Taogu

Taogu

Tao Gu (903-970) was born in Xinping (now Binxian County, Shaanxi Province) of Jiazhou in the Northern Song Dynasty.

In his early years, Tao Gu was an official in the later Jin Dynasty, the later Han Dynasty, and the Later Zhou Dynasty. He once served as the judge of Shan Zhou, the assistant of works, the censor of supervision, the zhizhigao, the doctor of cangbu, the Sheren of Zhongshu, the Minister of geishizhong, the Minister of the Ministry of accounts, the Minister of the Ministry of war, the Minister of the Ministry of officials, and the Minister of Hanlin.

After the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, Tao Gu served as Minister of rites, and then successively as Minister of punishment and Minister of household. He died in the third year of Kaibao (970) and gave it to his right servant.

(source of the picture in the overview: Ming Dynasty, < / I > < I > Tang Yin, < / I > < I > painted the picture of the ci poems given by Tao Gu, < / I > < I > collected by the Palace Museum of Taipei) < / I > < I >)

Life of the characters

Early experience

Tao Gu's original surname was Tang Dynasty. In the later Jin Dynasty, he changed his surname to Tao because he avoided the taboo of Shi Jingtang, the emperor of the later Jin Dynasty. When he was young, his father was killed by Yang Chongben, the governor of Zhuozhou, and he remarried with his mother to the Yang family. As a teenager, he was good at writing articles.

He lived in the Jin and Han Dynasties

After the establishment of the later Jin Dynasty, Tao Gu served as military judge of xiaoshulang and Danzhou. He once recommended himself to Prime Minister Li Song, and was praised by Li Song. He was recommended as Zuo Lang and Ji Xian school manager. Since then, Tao Gu has successively served as censor of supervision, member of the Ministry of Yu, wailang, and zhizhigao. In the fifth year of Tianfu (940), Emperor Gaozu of Jin Dynasty abolished the position of Hanlin bachelor and ordered Tao Gu to make books inside and outside of his command. In the ninth year of Tianfu (944), Tao Gu was promoted to be a doctor of cangbu. Later, he had a conflict with an Shenxin, the governor of Yanzhou, and was impeached by an Shenxin. At that time, the imperial court was appeasing the generals, so Tao Gu was demoted as Taichang Shaoqing. When he saw the Taisi's trial, he neither ruled in time nor investigated seriously, so he put forward a series of suggestions to get rid of the malpractice, which were adopted by the imperial court and later worshipped Zhongshu. In the 12th year of Tianfu (947), Emperor Taizong of Liao Dynasty perished in the later Jin Dynasty and forced Tao Gu to go with him when he returned to the north. Tao Gu hid in the temple, changed to wear brown clothes and pretended to be a walker. However, he was seen through by the Liao army and threatened with a knife, so he had to go with him. In April of the same year, Emperor Taizong of Liao Dynasty killed Hu Lin in Luancheng and died. Tao Gu took the opportunity to go to Liu Zhiyuan, the emperor of the later Han Dynasty, who had already become emperor in Taiyuan, and was awarded the title of "Zhizhong".

Week after

In the first year of Guangshun (951), Guo Wei, the Taizu of Zhou Dynasty, was founded. In the Later Zhou Dynasty, Tao Gu served as the standing servant of yousanqi. In the first year of Xiande (954), Chai Rong of Zhou Shizong succeeded to the throne. Tao Gu was changed to be the Minister of the Ministry of household affairs, and went to the northern Han Dynasty with Zhou Shizong. At that time, Yu Chongliang, the academician of Hanlin, was serving his mother in his hometown. In the face of Shizong's call, he did not come. Tao Gu took the opportunity to say, "if yu Chongliang can't stay here, he has the heart of hesitation and wait-and-see." Yu Chongliang also stated his mother's condition. Zhou Shizong asked Yu Chongliang to support his mother at home, and appointed Tao Gu to be the academician. In the second year of Xiande (955), Zhou Shizong ordered more than 20 officials to write "it's not easy to be a king but a minister" and "Pingbian strategy" respectively. At that time, most of the game theories focused on the theme of "cultivating morality and recruiting Yuanren". Only Tao Gu, Dou Yi, Yang Zhaojian and Wang Pu put forward the strategy of conquering Jianghuai. Since Zhou Shizong defeated the northern Han Dynasty, he often practiced martial arts and wanted to unify the world. When he saw the strategy of Tao Gu and others, he gladly adopted it, and the idea of pacifying the South became more and more firm. In the third year of Xiande (956), Tao Gu was changed to be the Minister of the military department, and he was granted the imperial edict by jiahanlin. At that time, Zhou Shizong attached great importance to agricultural production. He asked craftsmen to carve out ploughmen, weavers and silkworms from wood and put them in the palace so that they would not forget to teach farming and mulberry. When Tao Gu learned about it, he specially wrote a eulogy to praise it. In the sixth year of Xiande (959), Tao Gu was appointed Minister of the Ministry of official.

Entering the Song Dynasty in his later years

In the first year of Jianlong (960), song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin launched the Chenqiao mutiny and became emperor of Zhou Dynasty. Tao Gu was the first to draw up the book of Zhou Gong's Zen position, which was used by song Taizu to receive Zen. After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, Tao Gu was changed to minister of rites and still served as an imperial official. He was at odds with Dou Yi and worried that Dou Yi's reputation would threaten his position. He attached himself to Prime Minister Zhao Pu and together with Zhao Feng and Gao Xi pushed Dou Yi out, making Dou Yi unable to worship him until his death. In the second year of Qiande (964), Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty ordered Tao Gu to preside over the selection of Li Department and the tribute of Li Department. Tao Gu also served as the etiquette envoy in the southern suburbs, and worked with Fan Zhi and Zhang Zhao to formulate the sacrificial ceremony system. Later, song Taizu ordered wailang, Wang Yisun, a member of the household department, and Dr. Xi Yu, a doctor of Zhouyi, to test the children of the officials. Tao Gu asked Xi Yu for help for his son Tao Wei, which enabled him to pass, but he was eventually denounced. Wang Yisun and Xi Yu were demoted, and Tao Gu was fined two months. Since then, Tao Gulei moved to the Minister of the Ministry of punishment and the Minister of the Ministry of household. In the third year of Kaibao (970), Tao Gu died of illness. At the age of 68, he gave it to his right servant.

Anecdotes and allusions

Proficient in celestial phenomena

Tao Gu was proficient in celestial phenomena, and once said to his colleagues, "if there are five stars in the southwest, and there are emperors in the Han Dynasty, the Khitan emperor must not return." Before long, Liu Zhiyuan became emperor in Taiyuan and established the later Han Dynasty, while Emperor Taizong of Liao Dynasty died on his way home. At this time, the light of the star points to the north. Tao Gu also said: "from then on, Khitan will fight each other and can't disturb the Central Plains." As expected, Khitan staged coups many times later, and failed to invade the Central Plains even after the fall of the country.

requite love with hate

In the later Jin Dynasty, Tao Gu was promoted by Li Song. After the establishment of the later Han Dynasty, Li song was persecuted by Prime Minister Su Fengji. At home, he said that he was ill and asked Li Fang, his nephew who came to visit him, "what do you think of me in the court now?" Li Fang said: "Tao Gu often slanders you in public." Li Song sighed: "at the beginning, Tao Gu was just a little magistrate. I promoted him to be a school manager of Jixian, and then he became more and more important. What's wrong with his surname Tao?" After Li song was killed, Li Fang visited Tao Gu on business. Tao Gu asked, "do you know Li Song Li Fang said, "he is my distant uncle." Tao Gu said shamelessly, "I helped Li song when he was killed." Li Fang could not help sweating.

Lonely house

Tao Gu once sent an envoy to the Southern Tang Dynasty, and wrote 12 words on the walls of the official house: "Xichuan dog, common people's eyes, Ma bao'er, imperial kitchen meal." When people do not understand its meaning. Song Qiqiu, Prime Minister of the Southern Tang Dynasty, explained: "Xichuan dog is Shu dog, which is the word" Du "; common people's eyes are common people's eyes, which is the word" mian "; Ma bao'er is paw, which is the word" Gu "; imperial kitchen meal is official food, which is the word" Guan ". These 12 words mean "sleeping alone in a lonely house."

Tao Gu's Ci

In the Later Zhou Dynasty, Tao Gu was sent to Jiangnan. He had an awe inspiring face, and he didn't smile. Han Xizai, the Prime Minister of the Southern Tang Dynasty, said to his relatives and friends, "Tao Gu is not a gentleman. I have a way to show his true appearance." He asked the geisha Qin weak orchid (a work of Qin konglan) to act as the daughter of the postman, a bamboo hairpin in old clothes. Every morning and evening, he swept the courtyard in the Posthouse. As expected, he seduced Tao Gu. Tao Gu presented the erotic poem "spring is good", which said: "good cause, bad cause, how can I have to sleep at the post office all night? Don't be an immortal. The lute is full of Acacia, but few bosom friends. When is the end of the time? " A few days later, Li Jing, the central leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty, hosted a banquet in Chengxin hall for Tao Gu. Tao Gu sits on the Bank of the river in a state of reserve. Li Jing called Qin weaklan to the banquet and ordered her to sing "good spring". In shame, Tao Gu laughed, drank and vomited. When he returned to China, only a few petty officials were sent to set up banquets in the suburbs to see him off. When Tao Gu returned to Bianliang, the capital, the words of "good spring" had already spread to the government and the public, and he could not be reused because of this diplomatic scandal. The story of Tao Gu's Ci poems is very popular, and there are many interpretations in later generations: according to this story, Dai Shanfu, a dramatist of the Yuan Dynasty, created the drama "the intoxicated scholar writes the beautiful scenery", but changed the era to the early Song Dynasty, and changed the ending to "Tao Gu had no courage to return to the Song Dynasty, so he had to go to the state of Wu and Yue, and then reunited with Qin Qianglan". Tang Yin, a painter of the Ming Dynasty, created the picture of Tao Gu's Ci poems according to the scenes before and after Tao Gu's Ci poems, and wrote a poem on the top right of the painting: "in a night of marriage and adversity, I chat with short words to know Ni Hong. At that time, when I was making pottery, I didn't have to respect the red front. " Fu Baoshi, a modern painter, has also created a painting with the same title, the picture of Tao Gu presenting Ci, which depicts Qin weaklan singing "good scenery" at a banquet in Chengxin hall.

Cooking tea in snow water

Tao Gu has a concubine who was once the concubine of Taiwei's party. In the snow, he cooked tea with snow water and asked his concubine, "will the party family appreciate this?" The concubine said, "Dang Taiwei is a rude man. How can he have such fun? He'll just be able to sing in the account and drink lamb wine She intended to satirize Tao Gu, thinking that compared with the rich and luxurious life of the party family, the elegance of taking snow to cook tea was too shabby. After hearing this, Tao Gu was silent.

stick closely to the pattern given

In the Northern Song Dynasty, Tao Gu believed that he had been in the Imperial Academy for a long time and had made great contributions, so he ordered his party members to recommend themselves to the emperor, hoping to be reused. Song Taizu said with a smile: "I heard that the imperial edicts drafted by the Hanlin scholars were based on the old version of their predecessors, and then changed a few words. They just drew gourds according to the example, which is not a contribution." After hearing this, Tao Gu wrote a poem with a self mockery saying: "the official position must be created by the place where he was born, and the article should be written no matter when it is used. I can laugh at the academician Tao of Hanlin, and draw gourds like this every year. " Taizu learned that he was more reluctant to reuse Tao Gu.

One crab is better than another

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Tao Gu sent an envoy to Wu and Yue. Qian Chu, the king of Wu and Yue, hosted a banquet with a variety of crabs, ranging from large to small. Tao Gu said with a smile, "it's really worse than a crab." He is satirizing that Qian He is not as good as Qian Liu, the founding monarch of the state of Wu and Yue. After the banquet, the imperial chef served gourd soup. Qian Chuo said with a smile: "the imperial chefs used to make gourd soup in the former king's time, and now the imperial chefs do the same." But he is satirizing that Tao Gu can only draw gourds in the same way.

Character evaluation

Jiang Shaoyu: Tao Gu, from the Five Dynasties to the beginning of the state, Wen Han was a member

Chinese PinYin : Tao Gu