Zu Ti
Zu Ti (266 – 321), courtesy name Shizhi, was a military general of the Jin Dynasty (266-420). He was most famous for raising a personal army to reclaim Jin's northern territories from the Xiongnu after the Disaster of Yongjia in 311. His expedition met with mixed success due to the lack of support from the Jin government in Jianye, but he managed to push through all the way up to the Huai River fighting Jin warlords and the Jie commander Shi Le. However, due to a brewing civil war back in the south in 321, Zu Ti's authority had to be diminished by Emperor Yuan of Jin who wanted to protect himself from his powerful advisor Wang Dun. Bitter that he could no longer continue his expedition, Zu Ti died of illness the same year and most of the lands he recovered would shortly be lost to the Later Zhao state. He was the alleged ancestor to the Ming Dynasty commander during the Ming-Qing transition, Zu Dashou.
Zu Ti | |
|---|---|
祖逖 | |
| Inspector of Yu Province (豫州刺史) | |
| In office 313 – 321 | |
| Monarch | Emperor Min of Jin/Emperor Yuan of Jin |
| General Who Exerts Might (奮威將軍) | |
| In office 313–321 | |
| Monarch | Emperor Min of Jin/Emperor Yuan of Jin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 266 |
| Died | 321 |
| Relations | Zu Yue (brother) Zu Gai (brother) Zu Na (half-brother) Zu Dashou (alleged descendant) |
| Children | Zu Huan Zu Mi Zu Pei Zu Shei Zu Ji Zu Xian |
| Father | Zu Wu |
| Courtesy name | Shizhi (士稚) |
Early life
Zu Ti hailed from Qiuxian county, Fanyang commandery from a family line of officials. As a child, it was said that he could not read until the age of 14 and rather mischievous, but he was well-respected for his generosity by the people of Luoyang whenever he visited the capital. Even at his young age, he was very ambitious and became determined to read in his teenage years so that he could become a government official.[1]
Sometime in the 290s, he became a Registrar of Sichuan, where he befriended with another registrar named Liu Kun. One night, while they were sleeping in the same bed, Zu Ti heard a rooster's crow in the middle of the night. Believing it was a bad omen, Zu Ti kicked Liu Kun awake, telling him "This is not a disagreeable sound." The two men got out of their bed and performed a sword dance. A Chinese proverb, "rising at cockcrow to begin action (聞雞起舞)" is accredited to this story.[2]
Zu Ti served under different lords throughout the War of the Eight Princes. He first served under the Prince of Qi, Sima Jiong and then the Prince of Changsha, Sima Ai before finally siding with the Prince of Donghai, Sima Yue against Sima Ying and Sima Yong in 304. Under Sima Yue, he participated in Yue's failed campaign in Dangyin (盪陰, today Tangyin county, Henan) where they were badly defeated by Sima Ying and forced back to Luoyang. While the emperor was still held hostage in Chang'an, Zu Ti was approached by several other princes namely Sima Xiao (司馬虓), Sima Lüe (司馬略) and Sima Mo (司馬模) but he rejected them all. After his mother died, Zu Ti quit the government to mourn her.[3]
Northern expedition
In 311, the Jin capital Luoyang and Emperor Huai of Jin had been captured by the forces of Han Zhao. To avoid the chaos in the north, Zu Ti and a group of refugees crossed the Yangtze to Sikou (泗口, located at Xuzhou, Jiangsu). After arriving, Zu Ti was appointed the Inspector of Xuzhou and later the Army Libationer-Advisor by the Prince of Langxie, Sima Rui. He resided in Jingkou, where he gathered volunteers to join him in his expedition to reclaim the north. Before heading out, Zu Ti stated his intentions to Sima Rui first. Although Sima Rui permitted him to carry out an expedition, he was not too enthusiastic about it as he was more concerned with developing Jianye. Sima Rui appointed Zu Ti as Inspector of Yuzhou and General Who Exerts Might while also providing food and clothes but did not provide him with any weapons nor armor, and recruits had to be done by Zu himself.[4]
Regardless, Zu Ti crossed the Yangtze and landed in Huaiyin county in 313, where he built smithies and foundries to have his soldiers produce their own weapon. It would not be until 317 when Zu Ti's army would see its first action. Two refugee leaders, Fan Ya (樊雅) and Zhang Ping (張平), had set their up own fortresses at Qiaocheng. The two men had recently submitted to Jin so Zu Ti camped at Luzhou and had his Army Advisor Yin Ai (殷乂) to visit Zhang. However, unbeknownst to Zu, Yin Ai insulted Zhang Ping during his visit to the point Zhang executed him and together with Fan Ya prepared to defend themself from Zu Ti. Zu first attacked Zhang Ping at Taiqiu (太丘縣) but after failing to break through after a year, he had Zhang's subordinate, Xie Fu (謝浮) assassinate Zhang for him to capture the city. He then attacked Fan Ya at Qiaocheng but once again struggled to defeat the enemy. This time, he sent a well-respected officer named Huan Xuan (桓宣) to convince Fan Ya to surrender. Fan Ya accepted Huan Xuan's reasoning and Qiaocheng too fell to Zu Ti.[5] The Han Zhao general, Shi Le, upon hearing of Zu Ti's recent victory, sent his nephew Shi Hu to capture the city but Zu Ti and Huan Xuan repelled him.
In 319, the Administrator of Chenliu, Chen Chuan (陳川), who had assisted Zu Ti against Fan Ya, grew jealous of Zu Ti's success after a subordinate of his, Li Tou (李頭), lamented about not being able to serve Zu. Chen Chuan had Li Tou executed and pillaged the commanderies of Yuzhou but Zu Ti turned him away. After this defeat Chen Chuan submitted to Shi Le, who at this point, had broken away from Han Zhao and formed his state of Later Zhao. Zu Ti attacked him at Pengguan (蓬關, in modern-day Chenliu, Henan) but he was driven back by Shi Hu at Junyi county (浚儀, in modern-day Kaifeng). Reinforcements from Shi Le's general, Tao Bao (桃豹) forced Zu Ti to retreat across the Huai River to Huainan whilst Shi Hu relocate Chen Chuan and his followers back to Zhao's capital in Xiangguo.[6] In 320, Zu Ti sent his Han Qian (韓潛) to attack Junyi, and the city was split into two sections, one occupied by Han Qian and the other occupied by Tao Bao. After 40 days, luck shifted in favor of Zu Ti as Tao Bao's food supply were beginning to run short. As Tao Bao retreated to camp at Dongye (東燕, in modern-day Henan), Han Qian was ordered to move to Fengqiu to pressure him.[7]
At the same time, Zu Ti moved his base to Yongqiu and launched raids against the Later Zhao army while accepting many surrenders from their people. He also got the Jin generals Guo Mo, Li Ju (李矩), Zhao Gu (趙固) and Shangguan Si (上官巳), who were all stationed at the Huai River, to accept his authority after settling a quarrel between the four men. With Zu Ti consolidating power over the Huai River while Later Zhao's borders were beginning to strain, Shi Le resorted to improving his relations with Zu Ti and settling with peace.
Shi Le restored Zu Ti's grandfather and father's tomb and offered to trade with him. Although Zu Ti did not reply, trade between the two sides occurred as Shi Le intended to. One time, Zu Ti's General of the Standard, Tong Jian (童建) defected to Shi Le, but Shi had him beheaded. Tong's head was returned to Zu Ti along with a letter of friendship by Shi Le. Zu Ti was very impressed at his display that later he would return any defector from Zhao and forbid his troops from pillaging Shi Le's land.[8] Conflict between the two sides gradually died down, and the border between Jin and Zhao experienced a short period of amity.
Death
While Zu Ti was campaigning against Shi Le, political tension in the court of Jianye between Sima Rui (Emperor Yuan of Jin as of 318) and his advisor Wang Dun was beginning to reach its boiling point. To protect himself from from Wang Dun, one decision he did was to give the southern gentry Dai Yuan (戴淵) several appointments including Commander of military affairs in Yuzhou which reduced Zu Ti's authority over the province. Zu Ti was distraught at the news, as he could no longer lead any expedition at his own bidding. Furthermore, Zu Ti did not think that Dai Yuan could fulfill the long-term plans that Zu had for the north. Zu Ti's plans had practically come to a stop and with civil war beginning to take place, he believed that his dreams of reunifying China were over. He grew ill due to this and died shortly after in 321.[9]
Zu Ti's death was mourned by the people of Yuzhou who deeply respected and loved him. For Wang Dun, the news worked in favor for him as he no longer had to fear Zu Ti's strength when opposing Sima Rui. Zu Ti's younger brother, Zu Yue, would replace him as General Who Pacifies the West and Inspector of Yuzhou but he was not as talented Ti and was not on good terms with his generals. Yue would later ally with Su Jun in his rebellion in 328. As for Later Zhao, they resumed their attacks against Jin, and quickly retook lands north of the Huai that Zu Ti had previously conquered.[10]
References
- (世吏二千石，為北州舊姓。逖性豁蕩，不修儀檢，年十四五猶未知書，諸兄每憂之。然輕財好俠，慷慨有節尚，每至田舍，輒稱兄意，散穀帛以周貧乏，鄉黨宗族以是重之。後乃博覽書記，該涉古今，往來京師，見者謂逖有贊世才具。) Book of Jin, Volume 62
- (僑居陽平。年二十四，陽平辟察孝廉，司隸再辟舉秀才，皆不行。與司空劉琨俱為司州主簿。逖、琨並有英氣，每語世事，或中宵起坐，相謂曰：“若四海鼎沸，豪傑並起，吾與足下當相避於中原耳。”) Book of Jin, Volume 62
- (從惠帝北伐，王師敗績於蕩陰，遂退還洛。大駕西幸長安，關東諸侯范陽王虓、高密王略、平昌公模等競召之，皆不就。東海王越以逖為典兵參軍、濟陰太守，母喪不之官。) Book of Jin, Volume 62
- (時帝方拓定江南，未遑北伐，逖進說曰："晉室之亂，非上無道而下怨叛也。由藩王爭權，自相誅滅，遂使戎狄乘隙，毒流中原。今遺黎既被殘酷，人有奮擊之志。大王誠能發威命將，使若逖等為之統主，則郡國豪傑必因風向赴，沈弱之士欣於來蘇，庶幾國恥可雪，願大王圖之。"帝乃以逖為奮威將軍、豫州刺史，給千人稟，布三千匹，不給鎧仗，使自招募。) Book of Jin, Volume 62
- (含遣宣領兵五百助逖。逖謂宣曰：“卿先已說平、雅，信義大著於彼。今復為我說雅。雅若降者，方相擢用，不但免死而已。”宣複單馬從兩人詣雅，曰：“祖逖方欲平蕩二寇，每何卿為援。前殷乂輕薄，非豫州意。今若和解，則忠勳可立，富貴可保。若猶固執，東府赫然更遣猛將，以卿烏合之眾，憑阻窮城，強賊伺其北，國家攻其南，萬無一全也。願善量之。”雅即斬異己者，遂出降。) Book of Jin, Volume 81
- (李頭之討樊雅也，力戰有勳。逖時獲雅駿馬，頭甚欲之而不敢言，逖知其意，遂與之。頭感逖恩遇，每歎曰：“若得此人為主，吾死無恨。”川聞而怒，遂殺頭。頭親党馮寵率其屬四百入歸於逖，川益怒，遣將魏碩掠豫州諸郡，大獲子女車馬。逖遣將軍衛策邀擊於谷水，盡獲所掠者，皆令歸本，軍無私焉。川大懼，遂以眾附石勒。逖率眾伐川，石季龍領兵五萬救川，逖設奇以擊之，季龍大敗，收兵掠豫州，徙陳川還襄國，留桃豹等守川故城，住西台。) Book of Jin, Volume 62
- (逖遣將韓潛等鎮東台。同一大城，賊從南門出入放牧，逖軍開東門，相守四旬。逖以布囊盛土如米狀，使千餘人運上臺，又令數人擔米，偽為疲極而息於道，賊果逐之，皆棄擔而走。賊既獲米，謂逖士眾豐飽，而胡戍饑久，益懼，無複膽氣。石勒將劉夜堂以驢千頭運糧以饋桃豹，逖遣韓潛、馮鐵等追擊於汴水，盡獲之。豹宵遁，退據東燕城，逖使潛進屯封丘以逼之。馮鐵據二台，逖鎮雍丘。) Book of Jin, Volume 62
- (祖逖牙門童建害新蔡內史周密，遣使降於勒。勒斬之，送首於祖逖，曰：“天下之惡一也。叛臣逃吏，吾之深仇，將軍之惡，猶吾惡也。”逖遣使報謝。自是兗豫間壘壁叛者，逖皆不納，二州之人率多兩屬矣。) Book of Jin, Volume 105
- (逖雖內懷憂憤，而圖進取不輟，營繕武牢城，城北臨黃河，西接成皋，四望甚遠。逖恐南無堅壘，必為賊所襲，乃使從子汝南太守濟率汝陽太守張敞、新蔡內史周閎率眾築壘。未成，而逖病甚。俄卒於雍丘，時年五十六。) Book of Jin, Volume 62
- (祖逖旣卒，後趙屢寇河南，拔襄城、城父，圍譙。豫州刺史祖約不能禦，退屯壽春。後趙遂取陳留，梁、鄭之間復騷然矣。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 91
- Fang, Xuanling (ed.) (648). Book of Jin (Jin Shu).
- Liu, Yiqing (ed.) (c. 5th century). A New Account of the Tales of the World (Shishuo Xinyu / Shiyu).
- Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian.