Shi Wuzi (史務滋) (died January 2, 691兩千年中西曆轉換
/ref>) was a Chinese politician 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 ...

and

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was List of rulers of China#Tang dynasty, Empress of China from 660 to 705, ruling first through others and later in her own right. She ruled as queen consort , empress consort th ...

's Zhou dynasty, serving briefly 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 Wu Zetian's reign. It is not known when Shi Wuzi was born, but it is known that he was from Liyang (溧陽, in modern

Changzhou Changzhou is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling, and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Zhen ...

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 ...

). As of 690, when Wu Zetian had just taken over the throne from her son Emperor Ruizong, establishing Zhou and interrupting Tang, Shi was serving as the minister of vassal affairs (司賓卿, ''Sibin Qin''), when she promoted him to be ''Nayan'' (), the head of the examination bureau of government (鸞臺, ''Luantai'') -- a post considered one for a chancellor. She subsequently commissioned him and nine other officials to tour the 10 circuits that the empire was divided into. In 691, the assistant imperial censor Lai Zixun () falsely accused the official Liu Xinggan (), his brothers Liu Xingshi () and Liu Xingyu (), and nephew Liu Qiantong () of treason. Wu Zetian put Shi and her secret police official

Lai Junchen Lai Junchen ( Chinese: 來俊臣) (died 26 June 697) was a Chinese politician and writer. He was a well-known secret police official during the Chinese Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties, whose ability to interrogate and falsely implicate officials of cr ...

in charge of the investigations. Shi was friendly with Liu Xinggan and tried to find ways to absolve him and his family members, but could not, and Liu Xinggan and his brothers and nephew were all executed. Afterwards, Lai Junchen reported to Wu Zetian that Shi was trying to absolve the Lius. Wu Zetian ordered Lai Junchen to investigate Shi as well. Shi, in fear, committed suicide.

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. 9

* ''

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. 11

* ''

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 ...

'', vol. 204. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shi, Wuzi 691 deaths Chancellors under Wu Zetian People from Liyang Politicians from Changzhou Suicides in China Year of birth unknown