Gao Zhizhou (高智周; 602–683) was a Chinese politician of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, serving as

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. Gao Zhizhou was born in 602, during the reign of

Emperor Wen of Sui The Emperor Wen of Sui (; 21 July 541 – 13 August 604), personal name Yang Jian (), Xianbei name Puliuru Jian (), alias Narayana () deriving from Buddhist terms, was the founder and the first emperor of the Chinese Sui dynasty. The ''Book of ...

, the founding emperor of Tang's predecessor

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

. His family was from what would become Chang Prefecture (常州, roughly modern

Changzhou Changzhou ( Changzhounese: ''Zaon Tsei'', ) is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provin ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

). He was said to have been studious in his youth and, after passing the

imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

, served as the county magistrate of Fei County (費縣, in modern

Linyi Linyi () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. As of 2011, Linyi is the largest prefecture-level city in Shandong, both by area and population, Linyi borders Rizhao to the east, Weifang to the northeast, Zibo to ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

). As his salary was higher than those of the sheriff and the secretary general of the county, he shared his salary evenly with them. He was also said to be a capable county magistrate, and the people and subordinate officials carved a stone monument in his honor. Eventually, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, he was made an imperial scholar and participated in the creation of the literary works ''Yaoshan Yucai'' () and ''Wenguan Cilin'' (), headed by Emperor Gaozong's

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

Li Hong Li Hong () (652 – 25 May 675), formally Emperor Xiaojing (孝敬皇帝, literally, "the filial and respectful emperor") with the temple name of Yizong (義宗), was a crown prince (not emperor, despite his formal title) of the Chinese dynasty ...

. Further, he and two other officials, He Kai () and Wang Zhenru (), assisted in Li Hong's studies. In 668, he took a vacation home to bury his parents, and when he reached home, he commented to his relatives, "Knowing how to advance but not how to retreat is the way to disaster." He thereafter, claiming an illness, resigned. Gao was subsequently recalled to serve as the prefect of Shou Prefecture (壽州, roughly modern

Lu'an Lu'an (), is a prefecture-level city in western Anhui province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan to the northwest and Hubei to the southwest. As of the 2020 census, it had a total population of 4,393,699 inhabitants whom 1,752,537 liv ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

). He was said to be gracious and forgiving in his rule, and the people appreciated it. Whenever he went out to visit the towns, he would first summon the local teachers and students to see how the students were doing in their studies and their understanding of current affairs, before he would move on to the matters of agriculture and law. In 671, he was recalled to the central government to serve as imperial consultant and acting deputy minister of ceremonies. In 676, he was serving as ''Huangmen Shilang'' (), the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (門下省, ''Menxia Sheng''), when he was given the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Sanpin'' (), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. He was also in charge of editing imperial histories. In 677, he was also made a member of the staff of Li Hong's younger brother Li Xian, now crown prince after Li Hong's death in 675. In 679, however, he became imperial censor and was no longer chancellor. In 680, when Li Xian, who had by now lost the favor of Emperor Gaozong's powerful wife

Empress Wu The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

(later known as Wu Zetian), was accused of plotting treason, Gao, along with the chancellors

Xue Yuanchao Xue Yuanchao (; 622–683), formal name Xue Zhen (薛振) but went by the courtesy name of Yuanchao, formally Baron of Fenyin (汾陰男), was a Chinese politician of the Chinese Tang Dynasty who served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor ...

and

Pei Yan Pei Yan (裴炎) (died November 30, 684), courtesy name Zilong (子隆), was a Chinese politician during the Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong That dominated by Empress Wu, as well Later alone regency by his ...

, were in charge of the investigations, and Li Xian was found guilty, deposed, and exiled. Gao, by this point, had repeatedly requested to retire, and Emperor Gaozong granted the retirement request. He died in 683 and was given posthumous honors and the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or ...

Ding (定, "considerate").

References

* ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

'', vol. 185.1. * ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'', vol. 106. * ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

'', vol. 202. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gao, Zhizhou Sui dynasty people Chancellors under Emperor Gaozong of Tang 602 births 683 deaths Politicians from Changzhou Tang dynasty politicians from Jiangsu