Zhou Yunyuan (周允元) (died January 29, 695兩千年中西曆轉換
/ref>),

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 ...

Ruliang (汝良), was an official of

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, briefing 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 ...

. It is not known when Zhou Yunyuan was born, but it is known that he was from Yu Prefecture (豫州, roughly modern

Zhumadian Zhumadian ( zh, s= , t= , p=Zhùmǎdiàn; Postal romanization, postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province of China, province, China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang, Henan, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to ...

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 ...

). He 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 ...

in his youth. He became deputy imperial censor reviewing central government affairs (左肅政中丞, ''Zuo Suzheng Zhongcheng'') in early 694, and in winter 694 Wu Zetian made him acting ''Fengge Shilang'' (), the deputy head of the legislative bureau of government (鳳閣, ''Fengge''). She also gave him the designation of ''Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi'' (), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. Soon thereafter, Zhou and the assistant chief judge of the supreme court Huangfu Wenbei () submitted articles of impeachment against five chancellors --

Doulu Qinwang Doulu Qinwang () (630?Doulu's biography in the ''Old Book of Tang'' indicated that he died "more than 79 years old," but his biography in the ''New Book of Tang'' indicated that he died at age 79. Compare ''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 90 with ''New ...

Wei Juyuan Wei Juyuan (; 631 – July 22, 710), posthumous name Duke Zhao of Shu (舒昭公), was an official of the Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties of China, serving multiple times as chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian, her son Emperor Zhongzong, and her ...

Du Jingjian Du Jingjian ()The name of "Jingjian" is per the ''Old Book of Tang'' and the ''Zizhi Tongjian''. The ''New Book of Tang'' gave his name as Du Jingquan (杜景佺) and also asserted that he was originally named Du Yuanfang (杜元方). was an offic ...

Su Weidao Su Weidao (; 648?–705?Su Weidao's biographies in the ''Old Book of Tang'' and the ''New Book of Tang'' both stated that he died at the age of 57, shortly after he was made the secretary general at Yi Prefecture for the second time. The ''Old Bo ...

, and

Lu Yuanfang Lu Yuanfang (陸元方) (639 - March 20, 701), courtesy name Xizhong (希仲), was an official of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, twice serving as chancellor of Tang Dynasty, chancellor. It is not known when Lu Yuanfang was born, but it is known that hi ...

, of being unable to curb the powerful chancellor Li Zhaode, whom Wu Zetian exiled in late 694. The five chancellors accused were demoted to be prefectural prefects. On one occasion, when Wu Zetian held a feast for the chancellors, she asked them to quote good passages from books. The passage that Zhou selected was, "Be ashamed that your emperor is not as good as

Emperor Yao Emperor Yao (; traditionally c. 2356 – 2255 BCE) was a legendary China, Chinese ruler, according to various sources, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Ancestry and early life Yao's ancestral name is Yi Qi () or Qi (), clan ...

and

Emperor Shun Emperor Shun ( zh, c=帝舜, p=Dì Shùn) was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 229 ...

." (Emperors Yao and Shun were mythical emperors said to be very benevolent.) Wu Zetian's nephew

Wu Sansi Wu Sansi (died August 7, 707), known posthumously as Prince Xuan of Liang (), was a Chinese prince and politician of the Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties. Wu Sansi served as a chancellor and imperial prince during the reign of his aunt, Empress Wu Zetia ...

believed that these words were hurtful and tried to rebuke Zhou, but Wu Zetian said, "These words are faithful and honest words. How can you treat them as wrong?" Zhou died in 695. Wu Zetian personally wrote a poem to mourn him, considered a great honor at the time.

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. 205.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Yunyuan Chancellors under Wu Zetian 695 deaths Politicians from Zhumadian 7th-century births