Chi Chao

Chi Chao's family was originally from Gaoping County (高平縣; northwest of present-day Weishan County, Shandong) but after the Disaster of Yongjia in 311, moved to the south. His grandfather, Chi Jian, was a famous general of the early Eastern Jin era who helped the dynasty overcome the rebellions of Wang Dun and Su Jun. Chao's father, Chi Yin (郗愔) also served in the government and succeeded Jian after his death in 339, although it was said that he was not as talented as him. Chi Chao was reputed to be a very intelligent person who spoke well and had many friends in intellectual circles. The Jin minister Xie An once praised him by believing that he was better than his own nephews.[1]

Chi Chao began his career in the Jin government in 345 under Sima Yu as a simple official.[2] However, sometime after 348, he decided to join the general Huan Wen. Huan Wen was a very cold and aloof man, rarely making friends with anyone. Chi Chao proved to be an exception, as during a conversation between him and Huan Wen, Huan was so impressed by Chi that they greatly supported and trusted each other hereafter.[3]

In 363, Huan Wen made Chi Chao his Army Advisor and Wang Xun his Registrar. Due to the two of them being the general's favourites, the people of Jingzhou and those in Huan Wen's camp made a ditty about the three:[4][lower-alpha 1]

In 369, Huan Wen was prepared to hold an invasion to destroy Former Yan once and for all. However, the one thing in his way was Chi Yin, who held the province of Xuzhou. Huan Wen resented him because he wanted to have Xuzhou for their soldiers who were known for their strength. Chi Yin did not know of Huan Wen's attitude towards him, so he sent a letter to Huan Wen offering to help by moving his soldiers first across the Yellow River. The letter was intercepted by Chi Chao, who tore it and forged a new one asking for his father's retirement and handing over his army to Huan Wen. Huan Wen was pleased and had Chi Yin transferred to Kuaiji and took over his role as Inspector of Yanzhou and Xuzhou.[5]

As Huan Wen marched towards Yanzhou, Chi Chao began to have doubts. He pointed out to Huan Wen that the Bian River was too shallow and that Yan was too far from base which would make supplies hard to reach their army. Huan Wen chose to ignore his advice and marched on to Jinxiang, where he saw that the water around the area had all dried up. Huan Wen ordered Mao Muzhi to build a canal from the Wen River to let water flow into the Qing River and proceeded to sail into the Yellow River.[6]

Here, Chi Chao proposed to Huan two plans. The first was that Huan Wen should quickly concentrate his forces towards Yan's capital in Yecheng. Chi Chao believed that the Jin army under Huan's command should be enough to demoralize them and can be defeated easily. Taking their capital would force the Murongs to move north while the common people around the area would surrender to Jin en masse. His second proposal was that they establish garrison lines near the rivers to prevent from being cut off from supplies. Although they would have to delay the invasion, Chi Chao was confident that Jin would still win if they have a functioning supply line. Unfortunately, Huan Wen chose to ignore him. The campaign resulted in disaster as Huan Wen was decisively defeated at the Battle of Fangtou by Murong Chui. Huan Wen was too cautious to take on Yecheng and his plans to ensure a supply line failed as the canal he ordered Yuan Zhen to build was not completed in time.[7]

Huan Wen returned to Jin embarrassed in what he considered his worst defeat. The reason he wanted the campaign was so that Yan's demise would allow him to receive the nine bestowments and take the throne. His defeat prevented this and now he considered a different approach to becoming emperor. He defeated Yuan Zhen's rebellion in Shouchun in 371 after Huan called for his arrest due to his failure in building the canal. He asked Chi Chao if this would be enough to clear his defeat at Fangtou and Chi Chao believe it was not.[8]

One night, Chi Chao visited Huan Wen's home. He said to Huan Wen that he should act quickly, as Huan was already 59 years old and could die anytime now. If Huan Wen could not be emperor, then he should at the very least abdicate the emperor and replace him with someone he could control. Chi Chao and Huan Wen developed a scheme. They knew about Emperor Fei's controversial sex life, so they came up with a rumour that he is infertile. They claim that his wives and concubines were sleeping with his favourite ministers such as Xiang Long (相龍), Ji Hao (計好) and others, and that the three children he has were not his. Huan Wen and Chi Chao spread the rumour to the common people, and no one knew what was right and what was wrong.[9]

Huan Wen would enter the capital the next month with an edict he claimed was from Empress Dowager Chu. He then abdicated Emperor Fei with Sima Yu, who he had a tight grasp on during his short reign. Chi Chao would become Gentleman-Attendants of the Palace Secretariat.[10]

Chi Chao held a significant amount of power in the court, acting as Huan Wen's eye to report him the situation in the government. Sima Yu, now Emperor Jianwen of Jin, lamented the Jin dynasty's fate. He once asked Chi Chao if that dynasty would be replaced by that of Huan Wen's, but he assured him that Huan Wen was only doing what was best for the state. As Chi Chao withdrew himself to see his father, the emperor sighed and told him to tell his father that his emperor had failed to protect the state.[10]

Meanwhile, the Jin ministers, Xie An and Wang Tanzhi, entered an alliance with each other to prevent too much power from falling into Huan Wen's hands. They often visited Huan Wen and Chi Chao's home to discuss important matters. One time, as Chi Chao and Huan Wen made a list on who to purge from the court, Xie An and Wang Tanzhi came visiting. Huan Wen hid Chi Chao behind his bed curtains but when a gust of wind revealed him, Xie An simply joked to Huan Wen, "You can say that he is your 'guest within the curtains (入幕之賓)'!"[11][lower-alpha 2]

Emperor Jianwen died just a year into his reign and was replaced by his on Emperor Xiaowu. However, Huan Wen would later die in 373, and Chi Chao found his power greatly diminished because of this. Despite Huan Wen's family holding two-thirds of the empire, his brother Huan Chong had no imperial ambitions and stayed loyal to the Jin dynasty. In 375, Chi Chao tried to stop Huan Chong from giving up his power in Yangzhou but Huan Chong persisted.[12]

Chi Chao hated the Xie family for their growing influence while his father slowly went down the ranks. In 377, the Former Qin state threatened the dynasty and with no one to lead the troops to stop them, Xie An chose his nephew Xie Xuan to do it. When Chi Chao heard this, he unexpectedly agreed and backed him. The court was in disbelief as Xie Xuan at this point had never held a position as important as the one he was about to hold. However, Chi Chao defended him by saying that he had observed Xie Xuan during their time with Huan Wen, and that he had proved himself a good eye for talents. Chi Chao's advocate paid off as Qin was defeated in 383 at the Battle of Fei River, leading to its hasty decline.[13]

Chi Chao would find himself outlived by his father in 377. He grew ill at the end of the year, and soon died. His father Chi Yin was a stalwart loyalist of the dynasty but never knew what his son had been up to. Before his death, Chi Chao was concerned that his father would be grief struck by his death. He gave one of his students a chest that would stop him from doing so. After he died, Chi Yin was indeed heartbroken by his death and never ate for days, so the student gave him the chest. In it were the plans that Chi Chao and Huan Wen made to overthrow the dynasty. His grief turned to anger, and Chi Yin no longer mourned for his son.[14]

Chi Chao was a Taoist but grew infatuated with Buddhism, more specifically through the teachings of Zhu Fatai and Zhidun. He attempted to harmonize the orthodox concepts of Buddhism and Confucianism into one and even wrote a book about it called the 'Fengfayao'. There are errors regarding the Buddhist teachings in the book but regardless, it was comparable to many of his Buddhist counterparts' works and considered an important piece in the spread of Buddhism in China in the 4th century.[15]

Chi Yin was a very frugal man and amassed a huge amount of gold in his treasury, but his son was generous and somewhat wasteful. One day, Chi Chao was talking with his father until they began discussing about their finances. Chi Yin decided to allow him to use his treasury for a day despite knowing that his son would lose a portion of the money. Chi Chao distributed so much of the gold among his relatives and friends that by the time Chi Yin found out, the treasury was nearly exhausted.[16]

• Fang, Xuanling (ed.) (648). Book of Jin (Jin Shu).
• Liu, Yiqing (ed.) (c. 5th century). A New Account of the Tales of the World (Shishuo Xinyu / Shiyu).
• Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian.