Yao Shu
Yao Shu (姚璹) (632–705), courtesy name Lingzhang (令璋), formally Count Cheng of Wuxing (吳興成伯), was a Chinese politician of the Tang and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, and served twice as chancellor during Wu Zetian's reign.
He is not to be confused with Yao Shu (姚樞) (1203–1280), a Confucian adviser to Kublai Khan.
Background
Yao Shu was born in 632, during the reign of Emperor Taizong. His grandfather was the historian Yao Silian, the lead author of the Book of Liang and Book of Chen, the official histories of Liang dynasty and Chen dynasty. His father Yao Chuping (姚處平)[1] served as a military census officer and died early. Yao Shu raised his brothers and sisters and was said to be kind to them. He was also said to be well-studied and good at rhetoric.
During Emperor Gaozong's reign
During the middle part of the Yonghui era of Emperor Taizong's son and successor Emperor Gaozong (650-656), Yao Shu passed the imperial examination and was made a secretary at the mansion of Emperor Gaozong's crown prince Li Hong. While serving there, he participated in a compilation work commissioned by Li Hong, the Yaoshan Yucai (瑤山玉彩), and after the work was completed, he was made Mishu Lang (秘書郎), a secretary at the Palace Library. During Emperor Gaozong's Tiaolu era (679-680), he was promoted to be Zhongshu Sheren (中書舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng) and created the Viscount of Wuxing.
During Emperor Zhongzong's and Emperor Ruizong's first reigns
Emperor Gaozong died in 683 and was succeeded by his son Li Zhe the Crown Prince (as Emperor Zhongzong) (Li Hong's brother, as Li Hong had predeceased Emperor Gaozong), but actual power was in the hands of Emperor Gaozong's powerful wife Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian), as empress dowager and regent. In 684, when Emperor Zhongzong displayed signs of independence, she deposed him and replaced him with his brother Li Dan the Prince of Yu (as Emperor Ruizong), but thereafter wielded power even more firmly. Later that year, Li Jingye the Duke of YIng started a rebellion against her with the articulated goal of restoring Emperor Zhongzong, but the rebellion was quickly defeated. As Yao Shu's cousin Yao Jingjie (姚敬節) participated in Li Jingye's rebellion, Yao Shu was demoted to be the secretary general for the commandant at Gui Prefecture (桂州, roughly modern Guilin, Guangxi). Once Yao Shu got to Gui Prefecture, he, knowing that Empress Dowager Wu favored signs of good fortune, visited the mountains and forests of the area, and collected a number of items containing the character "Wu." He then submitted them as signs of fortune, and this pleased her greatly. She recalled him to serve as the deputy minister of civil service affairs (天官侍郎, Tianguan Shilang). He was said to be good at selecting people to serve as officials and was praised for this ability.
During Wu Zetian's reign
In 690, Empress Dowager Wu had Emperor Ruizong yield the throne to her, and she took the throne as "emperor," establishing Zhou and interrupting Tang. In 692, she made Yao Shu Wenchang Zuo Cheng (文昌左丞), one of the secretaries general at the executive bureau (文昌臺, Wenchang Tai), and gave him the designation of Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a
In 694, Wu Zetian made Yao Shu Nayan (納言), the head of the examination bureau (鸞臺, Luantai) and a post considered one for a chancellor. Around that time, there was an incident where his fellow chancellor
In 695, Wu Zetian's lover Huaiyi, because she had another lover, Shen Nanqiu (沈南璆), was jealous, and set the imperial meeting hall (明堂, Ming Tang) on fire—an event that Wu Zetian hid the truth of and indicated was an accidental fire, but she considered stopping an imperial feast she was holding at the time to show humility in light of what might be divine disapproval. Yao opposed, however, stating:
In the past, when Xuanxie Hall [(宣榭殿, a palace of the first
Zhou Dynasty, destroyed by fire in 593 BC)] was burned, the Zhou Dynasty nevertheless became stronger generation by generation. When Jiangzhang Palace [(建章宮, a palace Emperor Wu of Hanbuilt after Boliang Tower (柏梁臺) was destroyed by fire)] was built, the great imperial grace was extended far and wide. The imperial meeting hall is where imperial edicts are promulgated, and it is not the imperial ancestral temple. Your Imperial Majesty should not prostrate yourself.
Wu Zetian agreed, continued to feast, and further ordered that the meeting hall be rebuilt, with Yao in charge. After it was rebuilt, she gave him the honorific title Yinqing Guanglu Daifu (銀青光祿大夫).
In 696, the
Lions are fierce animals that eat only meat. Transporting it from Suiye to the Divine Capital [(i.e., Luoyang)] requires transporting through regions where meat is difficult to find, and it will be very costly to do so. Your Imperial Majesty cares for the people and worries about hurting any animals. Because of this, you do not keep hunting eagles or dogs, and you have banned fishing and hunting. You stopped killing to show great grace, and you allowed living to show great virtue. Even all that fly and crawl thank you for your mercy. How can you be so exacting on yourself but yet so generous to a beast?
Wu Zetian agreed and declined the lion. Also at Yao's suggestion, she stopped a proposal to coat with gold nine
At the time that Yao went to Yi Prefecture, it was said that the low level officials of the region were largely corrupt and violent. Yao made thorough examinations and removed many of them. Wu Zetian appreciated his efforts and wrote him a letter to thank him, and further commented, "It is easy for a superior official to be clean himself, but it is difficult for him to make his subordinates clean. Yao Shu is able to do both."
Around that same time, however, there was an incident where Zhu Daipi (朱待辟), the secretary general of Xindu County (新都, in modern Chengdu), part of Yao's responsible area, was accused of corruption and sentenced to death. Zhu was friendly with a large number of
During Emperor Zhongzong's second reign
In 705, Wu Zetian was overthrown in a coup, and Emperor Zhongzong was restored. He made Yao Shu the minister of public works again, now with the restored Tang name of Gongbu Shangshu (工部尚書). Yao died later that year and, by his will, was buried without much ceremony.
Notes and references
- ^ Chuping apparently was a courtesy name that Yao Shu's father generally used in lieu of his formal name, but his formal name, while rendered in the table of chancellors' family trees in the New Book of Tang, is not in Unicode and therefore not available online. See New Book of Tang, vol. 74, part 2.[1]
- ^ The Zizhi Tongjian dated his removal from chancellor position as in 693, but this conflicts with his biography in the Old Book of Tang and the table of chancellors in the New Book of Tang. Compare Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 205, with Old Book of Tang, vol. 89 [2] and New Book of Tang, vol. 61.[3]
- Old Book of Tang, vol. 89.[4]
- New Book of Tang, vol. 102.[5]
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 205, 206.