Kong Rong
Kong Rong | |
---|---|
Palace Counsellor ( | |
In office ? –208 | |
Monarch | Emperor Xian of Han |
Minister Steward ( | |
In office ? –? | |
Monarch | Emperor Xian of Han |
Court Architect ( | |
In office 196 –? | |
Monarch | Emperor Xian of Han |
Chancellor of Beihai ( | |
In office 189 –196 | |
Monarch | Emperor Xian of Han |
Personal details | |
Born | 151/153 Qufu, Shandong |
Died | 26 September 208 (aged 55 or 57) Xuchang, Henan |
Occupation | Poet, politician, warlord |
Courtesy name | Wenju ( |
Other name(s) | Kong Beihai ( |
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Kong Rong ([1]/153 – 26 September 208[2]), courtesy name Wenju, was a Chinese poet, politician, and minor warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was a 20th generation descendant of Confucius.[3] As he was once the Chancellor of Beihai State, he was also known as Kong Beihai. He was defeated by Yuan Tan in 196 and escaped to the capital Xuchang. For being a political opponent of Cao Cao and humiliating him on multiple occasions, Kong Rong was eventually put to death on various charges.
) (151Famed for his quick wits and elaborate literary style, Kong Rong was ranked among the Seven Scholars of Jian'an, a group of representative literati of his time. However, most of his works had been lost. Those that survived can be found in compilations from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
A well-known story commonly used to educate children – even in contemporary times – on the values of courtesy and fraternal love involves a four-year-old Kong Rong giving up the larger pears to his older and younger brothers. This story, commonly known as "Kong Rong giving up pears" (
Early life and career
[edit]Born in the former Lu state (present-day southern Shandong and northern parts of Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu), Kong Rong showed quick wit from a young age. His father was Kong Zhou. According to the Epilogue of Han (
When he grew older, Kong Rong entered the bureaucracy of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was successively promoted and in 190 was appointed Chancellor of Beihai State, situated in Qing Province, the area most heavily contested by the Yellow Turban rebels during the 180s. Upon taking up office, Kong Rong concentrated on reconstruction of the city and the establishment of schools. He promoted Confucian studies and provided proper burial for deceased refugees who had no family members to look after their funeral affairs. During this time, he was besieged by a remnant Yellow Turban army led by Guan Hai (
Stay in Xuchang
[edit]The next year, however, the warlord Yuan Shao sent his eldest son Yuan Tan to attack Qing Province. Kong Rong was defeated and his family was captured. He escaped to the capital Xuchang, where he was subsequently appointed Minister Steward (
During this time Kong Rong befriended Mi Heng of Jing Province (present-day Hubei and Hunan). Despite being very learned, Mi Heng was unconventional and unconstrained. Upon reaching Xuchang, he wrote a prose piece putting down every eminent person there. When asked whom he would consider talented, Mi Heng replied, "First there is Kong Rong, second there is Yang Xiu." Kong Rong wanted to recommend Mi Heng to Cao Cao, but Mi put up a rude and arrogant attitude in front of Cao. First, he undressed while playing a drum at a feast hosted by Cao Cao, and criticized Cao loudly outside his doors. Cao Cao eventually sent Mi Heng to Liu Biao, the Governor of Jing Province.
In 198, Cao Cao was gearing up for an encounter with Yuan Shao along the shores of the Yellow River. Kong Rong held a pessimistic view, telling Cao Cao's adviser Xun Yu that Yuan Shao would be extremely difficult to defeat as he had ample food supplies, far superior troop strength and many capable and loyal subjects. However, Cao Cao took advantage of Yuan Shao's weaknesses and eventually defeated him at the Battle of Guandu in 200. Yuan Shao died two years later, leaving his eldest and youngest sons, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, to contest his legacy.
In 204, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shang and conquered the city of Ye, whereupon he married Lady Zhen to his son Cao Pi. When Kong Rong heard of this, he wrote Cao Cao a letter, falsifying a parallel in ancient history, claiming King Wu of Zhou arranged marriage between his brother the Duke of Zhou and the beautiful consort Daji, lately the favourite of the defeated king Di Xin, and legendarily blamed for the downfall of the Shang dynasty. Thinking that Kong Rong was citing a classic text to praise him, Cao Cao asked about the source, but Kong merely said, "I saw what happened in our day and thought it must have been so."[4]
Death
[edit]In 208, Kong Rong spoke ill of Cao Cao before an emissary from Sun Quan, a warlord who ruled the territories in the Jiangdong region. Cao Cao then ordered Kong Rong to be executed on various charges including, among others, "plotting a rebellion", "slandering the imperial court" and "disrespecting court protocol". According to the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wei (
How could there be unbroken eggs under a toppled nest? (
安 有 巢 毀而卵 不破 者 乎)
This later became a Chinese idiom (
After Kong Rong was executed along with his entire family, his body was left in the streets. Not a single official who used to be close to him dared to collect the corpses for burial except Zhi Xi (
Literary achievements
[edit]Although he did not meet with much success in politics, Kong Rong was considered a leading literary figure of his time, famed for his prose as well as poetry. Along with six other poets of his time, their poems formed the backbone of what was to be known as the Jian'an style, named for the Jian'an Era of the Xian Emperor's rule between 196 and 220. Collectively they were known as the Seven Scholars of Jian'an. Civil strife towards the end of the Han dynasty gave the Jian'an poems their characteristic solemn yet heart-stirring tone, while lament over the ephemerality of life was also a central theme of works from this period. In the history of Chinese literature, the Jian'an poems were a transition between early folksongs and scholarly poetry.
Kong Rong's literary skills, however, were often thought to be elaborate and empty show without sound content. Cao Pi commented in his A Discourse on Literature (
After Kong Rong's death, Cao Pi collected 25 of his poems and included them in A Discourse on Literature. However, most of these were lost and only five survive till this day, two of which are of unverified authenticity. Nine volumes containing Kong Rong's prose under the Book of Sui (
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ Kong Rong's biography in Book of the Later Han indicate that he was 13 (by East Asian reckoning) when his father Kong Zhou died. On a plaque erected for Kong Zhou, it was recorded that he died in the yi'wei day of the 1st month of the 6th year of the Yan'xi era of Emperor Huan's reign; the date corresponds to 10 Mar 163 in the Julian calendar.
- ^ According to the Annals of the Later Han by Yuan Hong and Liu Xie's biography in Book of the Later Han, Kong Rong was executed on the renzi day of the 8th month of Jian'an 13 during the reign of Emperor Xian of Han. This date corresponds to 26 Sept. 208 in the Julian calendar. [(
建 安 十 三 年 八 月 )壬 子 ,太 中 大夫 孔 融 下 狱诛] Houhanji, vol. 30. ([建 安 十 三 年 八 月 ]壬 子 ,曹操 杀太中 大夫 孔 融 ,夷 其族) Houhanshu, vol.09. Kong Rong's biography in Book of the Later Han indicate that he was 56 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died. However, if his birth year was 151, then he should be 58 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died. - ^ Fan Ye, ed. (1965) [445]. "70:
鄭 孔 荀列傳 ".後 漢書 [Book of the Later Han]. Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing House. p. 2261. - ^ Fan Ye; et al., eds. (1965) [400s]. "70:
孔 融 傳 ". Hou Han Shu後 漢書 . Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju. - ^ Liu Yiqing (2002) [400s]. "2: Speech and Conversation §5". Shih-shuo Hsin-yü: A New Account of Tales of the World
世 說 新語 . Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies. Vol. 95. Translated by Richard B. Mather (2nd ed.). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. pp. 27–28. ISBN 0-89264-155-X. ISSN 1081-9053.
Bibliography
[edit]- Chen Shou (2002). Records of the Three Kingdoms. Yue Lu Shu She. ISBN 7-80665-198-5.
- Fan Ye (5th century). Book of the Later Han, Chapter 70, Biography of Kong Rong.
External links
[edit]- 153 births
- 208 deaths
- 2nd-century Chinese poets
- 3rd-century Chinese poets
- 3rd-century executions
- Descendants of Confucius
- Executed Han dynasty people
- Han dynasty warlords
- Government officials under Cao Cao
- People executed by the Han dynasty by decapitation
- Political office-holders in Shandong
- Seven scholars of Jian'an