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 ...
Jizhong, was an official and military general of the state of
: *''ŋjweiC'' < Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...
period of China.
Life
Wu Zhi was born in a poor family in
Jiyin Commandery Jiyin Commandery ( zh, 濟陰郡) was a commandery in historical China from Han dynasty to Tang dynasty, located in what is now southwestern Shandong province.
In 144 BC, the Liang Kingdom was divided into five states. Jiyin, one of the successor ...
(), which is around present-day
Dingtao County
Dingtao District () is a district under the jurisdiction of Heze in Shandong province, China. Emperor Gaozu of Han
Emperor Gaozu of Han (256 – 1 June 195 BC), born Liu Bang () with courtesy name Ji (季), was the founder and first empe ...
,
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 ...
. He became a close aide of
Cao Pi
Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest s ...
, the eldest surviving son of the warlord
Cao Cao
Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the dynasty's final years. As one o ...
, who controlled the Han central government and the figurehead Emperor Xian in the late
Eastern Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
. During this time, he served as the Chief () of Zhaoge County () and Prefect () of Yuancheng County ().
Wu Zhi helped Cao Pi in his rivalry against his brother, Cao Zhi, for the right to succeed their father. In 214, Cao Cao was departing on campaign, and Cao Zhi made a splendid speech, full of praise for his father’s achievements and virtues. Everyone admired him, and Cao Pi felt quite at a loss, but his friend Wu Zhi whispered, “As the king is about to leave, weep,” Cao Pi followed his advice, shedding tears as he bowed in farewell, and all in attendance wept in sympathy. Some now felt that though Cao Zhi was a fine orator, he lacked true feeling. In 215, after Wu Zhi had taken up a post in Henei, Cao Pi turned to him again for support and advice, and Wu Zhi returned to see him at Ye city, hidden in a basket in a cart. This was quite against regulations, and Yang Xiu found out and reported the offence to Cao Cao. Though Cao Cao did not investigate immediately, Cao Pi was seriously worried. Wu Zhi reassured him, however, and on the follow- ing day he had another load sent in, this time with a basket of silk. The guards inspected it but found nothing untoward, so Cao Pi was cleared and Cao Cao began to have doubts about Yang Xiu.
In 220, following Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi usurped the throne from Emperor Xian, ended the Eastern Han dynasty and established the state of
Bing
Bing most often refers to:
* Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer
* Microsoft Bing, a web search engine
Bing may also refer to:
Food and drink
* Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread
* Bing (soft drink), a UK brand
* Bing cherry, a varie ...
provinces. Later, Wu Zhi was promoted to General Who Inspires Might () and put in charge of overseeing military affairs in the
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...
region.
In 230, during the reign of Cao Pi's successor
Cao Rui
Cao Rui () (204 or 206 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later rem ...
, Wu Zhi was reassigned to be a Palace Attendant (). He died in the same year. After his death, some officials suggested to Cao Rui to give him a negative-sounding
posthumous title
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 o ...
, "Marquis Chou" (醜侯; "ugly marquis"), because Wu Zhi used his close friendship with Cao Pi to gain power and status. Although Cao Rui initially agreed, he later changed Wu Zhi's posthumous title to "Marquis Wei" () after Wu Zhi's son, Wu Ying (), convinced him that the posthumous title did not befit his father.
Anecdotes
Around 217, before
Cao Cao
Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the dynasty's final years. As one o ...
left for the
Hanzhong Campaign
The Hanzhong Campaign was a military campaign launched by the warlord Liu Bei to seize control of Hanzhong Commandery from his rival, Cao Cao. The campaign took place between 217 and 219 during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms period. Althou ...
,
Cao Zhi
Cao Zhi (; ; 192 – 27 December 232), courtesy name Zijian (), posthumously known as Prince Si of Chen (陈思王), was a prince of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China, and an accomplished poet in his time. His style ...
sang praises of his father while seeing him off and earned much favour from his father.
Cao Pi
Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest s ...
, feeling uneasy that Cao Zhi had stolen the limelight, turned to Wu Zhi for advice. Wu Zhi instructed Cao Pi to cry while seeing his father off. Cao Pi did so and touched the hearts of many people, who felt that Cao Pi was much more sincere in expressing his emotions as compared to Cao Zhi. In another incident, Wu Zhi did not want to be seen as being too close to Cao Pi, so he sneaked into Cao Pi's residence by hiding in a silk hamper. When Yang Xiu, Cao Zhi's close friend and adviser, heard about it, he reported it to Cao Cao. Wu Zhi, knowing that Yang Xiu knew his trick, stopped sneaking into Cao Pi's residence and he instructed Cao Pi to refill the hamper with silk. When Cao Cao and Yang Xiu came to investigate, they did not find Wu Zhi hiding inside the hamper, so Cao Cao became very displeased with Yang Xiu.
In 224, Cao Pi ordered Wu Zhi to host a banquet in his residence to celebrate Cao Zhen's return from a campaign. During the banquet, Wu Zhi instructed actors to put up a skit to make fun of Cao Zhen and Zhu Shuo (), who were fat and thin respectively. Cao Zhen turned furious and he shouted at Wu Zhi, "Are you and your men seeking a fight with me and my men?" Cao Hong and Wang Zhong egged Wu Zhi on by saying, "If you want to make the General (Cao Zhen) admit that he is fat, you have to show that you're thin." Cao Zhen drew his sword, glared at them and said, "I'll kill whoever dares to mock me." Wu Zhi also drew his sword and insulted Cao Zhen by saying, "Cao Zidan, you're not meat under a butcher's cleaver. My throat won't tremble when I swallow you and my teeth won't chatter when I chew on you. How dare you behave so rudely!" Zhu Shuo stood up and tried to reduce tensions by telling Wu Zhi, "His Majesty ordered you to host entertainment for everyone. Do you have to do this?" Wu Zhi then shouted at Zhu Shuo, "Zhu Shuo, how dare you leave your seat!" Everyone then returned to their seats. Zhu Shuo felt outraged but did not say anything, and returned to his seat and used his sword to hit the ground.(質別傳曰： ... 質黃初五年朝京師，詔上將軍及特進以下皆會質所，大官給供具。酒酣，質欲盡歡。時上將軍曹真性肥，中領軍朱鑠性瘦，質召優，使說肥瘦。真負貴，恥見戲，怒謂質曰：「卿欲以部曲將遇我邪？」驃騎將軍曹洪、輕車將軍王忠言：「將軍必欲使上將軍服肥，即自宜為瘦。」真愈恚，拔刀瞋目，言：「俳敢輕脫，吾斬爾。」遂罵坐。質案劒曰：「曹子丹，汝非屠机上肉，吳質吞爾不搖喉，咀爾不搖牙，何敢恃勢驕邪？」鑠因起曰：「陛下使吾等來樂卿耳，乃至此邪！」質顧叱之曰：「朱鑠，敢壞坐！」諸將軍皆還坐。鑠性急，愈恚，還拔劒斬地。遂便罷也。) ''Wu Zhi Biezhuan'' annotation in ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 21.
See also
*
Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms
The following are lists of people significant to the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of Chinese history. Their names in Mandarin pinyin are sorted in alphabetical order.
Fictional characters in the 14th-century historical novel ''Romance of ...
Records of the Three Kingdoms
The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220 ...
Book of the Later Han
The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Lat ...
Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms
Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After leaving his native land, Pei ...
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 ...