Zao (藻) | 24 Histories

Overview

Zao was a Royal Family Member, Official, and General.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Jingyi	靖藝	Jingyi
Childhood name	Kaye	迦葉	Jiaye

Life and dates

Death

AD 549 太清三年
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 90

Age

67
AD 549 太清三年
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 90

Attested activity

AD 502 天監元年
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 124
AD 549 太清三年
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 90
AD 525 普通六年
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 69
AD 499 齊永元初
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 123

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Parent of Yu (彧)
eldest son 長子
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 86
Child of Yi (懿)
son 子
Strongly inferred · Book of Liang 23, passages 35, 121
Sibling of Ye (業)
younger brother 二弟 · Full siblings
younger brother of Prince Yuan 元王弟 · Full siblings
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passages 35, 121

Career and standing

Governor of Danyang 丹陽尹
AD 531 中大通三年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 76
Governor of Yong 雍州刺史
AD 512 天監十一年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 63
Director of the Imperial Clan 宗正卿
AD 526 普通七年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 70
Governor of South Xuzhou 南徐州刺史
Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 85
Governor of Yi 益州刺史
Appointed
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 125
Marquis of Xichang 西昌縣侯
AD 502 天監元年 · Enfeoffed
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 124

Show 3 more source-backed claims

Entered
AD 527 普通八年 · Title restored
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 71
Entered
Refused food / self starvation during Hou Jing rebellion
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passages 88-89
stripped of office and fief 免官削爵土
AD 525 普通六年 · Punished
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 69

Places and affiliations

Polity Liang 梁 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 124
Polity Southern Qi 齊 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 123
AD 527 大通元年
At Woyang 渦陽 · Relation Posted to
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 73

Learning and skills

Skill literary composition 文辭 · Level skilled
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 62

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 88

Events and relationships

Northern campaign against Woyang; withdrew
AD 525 普通六年 · Military · Commander · With Zhengde (正德)
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 69
Suppressed Jiao Senghu rebellion
AD 502 天監元年 · Military · Commander · With Jiao Senghu (焦僧護)
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passages 126, 131
Relation Colleague on campaign with · Person Zhengde (正德)
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 69

Assessments and attributes

Assessment model of imperial clan conduct · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 81

Source notes

From Kaye 迦葉 · To Zao 藻 · Childhood name
Directly stated · Book of Liang 23, passage 78

References in the histories

Search passages

History

14 passages

Book of Liang, Chapter 23Volume 23: Ye, Prince of Changsha; Boyou, Prince of Yongyang; Yuanjian, Prince of Hengyang; Xiang, Prince of Guiyang · 14 passages

Open chapter

宣武之難，與二弟藻、象俱逃匿。 When Prince Xuanwu met his death, he went into hiding together with his younger brothers Zao and Xiang.

藻字靖藝，元王弟也。 Zao, styled Jingyi, was the younger brother of Prince Yuan.

藻年未弱冠，集僚佐議，欲自擊之。 Zao was not yet twenty. He gathered his aides to deliberate and wanted to attack the rebels himself.

或陳不可，藻大怒，斬于階側。 Someone stated that this was impossible; Zao became furious and had him beheaded beside the steps.

賊乃夜遁，藻命騎追之，斬首數千級，遂平之。 The rebels then fled by night. Zao ordered cavalry to pursue them, took several thousand heads, and pacified them.

藻性謙退，不求聞達。 Zao was by nature modest and retiring, seeking neither fame nor advancement.

時渦陽始降，乃以藻爲使持節、北討都督、征北大將軍，鎮于渦陽。 Woyang had just surrendered, and Zao was appointed with the emissary staff as Northern Campaign Commander-in-Chief and General Who Conquers the North, with his headquarters at Woyang.

高祖每歎曰：「子弟並如迦葉，吾復何憂。」 Emperor Wu often sighed and said, 'If all my sons and nephews were like Kaye, what would I have to worry about?'

迦葉，藻小名也。 Kaye was Zao's childhood name.

入爲安左將軍、尚書左僕射，加侍中，藻固辭不就，詔不許。 He was recalled as General Who Pacifies the Left and Vice Director of the Left of the Secretariat with the additional title Attendant-in-Chief. Zao firmly declined, but the edict would not allow it.

藻性恬靜，獨處一室，床有膝痕，宗室衣冠，莫不楷則。 Zao was tranquil by nature. He lived alone in a single room, and the marks of his knees were worn into his couch. Throughout the imperial clan and the gentry, all looked to him as a model.

侯景亂，藻遣長子彧率兵入援，及城開，加散騎常侍、大將軍。 During Hou Jing's rebellion, Zao sent his eldest son Yu to lead troops to relieve the capital. When the city fell he was given the additional titles Regular Attendant and Great General.

景遣其儀同蕭邕代之，據京口，藻因感氣疾，不自療。 Hou Jing sent his officer Xiao Yong to replace him and seized Jingkou. Zao fell ill with a wasting disorder and refused to seek treatment.

或勸奔江北，藻曰：「吾國之台鉉，位任特隆，旣不能誅剪逆賊，正當同死朝廷，安能投身異類，欲保餘生。」 Some urged him to flee north of the Yangzi. Zao said, 'I am a pillar of the state, my rank and responsibility exceptionally great. Having failed to destroy the rebels, I ought to die with the court. How could I cast my lot among alien peoples merely to preserve what life remains?'