Five Dynasties · Official and Maternal Uncle of Shizong

Chai Shouli 柴守禮

Attested AD 951 - AD 959

Passages: 10
Chapters: 3
Histories: 2

Overview

Chai Shouli was an official and Maternal Uncle of Shizong.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal name	Shouli	守礼	Shǒulǐ
Courtesy name	Kerang	克讓	Kèràng

Life and dates

Death

Unspecified
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 7

Age

72
Reckoning Sui
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 7

Attested activity

AD 954 to AD 959 世宗之世
Dated from the passage context · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passages 4-5
AD 951 太祖入立前后
Dated from the passage context · New History of the Five Dynasties 12, passage 4
AD 959 顯德六年
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 120, passage 27

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Sibling of Empress Shenmu Chai (柴氏)
elder brother 後兄 · Full siblings
empress's brother 后兄 · Uncertain siblings
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 2; New History of the Five Dynasties 12, passage 4
Parent of Emperor Shizong (世宗)
father 父
son 子
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passages 2, 13; New History of the Five Dynasties 12, passage 4

Key source chapters

Career and standing

acting Minister of Personnel 檢校吏部尚書
Appointed
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 3
concurrent Censor-in-Chief 兼御史大夫
Appointed
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 3
Silver-Gleaming Grand Master for Splendid Happiness 銀青光祿大夫
Appointed
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 3
Grand Tutor 太傅
Held
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 7
Grand Master for Splendid Happiness with Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon 金紫光祿大夫
AD 954 世宗即位 · Promoted
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 4
acting Minister of Works 檢校司空
Promoted
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 4

Show 2 more source-backed claims

Director of the Imperial Household 光祿卿
Promoted
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 4
Entered
Retirement · At Luoyang 洛陽
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 5

Places and affiliations

Polity Later Zhou 周 · Relation Served
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passages 3-4
At Luoyang 洛陽 · Relation Resided at
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 5
Organization Ten Foster Fathers 十阿父 · Relation Member of
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 6

Events and relationships

Killed a man
Legal · Perpetrator · At marketplace 市
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passages 5, 13

Assessments and attributes

Assessment overbearing · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 5

References in the histories

Search passages

History

10 passages

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 120Volume 120 Book of Later Zhou 22: Emperor Gong Annals · 1 passage

八月甲戌朔，以光祿卿致仕柴守禮為太子太保致仕。 On the first day jiaxu of the eighth month, Chai Shouli, retired Director of the Imperial Household, was made retired Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent.

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 12Volume 12 Later Zhou Annals 3: Shizong, Emperor Gong · 1 passage

后兄守礼子荣，幼从姑长太祖家，以谨厚见爱，太祖遂以为子。 Rong, Shouli’s son and the empress’s nephew, was raised from boyhood in Taizu’s house through his aunt; his sober loyalty won affection, and Taizu adopted him as a son.

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 20Volume 20: Shizong of Later Zhou's Family · 8 passages

柴守禮 Chai Shouli

周太祖聖穆皇后柴氏，無子，養後兄守禮之子以為子，是為世宗。 Empress Shengmu of the Chai clan, wife of Later Zhou's Taizu, bore no sons. She adopted her elder brother Shouli's son as her own; that child became Shizong.

守禮字克讓，以後族拜銀青光祿大夫、檢校吏部尚書、兼御史大夫。 Shouli, courtesy name Kerang, was made Silver-Gleaming Grand Master for Splendid Happiness, acting Minister of Personnel, and concurrent Censor-in-Chief on account of his ties to the empress's clan.

致仕，居於洛陽，終世宗之世，未嘗至京師，而左右亦莫敢言，第以元舅禮之，而守禮亦頗恣橫，嘗殺人於市，有司有聞，世宗不問。 He retired to Luoyang and never once came to the capital during Shizong's entire reign, yet no one at court dared raise the matter; they could only honor him as the emperor's maternal uncle. Shouli was also quite overbearing and once killed a man in the marketplace. When officials reported it, Shizong took no action.

是時，王溥、汪晏、王彥超、韓令坤等同時將相，皆有父在洛陽，與守禮朝夕往來，惟意所為，洛陽人多畏避之，號「十阿父。」 At the time Wang Pu, Wang Yan, Wang Yanchao, Han Lingkun, and others were serving together as generals and chief ministers. Each had a father living in Luoyang who kept company with Shouli day and night and did as they pleased. The people of Luoyang mostly feared and avoided them, calling them the "Ten Foster Fathers."

守禮卒年七十二，官至太傅。 Shouli died at seventy-two, having risen to Grand Tutor.

予讀周史，見守禮殺人，世宗寢而不問，蓋進任天下重矣，而子於其父亦至矣，故寧受屈法之過，以申父子之道，其所以合於義者，蓋知權也。 Reading the history of Zhou, I see that when Shouli killed a man Shizong let the matter drop. He put the weight of the realm first, yet a son's duty to his father also stood at its height. He would rather bear the fault of bending the law than violate the bond between father and son. That this was righteous shows he knew how to weigh circumstances.

然則為舜與世宗者，宜如何無使瞽叟、守禮至於殺人，則可謂孝矣！ For men like Shun and Shizong, true filial piety would mean keeping Gusou and Shouli from ever killing in the first place.