Jiang Ke (姜恪) (died March 21, 672), formally the Duke of Yong'an (永安公), was an official and general of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

dynasty

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 ...

for several years during the reign of Emperor Gaozong.

Background

Despite Jiang Ke's high status, little is firmly established about his background or career except for the years that he served as

—as, unusual for a chancellor, he did not have a biography in either the ''

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 ...

'' or the ''

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 ...

''. (The table of chancellors family trees in the ''New Book of Tang'' indicated that his father was the general Jiang Baoyi (姜寶誼), who served during the reign of the founding emperor Emperor Gaozu, but oddly enough did not list him as one of Jiang Baoyi's sons in Jiang Baoyi's biography, as would be customary.) Little is known about Jiang Ke's career prior to his becoming chancellor in 665, although it was noted in the biography of his colleague

Yan Liben Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed indep ...

that he was a renowned general who was promoted for his battlefield achievements.''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 77. The only real record of his military accomplishment came in 662, when he served as the deputy of the general Qibi Heli (契苾何力) in a campaign to pacify the Tiele tribes (of whom Qibi's own tribe was related) -- a successful one, as Qibi was able to persuade the tribes to give up the chieftains who had rebelled against Tang and to resubmit to Tang.

Service under Emperor Gaozong

In 665, Jiang Ke was serving as the minister of defense, when Emperor Gaozong gave him the additional designation of ''Tong Dong Xi Tai Sanpin'' (同東西臺三品), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. Around the new year 669, Jiang was made acting ''Zuo Xiang'' (左相) -- the head of the examination bureau of government (東臺, ''Dong Tai'') -- and a post considered one for a chancellor still. In fall 670, in the aftermaths of a major defeat that the generals

Xue Rengui Xue Rengui (; 614 – 24 March 683), formal name Xue Li (薛礼) but went by the courtesy name of Rengui, was a Chinese military general during the early Tang Dynasty. He is one of the most well-known military generals of his time due to his hum ...

and Guo Daifeng (郭待封) suffered at the hands of Tufan's prime minister

Gar Trinring Tsendro Gar Trinring Tsendro (; ? – 699), also known as Lon Trinling (), was a famous general of the Tibetan Empire. He was the second son of minister Gar Tongtsen Yülsung. In Chinese records, his name was given as Lùn Qīnlíng () or Qǐzhèng ...

("Lun Qinling" (論欽陵) in Chinese) earlier that year, Emperor Gaozong commissioned Jiang with an army to attack Tufan, but if the army was actually launched, the results were not recorded in history. In 671, he was formally made the head of the examination bureau, with the title now being ''Shizhong'' (侍中). Jiang died in 672 with the title of the Duke of Yong'an (which he apparently inherited from Jiang Baoyi), but his

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 ...

, if any, was not recorded in history.

Notes and references

* ''

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 ...

'', vols.

200 __NOTOC__ Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 '' Ab ur ...

201 Year 201 ( CCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fabianus and Arrius (or, less frequently, year 954 '' Ab urbe condi ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jiang, Ke 672 deaths Chancellors under Emperor Gaozong of Tang Tang dynasty generals Year of birth unknown