Sui and Tang · Mother of Xu Xiaosu

Mother of Xu Xiaosu 徐孝肅母

Attested AD 581 - AD 618

Passages: 4
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Mother of Xu Xiaosu was a Mother of Xu Xiaosu.

Life and dates

Death

Died after illness in old age
Directly stated · Book of Sui 72, passage 250

Attested activity

AD 581 to AD 618 undated Sui-period biography
Dated from the passage context · Book of Sui 72, passages 247-250, 252

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Parent of Xu Xiaosu (徐孝肅)
mother 母
Directly stated · Book of Sui 72, passages 247-250
Parent of Debei (德備)
mother 母
Strongly inferred · Book of Sui 72, passages 247, 252
Spouse of Father of Xu Xiaosu (徐孝肅父)
wife 妻
Strongly inferred · Book of Sui 72, passage 247

Events and relationships

Grew old and fell ill
Medical · Patient
Directly stated · Book of Sui 72, passage 249

References in the histories

Book of Sui, Chapter 72Volume 72 Biographies 37: Filial Piety · 4 passages

孝肅早孤，不識父，及長，問其母父狀，因求畫工，圖其形像，構廟置之而定省焉，朔望享祭。 Xiaosu was orphaned early and never knew his father; when he grew up he asked his mother what his father had been like, engaged a painter to draw his likeness, built a shrine and placed the portrait there for morning and evening attendance, and offered sacrifice at the new and full moon.

養母至孝，數十年，家人未見其有忿恚之色。 In caring for his mother he was utterly filial; for decades his household never once saw him show anger.

及母老疾，孝肅親易燥濕，憂悴數年，見者無不悲悼。 When his mother grew old and fell ill, Xiaosu personally tended her bedding for dryness and damp, was wasted with care for years, and all who saw him were moved to grief.

母終，孝肅茹蔬飲水，盛冬單縗，毀瘠骨立。 When his mother died, Xiaosu ate only vegetables and drank only water, wore a single layer of mourning hemp in the depth of winter, and his grief wasted him until only bone remained.