Yao Shu
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Yao Shu (姚璹) (632 – 705),
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 ...
Lingzhang (令璋), formally Count Cheng of Wuxing (吳興成伯), was a Chinese politician of the Tang 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, and served twice 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. He is not to be confused with Yao Shu (姚樞) (1203–1280), a Confucian adviser to
Kublai Khan Kublai Khan (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the ...
.


Background

Yao Shu was born in 632, during the reign of Emperor Taizong. His grandfather was the historian Yao Silian, the lead author of the '' Book of Liang'' and ''
Book of Chen The ''Book of Chen'' or ''Chen Shu'' (''Chén Shū'') was the official history of the Chen dynasty, one of the Southern dynasties of China. The ''Book of Chen'' is part of the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was compiled by ...
'', the official histories of
Liang dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () or Xiao Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was pre ...
and
Chen dynasty The Chen dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Chen (南陳 / 南朝陳) in historiography, was a Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese imperial dynasty and the fourth and last of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Southern dynasties, ...
. His father Yao Chuping (姚處平) served as a military census officer and died early. Yao Shu raised his brothers and sisters and was said to be kind to them. He was also said to be well-studied and good at rhetoric.


During Emperor Gaozong's reign

During the middle part of the ''Yonghui'' era of Emperor Taizong's son and successor Emperor Gaozong (650-656), Yao Shu passed the
imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...
and was made a secretary at the mansion of Emperor Gaozong's
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 ...
Li Hong. While serving there, he participated in a compilation work commissioned by Li Hong, the ''Yaoshan Yucai'' (瑤山玉彩), and after the work was completed, he was made ''Mishu Lang'' (秘書郎), a secretary at the
Palace Library The Palace Library (; in Vietnam: 秘書所, ''Bí thư sở'') was a central government agency in Imperial and monarchical China, Korea, and Vietnam generally in charge of maintaining and archiving the collection of the monarch's documents. C ...
. During Emperor Gaozong's ''Tiaolu'' era (679-680), he was promoted to be ''Zhongshu Sheren'' (中書舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, ''Zhongshu Sheng'') and created the Viscount of Wuxing.


During Emperor Zhongzong's and Emperor Ruizong's first reigns

Emperor Gaozong died in 683 and was succeeded by his son Li Zhe the Crown Prince (as Emperor Zhongzong) (Li Hong's brother, as Li Hong had predeceased Emperor Gaozong), but actual power was in the hands of Emperor Gaozong's powerful wife Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian), as
empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother; ) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch, especially in regards to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese monarchs in the Chines ...
and
regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
. In 684, when Emperor Zhongzong displayed signs of independence, she deposed him and replaced him with his brother Li Dan the Prince of Yu (as Emperor Ruizong), but thereafter wielded power even more firmly. Later that year, Li Jingye the Duke of YIng started a rebellion against her with the articulated goal of restoring Emperor Zhongzong, but the rebellion was quickly defeated. As Yao Shu's cousin Yao Jingjie (姚敬節) participated in Li Jingye's rebellion, Yao Shu was demoted to be the secretary general for the commandant at Gui Prefecture (桂州, roughly modern
Guilin Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''), postal map romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Kweilin, is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the we ...
,
Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
). Once Yao Shu got to Gui Prefecture, he, knowing that Empress Dowager Wu favored signs of good fortune, visited the mountains and forests of the area, and collected a number of items containing the character "Wu." He then submitted them as signs of fortune, and this pleased her greatly. She recalled him to serve as the deputy minister of civil service affairs (天官侍郎, ''Tianguan Shilang''). He was said to be good at selecting people to serve as officials and was praised for this ability.


During Wu Zetian's reign

In 690, Empress Dowager Wu had Emperor Ruizong yield the throne to her, and she took the throne as "emperor," establishing Zhou and interrupting Tang. In 692, she made Yao Shu ''Wenchang Zuo Cheng'' (文昌左丞), one of the secretaries general at the executive bureau (文昌臺, ''Wenchang Tai''), and gave him the designation of ''Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi'' (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a
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 ...
''de facto''. At that time, the customs called for officials in charge of recording imperial history to record the acts of the emperors and chancellors, but as Wu Zetian's meetings with the chancellors rarely included those official historians, the meetings were not being recorded. Yao believed that given the importance of the meetings, they should be recorded, and therefore advocated that, by rotation, one of the chancellors be required to record the meetings. Wu Zetian agreed, and this became a custom thereafter followed. Later in 692, however, he was accused of improprieties not recorded in historical accounts, and he was made the minister of vassal affairs (司賓卿, ''Sibin Qing''), no longer a chancellor.The ''
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 ...
'' dated his removal from chancellor position as in 693, but this conflicts with his biography in the ''
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 ...
'' and the table of chancellors in the ''New Book of Tang''. Compare ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 205, with ''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 8

and ''New Book of Tang'', vol. 6

/ref> In 694, Wu Zetian made Yao Shu ''Nayan'' (納言), the head of the examination bureau (鸞臺, ''Luantai'') and a post considered one for a chancellor. Around that time, there was an incident where his fellow chancellor Doulu Qinwang, without informing the other officials what the contents of his petition was, ordered the other officials to sign a petition—which, without their knowledge, contained an offer for all officials to give up two months of salary in order to aid in the war effort against
Eastern Tujue The Eastern Turkic Khaganate ( zh, t=東突厥, p=Dōng Tūjué or Dōng Tújué) was a Turkic peoples, Turkic khaganate formed as a result of the internecine wars in the beginning of the 7th century (AD 581–603) after the First Turkic Kh ...
. When Doulu's subordinate Wang Qiuli (王求禮) objected, on the account that the low level officials would not be able to support themselves if they gave up two months of salary, and reported this objection in person to Wu Zetian, Yao initially tried to rebuke Wang, stating, "Wang Qiuli, you do not know what is important." Wang responded, "Do you, Yao Shu, really know what is important?" Thereafter, however, apparently by Wu Zetian's directive, the matter of having the officials give up two months of salary was no longer mentioned. Later that year, when Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi proposed that a pillar made of copper and iron be built to commemorate Wu Zetian's reign and to deprecate Tang, Wu Zetian put Yao in charge of the project, and it was said that the project required so much metal that he ordered farmers to give up their farming equipment to be melted down for the material. After the completion of the pillar, Wu Zetian was set to give him a greater title, when he requested that instead posthumous honors be granted on his father Yao Chuping. Wu Zetian agreed, and posthumously honored Yao Chuping as a prefect. In 695, Wu Zetian's lover Huaiyi, because she had another lover, Shen Nanqiu (沈南璆), was jealous, and set the imperial meeting hall (明堂, ''Ming Tang'') on fire—an event that Wu Zetian hid the truth of and indicated was an accidental fire, but she considered stopping an imperial feast she was holding at the time to show humility in light of what might be divine disapproval. Yao opposed, however, stating: Wu Zetian agreed, continued to feast, and further ordered that the meeting hall be rebuilt, with Yao in charge. After it was rebuilt, she gave him the honorific title ''Yinqing Guanglu Daifu'' (銀青光祿大夫). In 696, the
Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...
Caliphate offered to give Wu Zetian a lion as a gift. Yao opposed accepting the gift, stating: Wu Zetian agreed and declined the lion. Also at Yao's suggestion, she stopped a proposal to coat with gold nine '' ding'' that she had built as symbols of her governance. Later in 696, when Khitan's khan Li Jinzhong attacked, she commissioned Wu Sansi to serve as the commander of an army to defend against Khitan attacks and had Yao serve as Wu Sansi's assistant. During the campaign, Eastern Tujue's khan Ashina Mochuo indicated that he was willing to be aligned with Zhou against Khitan and made a number of requests for return of Tujue people who had surrendered to Zhou, various treasures, and food supplies, which, after Yao and fellow chancellor Yang Zaisi argued were necessary to maintain an alliance with Eastern Tujue, Wu Zetian agreed to give Ashina Mochuo, allowing him to become even stronger than before. After the end of the campaign against Khitan in 697, there was accusations against Yao, and she demoted him to be the secretary general at Yi Prefecture (益州, roughly modern
Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
,
Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
). At the time that Yao went to Yi Prefecture, it was said that the low level officials of the region were largely corrupt and violent. Yao made thorough examinations and removed many of them. Wu Zetian appreciated his efforts and wrote him a letter to thank him, and further commented, "It is easy for a superior official to be clean himself, but it is difficult for him to make his subordinates clean. Yao Shu is able to do both." Around that same time, however, there was an incident where Zhu Daipi (朱待辟), the secretary general of Xindu County (新都, in modern Chengdu), part of Yao's responsible area, was accused of corruption and sentenced to death. Zhu was friendly with a large number of Buddhist monks in the area, and it was said that Zhu secretly organized them to prepare to rebel, kill Yao, and occupy the region. This plot was reported to Yao, and Yao investigated and killed thousands of people. Wu Zetian further sent the secret police officials Song Yuanshuang (宋元爽) and Huo Xianke (霍獻可) to investigate, and several hundred more people were arrested and tortured. A large number of people were executed or exiled, and there was much mourning for the excessive killing. The imperial censor
Yuan Shuji Yuan Shuji (; died 706), posthumous name Prince Zhenlie of Nanyang (南陽貞烈王), was an official of China's Tang dynasty and Wu Zhou, Wu Zhou dynasty, serving as Chancellor of the Tang dynasty, chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong ...
, believing that the investigations were improper, submitted articles of impeachment against Yao, and Wu Zetian initially ordered that Yuan and Yao debate with each other, but soon cancelled the debate. She promoted Yao to be the minister of treasury (地官尚書, ''Diguan Shangshu''), and then instead made him the minister of public works (冬官尚書, ''Dongguan Shangshu''). She also put him in charge of the western 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 ...
. During the middle of her ''Chang'an'' era (701–705), he requested retirement, which she approved, and promoted his title to be that of a count.


During Emperor Zhongzong's second reign

In 705, Wu Zetian was overthrown in a coup, and Emperor Zhongzong was restored. He made Yao Shu the minister of public works again, now with the restored Tang name of ''Gongbu Shangshu'' (工部尚書). Yao died later that year and, by his will, was buried without much ceremony.


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. 8

* ''
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. 10

* ''
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. :zh:s:資治通鑑/卷205, 205,
206 Year 206 ( CCVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Umbrius and Gavius (or, less frequently, year 959 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 206 for this y ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yao, Shu 632 births 705 deaths Chancellors under Wu Zetian