Jump to content

Liang Mao

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Liang Mao
Lạnh mậu
Crown Prince's Grand Tutor ( Thái Tử thái phó )
In office
216 or after(216 or after)– before 220(before 220)
Zhongwei Fengchang( trung úy phụng thường )
In office
?(?)–?(?)
Supervisor of the Masters of Writing
( thượng thư bộc dạ )
In office
213(213)–?(?)
Left Military Adviser ( tả quân sư )
(under Cao Pi)
In office
?(?)–213(213)
Chief Clerk ( trường sử )
(under Cao Pi)
In office
211(211)–?(?)
Chancellor of Ganling ( cam lăng tương )
In office
?(?)–?(?)
Administrator ofWei Commandery
( Ngụy quận thái thú )
In office
?(?)–?(?)
Administrator ofLelang Commandery( nhạc lãng thái thú )
In office
before 204(before 204)–?(?)
Administrator of Taishan ( Thái Sơn thái thú )
In office
after 196(after 196)– before 204(before 204)
MonarchEmperor Xian of Han
ChancellorCao Cao(from 208)
Personal details
BornUnknown
Jinxiang County,Shandong
DiedUnknown
OccupationOfficial
Courtesy nameBofang ( bá phương )
In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisLiang.

Liang Mao(pronunciationⓘ) (fl.190s – 210s),courtesy nameBofang,was a scholar and official serving under the warlordCao Caoin the lateEastern Han dynastyof China.[1]

Early life and career

[edit]

Liang Mao was born in Changyi County (Xương Ấp huyện),Shanyang Commandery(Sơn dương quận), which is located northwest of present-dayJinxiang County,Shandongsometime in the lateEastern Han dynasty.Studious since childhood, he was known for being well-versed inConfucian classicsas he often quoted lines from the classics to support his points during debates.[2]

Sometime between 196 and 208, when the warlordCao Caoheld the appointment ofMinister of Works(Tư Không) in the Han imperial court,[3]he recruited Liang Mao to serve as an assistant in his office. Later, he nominated Liang Mao as agaodi( cao đệ; an outstanding civil servant) and promoted him to the position of an Imperial Clerk (Hầu ngự sử).[4]At the time, as bandits were rampant inTaishan Commandery( Thái Sơn quận; around present-dayTai'an,Shandong), the Han central government appointed Liang Mao as the Administrator (Thái thú) of Taishan Commandery. Within a month after he assumed office, thousands of families – many with young children – moved into Taishan Commandery and settled there.[5]

Life in Liaodong Commandery

[edit]

The Han central government later reassigned Liang Mao to be the Administrator ofLelang Commandery( nhạc lãng quận; around present-dayPyongyang,North Korea). At the time, the warlordGongsun Ducontrolled the nearbyLiaodong Commandery( Liêu Đông quận; around present-dayLiaoyang,Liaoning). While Liang Mao passed by Liaodong en route to Lelang, Gongsun Du detained him in Liaodong and refused to let him go to Lelang. Liang Mao was unfazed by Gongsun Du's bold and illegal action.[6]

Sometime in the mid 200s, Gongsun Du gathered all his subordinates and asked them, "I heard thatLord Caois away on a campaign.Ye(around present-dayHandan,Hebei) is unguarded. If I lead 30,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry to attack Ye, can anyone stop me? "All of them agreed that Gongsun Du would succeed if he did so.[7]After Gongsun Du sought his opinion, Liang Mao replied, "The Han Empire is in a state of chaos and on the brink of collapse. General, you command thousands of troops, yet you sit here and watch others attack and destroy each other. As a subject of the Han Empire, is this what you should be doing? Lord Cao is concerned about the Han Empire's future and the people's welfare, which is why he leads an army of righteousness to eliminate tyrants and villains. He has made immense contributions and his virtues are well-known. There is none other like him in the Han Empire. As peace and stability has just recently been restored, it is only a matter of time before everyone starts pointing fingers at you, General, for not doing anything to save the Han Empire. Now, General, you want to lead your forces west to attack Ye? All it takes is one morning to find out the result of this test of survival and destruction. General, I hope you know what is good for you."[8]Gongsun Du's subordinates were shocked when they heard what Liang Mao said. After a long pause, Gongsun Du said, "What Administrator Liang said is correct."[9]

The historianPei Songzhipoints out a discrepancy between the biographies of Liang Mao and Gongsun Du in theRecords of the Three Kingdoms.According to Liang Mao's biography, the conversation between him and Gongsun Du took place when Cao Cao was "away on a campaign", which Pei Songzhi assumed to be referring to theBattle of White Wolf Mountainin 207.[10]However, Gongsun Du's biography mentions that Gongsun Du died in 204,[11]so this conversation could not have taken place if there is no error with Gongsun Du's year of death. Kenneth H. J. Gardiner dismisses the story as Wei propaganda[12]whileRafe de Crespignysuggests the advice may have been given toGongsun Kanginstead.[1]

Later life and career

[edit]

Liang Mao later left Liaodong Commandery and after that he consecutively served as the Administrator ofWei Commandery( Ngụy quận; around present-dayCi County,Hebei) and then as the Chancellor (Tương) of Ganling State ( cam Lăng Quốc; around present-dayLinqing,Shandong). He gained quite a reputation for his achievements during his tenures.[13]

In 211,[14]after Cao Cao's sonCao Piwas appointed as General of the Household for All Purposes (Ngũ quan trung lang tướng) in the Han central government, Liang Mao first served as his Chief Clerk (Trường sử) and later as his Left Military Adviser (Tả quân sư).[15]In 213,[14]whenEmperor Xian,the figurehead Han emperor, wanted to enfeoff Cao Cao as the Duke of Wei (Ngụy công), Cao Cao initially declined but relented after Liang Mao, listed third on the memorial, and several others urged him to accept.[1][16]Liang Mao served as Supervisor of the Masters of Writing (Thượng thư bộc dạ) and later aszhongwei fengchang(Trung úy phụng thường) in Cao Cao's dukedom. In 216, Emperor Xian elevated Cao Cao from the status of a duke to avassalking under the title "King of Wei" (Ngụy vương).[17]A year later, after Cao Cao designated Cao Pi as the heir apparent to his vassal kingdom,[18]he appointed Liang Mao as the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor (Thái Tử thái phó). Cao Pi treated Liang Mao respectfully and courteously. Liang Mao died in office in an unknown year,[19]but certainly before 220.[20]

Post-mortem events

[edit]

In December 220, some months after Cao Cao's death in March that year, Cao Pi usurped the throne from Emperor Xian, ended the Eastern Han dynasty, and established theCao Weistate with himself as the new emperor.[21]After his coronation, he appointed one of Liang Mao's sons or grandsons as a Gentleman Cadet in recognition of Liang Mao's past service.[1]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abcdde Crespigny (2007),p. 453.
  2. ^( lạnh mậu tự bá phương, sơn dương Xương Ấp người cũng. Thiếu hiếu học, luận nghị thường theo kinh điển, lấy chỗ thị phi. )Sanguozhivol. 11.
  3. ^Zizhi Tong gianvols. 62–65.
  4. ^( Thái Tổ tích vì Tư Không duyện, cử cao đệ, bổ hầu ngự sử. )Sanguozhivol. 11.
  5. ^( khi Thái Sơn nhiều đạo tặc, lấy mậu vì Thái Sơn thái thú, tuần nguyệt chi nhàn, cưỡng phụ tới giả ngàn dư gia. )Sanguozhivol. 11.
  6. ^( chuyển làm vui lãng thái thú. Công Tôn độ ở Liêu Đông, thiện lưu mậu, không khiển chi quan, nhiên mậu chung không vì khuất. )Sanguozhivol. 11.
  7. ^( độ gọi mậu cập chư tướng rằng: “Nghe tào công viễn chinh, nghiệp vô phòng giữ, nay ngô dục lấy bộ tốt tam vạn, kỵ vạn thất, thẳng chỉ nghiệp, ai có thể ngự chi?” Chư tướng toàn rằng: “Nhiên.” )Sanguozhivol. 11.
  8. ^( lại cố gọi mậu rằng: “Với quân ý thế nào?” Mậu đáp rằng: “So giả trong nước đại loạn, xã tắc đem khuynh, tướng quân ủng mười vạn chi chúng, an tọa mà xem thành bại, phu kẻ bề tôi, cố nếu là tà! Tào công ưu quốc gia chi nguy bại, mẫn bá tánh chi khổ độc, suất nghĩa binh vì thiên hạ tru tàn tặc, công cao mà đức quảng, có thể nói vô nhị rồi. Lấy trong nước sơ định, dân thủy an tập, cố chưa trách tướng quân chi tội nhĩ! Mà tướng quân nãi dục dấy binh tây hướng, tắc tồn vong chi hiệu, không sùng triêu mà quyết. Tướng quân này miễn chi!” )Sanguozhivol. 11.
  9. ^( chư tướng nghe mậu ngôn, toàn chấn động. Lương cửu, độ rằng: “Lạnh quân ngôn là cũng.” )Sanguozhivol. 11.
  10. ^Zizhi Tong gianvol. 65.
  11. ^( thần tùng chi án này truyền vân Công Tôn độ nghe tào công viễn chinh, nghiệp vô phòng giữ, tắc Thái Tổ định nghiệp sau cũng. Án độ truyền, độ lấy Kiến An chín năm tốt, Thái Tổ cũng lấy này năm định nghiệp, sau này viễn chinh, chỉ có bắc chinh Liễu Thành nhĩ. Chinh Liễu Thành chi năm, độ đã không còn nữa ở rồi. ) Pei Songzhi's annotation inSanguozhivol. 11.
  12. ^Gardiner, Kenneth Herbert James (2019-01-14)."The Kung-sun Warlords of Liao-tung (189-238) (part 1 and 2)".Papers on Far Eastern History.1:79.ISSN0048-2870.
  13. ^( sau trưng dời vì Ngụy quận thái thú, cam lăng tướng, nơi có tích. )Sanguozhivol. 11.
  14. ^abZizhi Tong gianvol. 66.
  15. ^( văn đế vì ngũ quan đem, mậu lấy tuyển vì trường sử, dời tả quân sư. )Sanguozhivol. 11.
  16. ^Weishu in Sanguozhivol.1.
  17. ^Zizhi Tong gianvol. 67.
  18. ^Zizhi Tong gianvol. 68.
  19. ^( Ngụy quốc sơ kiến, dời thượng thư bộc dạ, sau vì trung úy phụng thường. Văn đế ở Đông Cung, mậu phục vì Thái Tử thái phó, cực thấy cúi chào. Tốt quan. )Sanguozhivol. 11.
  20. ^Weishu in Sanguozhivol.2.
  21. ^Zizhi Tong gianvol. 69.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Liang_Mao&oldid=1238007781"