Yao Ji (姚洎), formally the Marquess of Wuxing (吳興侯), was an official 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 va ...

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 ...

and its successor state

Later Liang Later Liang may refer to the following states in Chinese history: * Later Liang (Sixteen Kingdoms) (後涼; 386–403), one of the Sixteen Kingdoms * Western Liang (555–587), also known as Later Liang (後梁), a state during the Southern and Nor ...

of the

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

, serving as a

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 Later Liang's last emperor

Zhu Zhen Zhu Zhen may refer to: *Zhu Youzhen (888–923), last emperor of the Later Liang, known as Zhu Zhen during his reign *Zhu Zhen (Ming dynasty) Zhu Zhen (; 5 April 1364 – 22 March 1424), the Prince of Chu (楚昭王), was a prince of the Ming dy ...

During Tang dynasty

Yao Ji's background is not clear, as there was no biography of his in the four relevant official histories — 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 ...

'', 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 '' History of the Five Dynasties'', and the ''

New History of the Five Dynasties The ''Historical Records of the Five Dynasties'' (''Wudai Shiji'') is a Chinese history book on the Five Dynasties period (907–960), written by the Song dynasty official Ouyang Xiu in private. It was drafted during Ouyang's exile from 1036 to ...

''. However, it appeared that at some point he served as a staff member to the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou,

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

), as there is an extant poem by the Buddhist monk-poet

Guanxiu Guanxiu () was a celebrated Buddhist monk, painter, poet, and calligrapher. His greatest works date from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The collapse of the central Tang government in 907, meant artists and craftsmen lost their most po ...

to Yao congratulating him on being recalled from serving on staff at Jiangling Municipality (江陵), the capital of Jingnan Circuit, back to the capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

, apparently to serve as a low-level consultant in the imperial government, ''Shiyi'' (拾遺), but it is not clear when Guangxiu wrote it. The first substantially datable historical reference to Yao was in 902, when then-reigning

Emperor Zhaozong of Tang Emperor Zhaozong of Tang (March 31, 867 – September 22, 904), né Li Jie, name later changed to Li Min and again to Li Ye, was the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 888 to 904 (although he was briefly deposed ...

had been forcibly taken by powerful

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...

s, led by

Han Quanhui Han Quanhui (韓全誨) (died February 6, 903''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 263.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter) was a eunuch late in the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. The struggles by the eunuchs, led by him, against the chancellor ...

and Zhang Yanhong (張彥弘), to Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern

Baoji () is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi. Geography The prefecture-level city of Baoji had a population of 3,321,853 accordin ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

), then governed by the eunuchs' ally Li Maozhen, the military governor (''

Jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (), or jiedu, was a title for regional military governors in China which was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissioner", "legate", ...

'') of Fengxiang. At that time, both Yao and his friend

Han Wo Han Wo ( – ) was a Chinese poet of the late Tang dynasty and the Min state. His courtesy name was Zhiyao, or possibly Zhiguang or Zhiyuan, and his art name was Yushan-Qiaoren. He was a native of Jingzhao, in or near the capital Chang'an. An ...

were serving as imperial scholars (翰林學士, ''Hanlin Xueshi'') and had accompanied Emperor Zhaozong to Fengxiang; subsequently, Li Maozhen's rival Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

) put Fengxiang Circuit's capital Fengxiang Municipality under siege. When the

Wei Yifan Wei Yifan (韋貽範) (died December 16, 902Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), courtesy name Chuixian (垂憲), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving briefly as chancellor in 902, while Emperor Zhaozong w ...

was forced to leave the imperial government for some time because his mother had died, the eunuchs initially recommended that Yao become chancellor to replace Wei. Han Wo recommended that Yao decline the commission:''

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. 263. Yao thus claimed to be ill and declined the commission, and Emperor Zhaozong himself was also not inclined to issue it. Instead, the position went to

Su Jian Su Jian (蘇檢) (died March 6, 903''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 264.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), courtesy name Shengyong (聖用),''New Book of Tang'', vol. 7/ref> was an official of the History of China, Chinese Tang Dynasty ...

. Later in the year, under the pressure from Li Maozhen and the eunuchs, Emperor Zhaozong was set to recall Wei back to the imperial government to again serve as chancellor, but when the draft edict was assigned to Han Wo to be written, Han refused to draft it — pointing out that having Wei return to the government after such a short mourning period was unseemly, so Emperor Zhaozong delayed the commission for some time. However, he eventually gave in to pressure, and had Yao instead draft it, and Wei was able to return as a chancellor. (Wei died shortly after, however.) At that time, Emperor Zhaozong was under virtual house arrest. On an occasion late in 902, when the eunuchs guarding him were not around, he had his concubine, the Lady of Zhao, quickly summon Yao and Han Wo to his residence, for a brief meeting. He was, however, only able to hold their hands briefly and weep, before Yao reminded him that they might be discovered, and so they separated quickly. In 903, Li Maozhen was forced to capitulate, slaughter the eunuchs, and surrender the emperor and the imperial household to Zhu. After that, while it is known that Han Wo was exiled for offending Zhu and Zhu's ally, the chancellor Cui Yin, historical references to Yao disappeared for some time.

During Later Liang

Zhu Quanzhong subsequently usurped the Tang throne, establishing a new

as its Emperor Taizu. In 913, by which time his son

was emperor, Yao Ji, who was then serving as the chief imperial censor (御史大夫, ''Yushi Daifu''), was given the chancellor designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (同中書門下平章事), and was also made ''Zhongshu Shilang'' (中書侍郎), the deputy head of the legislative bureau of government (中書省, ''Zhongshu Sheng'').''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 266. He was also referred to at that time as the Marquess of Wuxing, presumably a title that was previously created him by a Later Liang emperor.'' History of the Five Dynasties'', vol. 8. That was the last historical reference to Yao, and it is not known when he left office or when he died.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yao, Ji 9th-century births 10th-century deaths Tang dynasty government officials Later Liang (Five Dynasties) chancellors