Sui and Tang · Official and Aristocrat

Dugu Tuo 獨孤陀

Dúgū Tuó

Attested AD 581 - AD 604

Passages: 18
Chapters: 2
Histories: 1

Overview

Dugu Tuo was an official and Aristocrat.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Lixie	黎邪

Life and dates

Death

Died not long after reduction to commoner status
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passage 99

Attested activity

AD 591 十一年
Dated from the passage context · Book of Sui 79, passage 89
AD 604 煬帝即位
Dated from the passage context · Book of Sui 79, passage 100
AD 581 to AD 600 開皇中
Dated from the passage context · Book of Sui 36, passage 120
AD 581 高祖受禪
Dated from the passage context · Book of Sui 79, passage 70

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Child of Dugu Xin (獨孤信)
father 父
Sources vary in certainty · Book of Sui 79, passage 39; Book of Sui 36, passage 120
Parent of Dugu Yanshou (獨孤延壽)
father 父
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passage 106
Parent of Dugu Yanfu (獨孤延福)
father 父
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passage 106
Child of Lady Guo (郭氏)
mother 母
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passage 39
Spouse of Lady Yang (楊氏)
wife 妻
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passage 76
Sibling of Dugu Luo (獨孤羅)
younger brother 弟 · Paternal half siblings
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passages 32, 39
Sibling of Empress Wenxian (文獻皇后)
younger half-brother 異母弟 · Paternal half siblings
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passage 76; Book of Sui 36, passage 120

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Governor of E prefecture 郢州刺史
Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passage 71
Senior Opener of the Mansion 上開府
Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passage 70
Governor of Qian prefecture 遷州刺史
Demoted
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passage 78
Grand Master of Correct Discussion 正議大夫
Posthumously granted
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passage 102
Grand Master of the Silver-Green Light 銀青光祿大夫
Posthumously granted
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passage 105
Duke of Wuxi county 武喜縣公
Granted
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passage 56

Show 2 more source-backed claims

Reduced to commoner
Stripped of registration · Negated false
Directly stated · Book of Sui 79, passage 96
Suffered
Death sentence reduced · Crime cat-demon witchcraft cursing the empress
Directly stated · Book of Sui 36, passages 120, 123

Places and affiliations

Sui 隋
Relation Served
Strongly inferred · Book of Sui 79, passage 70

Events and relationships

Cursed empress with witchcraft
Legal · Offender · With Empress Wenxian (文獻皇后)
Directly stated · Book of Sui 36, passage 120

References in the histories

Search passages

History

18 passages

Book of Sui, Chapter 36Volume 36 Biographies 1: Empresses and Consorts · 3 passages

后異母弟陀，以猫鬼巫蠱，咒詛於后，坐當死。 The empress's younger half-brother Tuo used cat-demon witchcraft to curse her and was sentenced to death.

后三日不食，為之請命曰：「陀若蠧政害民者，妾不敢言。 For three days the empress ate nothing and pleaded for his life, saying, "If Tuo had harmed the government or injured the people, I would not dare speak for him.

陀於是減死一等。 Tuo's sentence was reduced one degree from death.

Book of Sui, Chapter 79Volume 79 Biographies 44: Imperial Affines · 15 passages

獨孤羅弟陀 Dugu Luo and His Brother Tuo

初，信入關之後，複娶二妻，郭氏生子六人，善、穆、藏、順、陀、整，崔氏生獻皇后。 After Xin entered the passes he had taken two more wives. Lady Guo bore six sons—Shan, Mu, Zang, Shun, Tuo, and Zheng—and Lady Cui bore Empress Xian.

以其弟善為河內郡公，穆為金泉縣公，藏為武平縣公，陀為武喜縣公，整為千牛備身。 His brother Shan was made Duke of Henei, Mu Duke of Jinquan county, Zang Duke of Wuping county, Tuo Duke of Wuxi county, and Zheng an attendant of the Thousand-Ox Guard.

獨孤陀，字黎邪。 Dugu Tuo, styled Lixie.

高祖受禪，拜上開府、右領左右將軍。 When Gaozu took the throne, Tuo was made Senior Opener of the Mansion and general of the Right Retinue.

上以陀後之異母弟，陀妻楊素之異母妹，由是意陀所為，陰令其兄穆以情喻之。 Because Tuo was the empress's younger half-brother and his wife was Yang Su's younger half-sister, the emperor suspected Tuo and secretly had his brother Mu reason with him.

上又避左右諷陀，陀言無有。 The emperor also spoke to him privately, hinting at the matter, but Tuo denied everything.

陀婢徐阿尼言，本從陀母家來，常事貓鬼。 Tuo's maid Xu Ani testified that she had come from his mother's household and had long served the cat-demon.

陀嘗從家中素酒，其妻曰：「無錢可酤。」 Tuo once asked for wine at home. His wife said, "We have no money to buy any."

陀因謂阿尼曰：「可令貓鬼向越公家，使我足錢也。」 Tuo then told Ani, "Send the cat-demon to Duke Yue's house and get me enough money."

十一年，上初從并州還，陀於園中謂阿尼曰：「可令貓鬼向皇后所，使多賜吾物。」 In the eleventh year, soon after the emperor returned from Bingzhou, Tuo told Ani in the garden, "Send the cat-demon to the empress and make her give me more gifts."

上令以犢車載陀夫妻，將賜死於其家。 The emperor ordered Tuo and his wife taken in a cart to their home to be put to death.

陀弟司勳侍中整詣闕求哀，於是免陀死，除名為民，以其妻楊氏為尼。 Tuo's brother Zheng, Director of the Department of Merit and attendant-in-ordinary, pleaded at court for mercy. Tuo was spared death, reduced to commoner status, and his wife, Lady Yang, was made a nun.

煬帝即位，追念舅氏，聽以禮葬，乃下詔曰：「外氏衰禍，獨孤陀不幸早世，遷卜有期。 When Emperor Yang took the throne, mindful of his mother's kin, he allowed Tuo a proper burial and issued an edict: "My mother's clan has fallen on hard times. Dugu Tuo died young, and the time has come to move his tomb and set his burial.

陀弟整，官至幽州刺史，大業初卒，贈金紫光祿大夫，平鄉侯。 Tuo's brother Zheng rose to governor of You province, died early in the Daye period, and was posthumously honored as Grand Master of the Gold-Purple Light and Marquis of Pingxiang.