Jiang Bingzhi (江秉之)

Overview

Jiang Bingzhi was an official and Administrator.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Xuanshu	玄叔	Xuanshu

Life and dates

Death

AD 440 十七年
Dated from the passage context · Book of Song 92, passage 201

Age

60
AD 440 十七年 · Reckoning Sui
Dated from the passage context · Book of Song 92, passage 201

Attested activity

AD 435 元嘉十二年
Dated from the passage context · Book of Song 92, passage 197
AD 440 十七年
Dated from the passage context · Book of Song 92, passages 197, 201
AD 404 to AD 417 劉穆之丹陽前軍府
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 258
AD 420 宋受禪
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 260
AD 422 少帝即位
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 261
AD 426 to AD 434 殷景仁為領軍
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 263

Show 1 more source-backed claim

AD 416 to AD 418 高祖督徐州
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 259

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Ancestor of Jiang Mi (江謐)
grandson 孫 · paternal line · 2 generations · Through Jiang Hui (江徽)
Strongly inferred · Book of Song 92, passage 204
Child of Jiang You (江逌)
grandfather 祖 · paternal line · 2 generations · Through Jiang Zuan (江纂)
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 255
Parent of Jiang Hui (江徽)
son 子
grandfather 祖 · paternal line · 2 generations
Sources vary in certainty · Book of Song 92, passage 202; Book of Southern Qi 31, passage 4
Child of Jiang Zuan (江纂)
father 父 · paternal line
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 256
Spouse of Wife of Jiang Bingzhi (江秉之妻)
wife 妻
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 198

Kinship Role younger siblings · Count 7
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 257
Kinship Role children · Quantity unspecified
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 198

Key source chapters

Career and standing

adjutant on the Danyang vanguard army staff 丹陽前軍府參軍
AD 404 to AD 417 劉穆之丹陽前軍府 · Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 258
aide to the grand tutor of the heir 太子詹事丞
AD 420 宋受禪 · Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 260
attendant cavalier at the secretariat outside the palace 員外散騎侍郎
AD 420 宋受禪 · Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 260
gentleman of the punishments section 尚書都官郎
AD 422 少帝即位 · Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 261
magistrate of Wucheng 烏程令
AD 422 少帝即位 · Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 261
magistrate of Yongshi 永世令
AD 422 少帝即位 · Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 261

Show 8 more source-backed claims

marshal 司馬
AD 426 to AD 434 殷景仁為領軍 · Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 263
adjutant in the heir's central army 世子中軍參軍
AD 416 to AD 418 高祖督徐州 · Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 259
administrator of Xin'an 新安太守
Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 266
magistrate of Shanyin 山陰令
Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 264
magistrate of Jiankang 建康令
Summoned
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 262
administrator of Linhai 臨海太守
AD 435 元嘉十二年 · Transferred
Dated from the passage context · Book of Song 92, passage 197
chief clerk 主簿
AD 416 to AD 418 高祖督徐州 · Transferred
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 259
Became
Orphan
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 257

Places and affiliations

Polity Id liu-song · Relation Served
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passages 260-261
At Kaocheng in Jiyang 濟陽考城
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 254
AD 435 元嘉十二年
At Linhai 臨海 · Relation Posted to
Dated from the passage context · Book of Song 92, passage 197
AD 422 少帝即位
At Wucheng 烏程 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 261
AD 422 少帝即位
At Yongshi 永世 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 261
At Jiankang 建康 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 262

Show 4 more source-backed claims

At Jiyang 濟陽 · Relation Native of
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 254
At Kaocheng 考城 · Relation Native of
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 254
At Shanyin 山陰 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 264
At Xin'an 新安 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 266

Works and attributed material

AD 435 元嘉十二年
Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 199

Events and relationships

Gave salary to relatives and friends
AD 435 元嘉十二年 · Personal · Donor
Dated from the passage context · Book of Song 92, passage 198
Left writing desk for government storehouse
Administrative · Outgoing official
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 200
Managed complexity through simplicity
Administrative · Magistrate · At Shanyin 山陰
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 264
Raised and married younger siblings
Family · Guardian
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 257
Relation Subordinate of · Person Yin Jingren (殷景仁)
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 263
Relation Subordinate of · Person Liu Muzhi (劉穆之)
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 258

Show 2 more source-backed claims

Relation Subordinate of · Person Gaozu (高祖)
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 259
Relation Compared with · Person Gu Bianzhi (顧抃之)
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 265

Assessments and attributes

Assessment famed in the eastern region for good governance · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 261
Assessment governance strict and thorough; the capital became orderly · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 262
Assessment managed complexity through simplicity · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 264
AD 435 元嘉十二年
Assessment praised for simplicity and austerity in Xin'an and Linhai · Mode historian-judgment
Dated from the passage context · Book of Song 92, passage 197
Item writing desk 書案 · Relation Made and left to treasury
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 200

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Book of Song 92, passage 254

References in the histories

Book of Southern Qi, Chapter 31Volume 31 Biographies 12: Jiang Mi, Xun Boyu · 1 passage

Open chapter

祖秉之，臨海太守，宋世清吏。 His grandfather Bingzhi had been administrator of Linhai, a scrupulous officer under the Song.

Book of Song, Chapter 92Volume 92 Biographies 52: Liang Li · 6 passages

Open chapter

江秉之字玄叔，濟陽考城人也。 Jiang Bingzhi, courtesy name Xuanshu, was from Kaocheng in Jiyang.

秉之少孤，弟妹七人，並皆幼稚，撫育姻娶，罄其心力。 Bingzhi lost his father early. He had seven younger siblings, all still young, and he raised them and arranged their marriages, exhausting all his strength.

高祖督徐州，轉主簿，仍為世子中軍參軍。 When Gaozu governed Xuzhou, Bingzhi was transferred to chief clerk and then served as adjutant in the heir's central army.

殷景仁為領軍，請為司馬。 When Yin Jingren was leader of the army, he requested Bingzhi as his marshal.

復出為山陰令，民戶三萬，政事煩擾，訟訴殷積，階庭常數百人，秉之御繁以簡，常得無事。 Sent out again as magistrate of Shanyin, a district of thirty thousand households where affairs were complex and lawsuits piled up and the courtyard often held several hundred people, Bingzhi managed complexity through simplicity and usually kept the office untroubled.

人有勸其營田者，秉之正色曰：「食祿之家，豈可與農人競利！」 When someone urged him to cultivate fields, Bingzhi said sternly: "A household that lives on official salary—how can it compete with farmers for profit!"