, Mi Heng replied, "First there is Kong Rong, second there is Yang Xiu." Kong Rong wanted to recommend Mi Heng to Cao Cao, but Mi put up a rude and arrogant attitude in front of Cao. First, he undressed while playing a drum at a feast hosted by Cao Cao, and criticized Cao loudly outside his doors. Cao Cao eventually sent Mi Heng to Liu Biao, the Governor of Jing Province. In 198, Cao Cao was gearing up for an encounter with Yuan Shao along the shores of the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

. Kong Rong held a pessimistic view, telling Cao Cao's adviser Xun Yu that Yuan Shao would be extremely difficult to defeat as he had ample food supplies, far superior troop strength and many capable and loyal subjects. However, Cao Cao took advantage of Yuan Shao's weaknesses and eventually defeated him at the Battle of Guandu in 200. Yuan Shao died two years later, leaving his eldest and youngest sons, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, to contest his legacy. In 204, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shang then conquered the city of Ye and massacred his population. The women of the Yuan household were often raped and his son

Cao Pi Cao Pi () (late 187 – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the ...

married the wife of Yuan Xi,

Lady Zhen Lady Zhen (26 January 183 – 4 August 221), personal name unknown, was the first wife of Cao Pi, the first ruler of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period. In 226, she was posthumously honoured as Empress Wenzhao when her son Cao R ...

. When Kong Rong heard of this, he wrote Cao Cao a letter, falsifying a parallel in ancient history, claiming King Wu of Zhou arranged marriage between his brother the Duke of Zhou and the beautiful consort Daji, lately the favourite of the defeated king Di Xin, and legendarily blamed for the downfall of the

. Thinking that Kong Rong was citing a classic text to praise him, Cao Cao asked about the source, but Kong merely said, "I saw what happened in our day and thought it must have been so."

Death

In 208, Kong Rong spoke ill of

before an emissary from

Sun Quan Sun Quan (; 182 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by hi ...

, a warlord who ruled the territories in the Jiangdong region. Cao Cao then ordered Kong Rong to be executed on various charges including, among others, "plotting a rebellion", "slandering the imperial court" and "disrespecting court protocol". According to the ''Spring and Autumn Annals of Wei'' () by Sun Sheng (), Kong Rong's two eight-year-old sons (a nine-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter according to the '' Book of Later Han'') were playing a game of weiqi when their father was arrested. When others urged them to escape, they answered: This later became a Chinese idiom (覆巢之下，安有完卵), used to describe that when a group suffers, all individuals belonging to it will be affected. An alternate but similar story could also be found in '' A New Account of the Tales of the World'' by Liu Yiqing (), which is written in a more elaborate style. After Kong Rong was executed along with his entire family, his body was left in the streets. Not a single official who used to be close to him dared to collect the corpses for burial except Zhi Xi (), who came to Kong Rong's body and cried, "Now you have left me for death, whom could I talk to who would understand me?"

Literary achievements

Although he did not meet with much success in politics, Kong Rong was considered a leading literary figure of his time, famed for his prose as well as poetry. Along with six other poets of his time, their poems formed the backbone of what was to be known as the Jian'an style, named for the

Jian'an Era Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty of China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until his abdication and subsequent e ...

of the Xian Emperor's rule between 196 and 220. Collectively they were known as the Seven Scholars of Jian'an. Civil strife towards the end of the Han dynasty gave the Jian'an poems their characteristic solemn yet heart-stirring tone, while lament over the ephemerality of life was also a central theme of works from this period. In the history of Chinese literature, the Jian'an poems were a transition between early folksongs and scholarly poetry. Kong Rong's literary skills, however, were often thought to be elaborate and empty show without sound content.

commented in his ''A Discourse on Literature'' () that Kong Rong's words cannot sustain discourse and surpassed reasoning, so much so that they almost seem like mere sarcasm or mockery. After Kong Rong's death, Cao Pi collected 25 of his poems and included them in ''A Discourse on Literature''. However, most of these were lost and only five survive till this day, two of which are of unverified authenticity. Nine volumes containing Kong Rong's prose under the '' Book of Sui'' () have also been lost. Those that survive are found in compilations from the Ming and Qing dynasties. These include several epistles that Kong Rong wrote to

in criticism of his policies.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * Fan Ye (5th century). '' Book of the Later Han'', Chapter 70, Biography of Kong Rong.

External links

The story of Kong Rong from the Association for Asian Research
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kong, Rong 150s births 208 deaths 2nd-century Chinese poets 3rd-century Chinese poets 3rd-century executions Descendants of Confucius Executed Han dynasty people Han dynasty warlords Government officials under Cao Cao People executed by the Han dynasty by decapitation Political office-holders in Shandong Seven scholars of Jian'an