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Zhu Jianping

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Zhu Jianping
Chu kiến bình
Personal details
BornUnknown
Pei Commandery
Died220-226
In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisZhu.

Zhu Jianping(fl.213 - c.220)[1][2]was an expert in physiognomy and horses whose reputation saw him gain position atEastern Han dynastywarlordCao Cao's court and at a gathering for the futureCao WeiEmperorCao Pipredicted the fates of prominent figures there, said to be rarely wrong.

Life

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Zhu Jianping was fromPei Commandery.He gained a reputation for his skill in physiognomy, said to be without a single error at that time, among the people and in 213[2]the Duke of Wei Cao Cao appointed Zhu Jianping to court. He became friends withXun YouandZhong Yaowho asked Zhu Jianping for a reading together; the prediction warned that though Xun You was younger (Zhong Yao born in 151[3]while Xun You was born in 157[4]), Zhong Yao would be the one left caring for Xun You's household. Zhong Yao joked all he would do was arrange a marriage for Xun You's concubine but after Xun You died in 214,[5]Zhong Yao was left reflecting on the joke as he indeed looked for a marriage for the concubine. Zhong Yao wrote that Zhu Jianping's skill was greater than figures of the past like the Warring States physiognomist Tang Ju and former Han diviner Xu Fu.[6][7]

Zhu Jianping was also skilled with horses and one day, upon seeing a horse prepared in the courtyard for Cao Pi, Zhu Jianping warned the horse would not survive the day. When Cao Pi tried to ride the horse, it became unsettled by Cao Pi's fragrant clothing and bit Cao Pi on the knee. Cao Pi was furious and had the horse killed.[8]

Zhu Jianping died in theHuangchuperiod during Cao Pi's reign, which means he died sometime between 220-226.[9][1]

Cao Pi's Event

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Cao Pi, as Five Offices Cadet-General ( ngũ quan đem ) (thus placing the event between spring of 211[10]till late 217, when Cao Pi was made heir, with Lu Kanru placing it at 214,[11]) held a gathering of over thirty people and invited Zhu Jianping to use his skills to assess the lifespans of Cao Pi and his guests. Chen Shou only gave a few examples as not all could go into detail but noted that Zhu largely made accurate predictions; only the future ExcellencyWang Chang,the General Cheng Xi and future MinisterWang Sugot incorrect predictions.[1]Rafe De Crespigny notes a pattern in the recorded predictions of a crisis at midlife that, if overcame, would give them further lease of life.[2]

Zhu Jianping told Cao Pi his lifespan was eighty years but would suffer a small hardship when he was forty and would need to take care. In 226, when Cao Pi was forty,[a]he became mortally ill with Cao Pi remarking to his attendants that Zhu Jianping had counted both day and night for the forty years; it was now the time for his death.

Cao Pi's younger half-brotherCao Biaowas advised by Zhu Jianping that he would be in charge of a state but at the age of 57, would suffer a disaster with warfare so Cao should avoid it. In 222, the new Emperor Cao Pi made Cao Biao a Prince[12]from possibly 248[13]and certainly from 249,[14]Cao Biao plotted withWang Lingto endSima Yi's control at court and replace the EmperorCao Fang.[14]On 7 June 251[15]the plot was revealed by Inspector of Yan Huang Hua. Cao Biao was allowed to take his own life with his state abolished.[12]

Xiahou Weiwas told he would be in charge of a province at the age of forty-nine, if he could survive the hardship at that time then he would live to seventy and become an Excellency. When forty-nine years old, Xiahou Wei was Inspector ofYan Provinceand fell ill. Remembering the prophecy, Xiahou Wei made his preparations for death including organizing his funeral and making a final will but by the end of the month, his health recovered. The evening before his birthday, he invited guests for a drinking party, talking of how when the rooster crowed he would have made it through the hardship Zhu Jianping had warned of. However, after seeing his guests out, Xiahou Wei became ill again and he died that night.

The poet Ying Qu ( ứng cừ ), who had close ties to the Cao family,[16]was told by Zhu Jianping that at the age of sixty-two he would be a trusted official, but a year before his death, he would see a white dog that nobody else would see. When Ying Qu was sixty-one and a Palace Attendant, he saw a white dog in the government offices but, despite asking around, he found no one else had seen the dog. Remembering Zhu Jianping's warning, Ying Qu spent his last year traveling around, having celebrations and throwing feats for his friends, enjoying his last year. He duly died in 252.

Wang Su,according to his own account, was told he would reach seventy and become an Excellency. When he fell ill in 256[17]at the age of sixty-two the doctors gave up hope, but Wang Su told his wife he would be fine as Zhu Jianping's predictions for both age and rank had yet to pass so why should he fear? He died.

Appraisal

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Chen Shou lists Zhu Jianping amongHua Tuo,Du Kui,Guan Luand Zhou Xuan as expert technicians, with skills of their chosen art that were out of the ordinary with a specialty in the mysterious and profound.[18]Zhou Xuan's dream interpretations in their accuracy were compared to Jianping's skill with physiognomy.[19]

Notes

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  1. ^While age at death is 38-39 by western count, in Chinese reckoning of the age it is 40suias people were considered to be aged one at birth. SeeEast Asian age reckoning

References

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  1. ^abcSanguozhivol. 29.
  2. ^abcDe Crespigny, Rafe (2007).A biographical dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD)(Boston ed.). Brill. p. 1161.ISBN978-90-04-15605-0.
  3. ^De Crespigny, Rafe (2007).A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD).Boston: Brill. p. 1134.ISBN9789004156050.
  4. ^Khi Kiến An mười chín năm, du năm 58. Kế này năm đại úc 6 tuổiWeishu in Sanguozhivol. 10.
  5. ^Du tòng chinh Tôn Quyền, nói hoăngSanguozhivol. 10.
  6. ^( hồi tưởng kiến bình chi diệu, tuy đường cử, hứa phụ dùng cái gì phục thêm cũng )Sanguozhivol.29.
  7. ^DeWoskin, Kenneth (1983).Doctors, Diviners and Magicians of Ancient China: Biographies of Fang-shih.Columbia University Press. p. 187.
  8. ^( đế đem thừa mã, mã ác y hương, kinh khiết văn đế đầu gối, đế giận dữ, mặc dù sát chi.)Sanguozhivol.29.
  9. ^Sanguozhivol. 2.
  10. ^Sanguozhi vol.1
  11. ^R.Knechtges, David (2010)."The Problem with Anthologies: The Case of the" Bai yi "Poems of Ying Qu (190-252)".The Birth of Early Medieval China Studies.23(1): 174–175.JSTOR41649990– via JSTOR.
  12. ^abSanguozhivol. 20.
  13. ^Leban, Carl; E.Dien, Albert (18 July 2013)."The Accession of Sima Yan, AD 265: Legitimation by Ritual Replication".Early Medieval China.2010(16): 12–14.doi:10.1179/152991010X12863647122280.S2CID144937173.
  14. ^abSanguozhi vol.28.
  15. ^Sanguozhivol. 4.
  16. ^Lin, Pauline (June 2009)."Rediscovering Ying Qu and his Poetic Relationship with Tao Qian".Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies.69(1): 41.doi:10.1353/jas.0.0015.JSTOR40213691.S2CID194342368– via Jstor.
  17. ^Sanguozhivol.13
  18. ^Quản lộ chi thuật thệ, thành toàn huyền diệu chi thù xảo, phi thường chi tuyệt kỹ rồi.Sanguozhivol.29.
  19. ^Thế lấy so kiến bình chi tướng rồi Sanguozhivol.29.
  • Chen, Shou(3rd century).Records of the Three Kingdoms(Sanguozhi).
  • De Woskin, Kenneth J. (1983) Doctors, Diviners, and Magicians of Ancient China: Biographies of Fang-shih. Columbia University Press.
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