courtesy name
A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theo ...
Zigao () (before 294 – 13 November 328) was a Chinese military general and politician of the Jin Dynasty whose rebellion against Emperor Cheng's
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
Yu Liang Yu Liang (庾亮; 289 – 14 February 340), courtesy name Yuangui (元規), formally Marquess Wenkang of Duting (都亭文康侯), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Jin dynasty who impressed many with his knowledge but whose inab ...
was initially successful, allowing him to take over the imperial government, but he was eventually defeated by
Tao Kan
Tao Kan () (259 – 30 July 334According to Emperor Cheng's biography in ''Book of Jin'', Tao Kan died on the ''yimao'' day of the 6th month of the 9th year of the ''Xianhe'' era of his reign. This corresponds to 30 Jul 334 on the Julian calendar. ...
and
Wen Jiao
Wen Jiao (溫嶠) (288 – 6 June 329), courtesy name Taizhen (太真), formally Duke Zhongwu of Shi'an (始安忠武公), was a Chinese military general and politician during the Jin dynasty. He was best known for his role in putting down two re ...
's forces and killed in battle. The disturbance he created greatly weakened the Jin regime, which for decades did not have any ability to fight back against rival
Later Zhao
The Later Zhao (; 319–351) was a dynasty of the Sixteen Kingdoms in northern China. It was founded by the Shi family of the Jie ethnicity. The Jie were most likely a Yeniseian people and spoke next to Chinese one of the Yeniseian languages.Vo ...
.
Su Jun's father Su Mo () was a prime minister of the Dukedom of Anle—the dukedom that was given to
Liu Shan
Liu Shan () (207–271), courtesy name Gongsi, was the second and last emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. As he ascended the throne at the age of 16, Liu Shan was entrusted to the care of the Chancellor Zhuge ...
the last emperor of
Shu Han
Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <
Han Zhao
The Han Zhao (; 304–329 AD), or Former Zhao (), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xiongnu people during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history. In Chinese historiography, it was given two conditional state titles, the Northern ...
's capture of Emperor Huai, Su gathered a group of refugees on modern
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in His ...
Peninsula and served as the leader of self-protection league. This eventually brought the attention of
Cao Ni
Cao Ni (died 323) was a Chinese military general of Han Zhao and warlord during the Jin dynasty (266–420) and Sixteen Kingdoms period. He was one of the followers of the bandit Wang Mi and followed him into service with Liu Yuan's state of ...
—a general with substantial forces in modern Shandong who frequently changed his allegiance between Han Zhao and Jin, and after Cao could not persuade Su to join him, he became determined to destroy Su. Su became fearful, and in 319 he took his group of refugees south to join the Jin imperial regime under Emperor Yuan, then located at
Jiankang
Jiankang (), or Jianye (), as it was originally called, was capital city of the Eastern Wu (229–265 and 266–280 CE), the Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) and the Southern Dynasties (420–552), including the Chen dynasty (557–589 CE). Its wal ...
. Emperor Yuan was impressed at how Su kept his group of refugees together and how he had come a long distance to join him, and he made Su a commandery governor. He went through a succession of posts the next few years.
In 324, when the warlord
Wang Dun
Wang Dun () (266 – after 8 August 324According to Sima Shao's biography in ''Book of Jin'', Wang Dun died shortly after the ''renshen'' day of the 7th month of the 2nd year of the ''Taining'' era of Shao's reign; the date corresponds to 8 Aug ...
's forces attacked Jiankang, with intent to overthrow Emperor Yuan's successor Emperor Ming, Emperor Ming summoned Su, among other generals posted on the northern border with Later Zhao, to come to his aid. When Su's forces (and those of Liu Xia ()) arrived in the capital late at night, Emperor Ming personally went to visit the forces. Su was instrumental in subsequently defeating Wang's forces, preserving Jin. After this success, Su was made the governor of Liyang Commandery (, roughly modern
Chaohu
Chaohu () is a county-level city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hefei. Situated on the northeast and southeast shores of Lake Chao, from which the city was named, Ch ...
,
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 Riv ...
). He became proud of his success and began to have greater ambition, and he received criminals and other unwanted people into his commandery, seeking to strengthen his own personal force.
After Emperor Ming's death in 325, his four-year-old son Emperor Cheng succeeded to the throne, and his maternal uncle Yu Liang became regent. Yu became apprehensive of Su and became convinced that he had to strip Su of his military post. In 327, he announced that Su was being promoted to minister of agriculture—a post that did not involve any military commands. Su refused, and asked to be transferred to another commandery instead. Yu in turn refused and prepare for war. Su then declared a rebellion against Yu's regency, stating, in a famous quote:
:''I would rather be on a hill and looking at the jail, rather than be in a jail and looking at the hill.''
In other words, he would rather lose in battle and be executed, than to submit himself to what he thought was certain imprisonment. He allied himself with
Zu Yue
Zu Yue (祖約) (after 266 - March to April 330), courtesy name Shishao, was a Chinese military general and warlord of the Jin dynasty. He was the younger brother of the famed Jin general Zu Ti who marched north to reclaim lost lands from the ...
the governor of Yu Province (, usually referring to modern eastern
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 a ...
, but by that point mostly confined to central
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 Riv ...
), and headed for Jiankang.
Yu was confident he could defeat Su—so much so that he declined emergency assistance from Wen Jiao, who was then the governor of Jiang Province (, modern
Jiangxi
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
) -- but instead Su won battle after battle and reached Jiankang quickly, capturing the city in early March 328According to Emperor Cheng's biography in ''Book of Jin'', Su Jun occupied Jiankang on the ''bingchen'' day of the 2nd month of the 3rd year of the ''Xianhe'' era of his reign; the date corresponds to 4 Mar 328 in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. [(咸和三年二月)丙辰，峻攻青溪栅，因风纵火，王师又大败。尚书令、领军将军卞壸，丹阳尹羊曼，黄门侍郎周导，庐江太守陶瞻并遇害，死者数千人。庾亮又败于宣阳门内，遂携其诸弟与郭默、赵胤奔寻阳。于是司徒王导、右光禄大夫陆晔、荀嵩等卫帝于太极殿，太常孔愉守宗庙。贼乘胜麾戈接于帝座，突入太后后宫，左右侍人皆见掠夺。是时太官唯有烧余米数石，以供御膳。百姓号泣，响震都邑。] ''Jin Shu'', vol.07 and forcing Yu to flee. Su's forces pillaged the capital, stripping both officials and commoners of their wealths and even their clothing, and even the servant girls of Empress Yu Wenjun, Empress Dowager Yu, Emperor Cheng's mother, were seized. Empress Dowager Yu, in distress, died. (It is said that she was "humiliated" by Su, but the method of humiliation was not described.) Su took over the imperial government and put his allies into high positions quickly.
However, Yu Liang, Wen, and Tao Kan soon entered into an alliance and headed back east to Jiankang. Eastern commanderies also rose against Su, led by
Chi Jian
Chi Jian (269–339), courtesy name Daohui, was a Chinese military general of the Jin dynasty (266–420). During the time of the Disaster of Yongjia, he led the refugees from his hometown to Yanzhou in 312 to escape the chaos in the north. T ...
. Despite these provincial forces having greater numbers, Su continued to defeat them in battle after battle, and even Wen and Tao, capable generals in their own right, became apprehensive. However, during one battle in November 328, Su was hit by a spear and fell off his horse, and the provincial forces quickly beheaded him. His forces tried to coalesce behind his brother Su Yi (), but collapsed in early 329.