Su Jun
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Su Jun (Chinese:
Su Jun's father Su Mo (
In 324, when the warlord Wang Dun's forces attacked Jiankang, with intent to overthrow Emperor Yuan's successor Emperor Ming, Emperor Ming summoned Su, among other generals posted on the northern border with Later Zhao, to come to his aid. When Su's forces (and those of Liu Xia (
After Emperor Ming's death in 325, his four-year-old son Emperor Cheng succeeded to the throne, and his maternal uncle Yu Liang became regent. Yu became apprehensive of Su and became convinced that he had to strip Su of his military post. In 327, he announced that Su was being promoted to minister of agriculture—a post that did not involve any military commands. Su refused, and asked to be transferred to another commandery instead. Yu in turn refused and prepare for war. Su then declared a rebellion against Yu's regency, stating, in a famous quote:
- I would rather be on a hill and looking at the jail, rather than be in a jail and looking at the hill. [5]
In other words, he would rather lose in battle and be executed, than to submit himself to what he thought was certain imprisonment. He allied himself with Zu Yue the governor of Yu Province (
Yu was confident he could defeat Su—so much so that he declined emergency assistance from Wen Jiao, who was then the governor of Jiang Province (
However, Yu Liang, Wen, and Tao Kan soon entered into an alliance and headed back east to Jiankang. Eastern commanderies also rose against Su, led by Xi Jian. Despite these provincial forces having greater numbers, Su continued to defeat them in battle after battle, and even Wen and Tao, capable generals in their own right, became apprehensive. However, during one battle in November 328, Su was hit by a spear and fell off his horse, and the provincial forces quickly beheaded him. His forces tried to coalesce behind his brother Su Yi (
References
[edit]- ^ According to the chronology of Su Jun's biography in Book of Jin, he became a xiaolian at age 18 (by East Asian reckoning) before the Disaster of Yongjia, which took place in 311. Thus by calculation, his birth year should be before 294.
- ^ According to Emperor Cheng's biography in Book of Jin, Su Jun died on the gengwu day of the 9th month of the 3rd year of the Xianhe era of his reign; the date corresponds to 13 Nov 328 in the Julian calendar. [(咸和
三 年 九 月 )庚午 ,陶 侃 使 督 护杨谦攻峻 于石头。温 峤、庾亮阵于白石 ,竟陵太守 李 阳距贼南偏 。峻 轻骑出 战,坠马,斩之,众遂大 溃。] Jin Shu, vol.07 - ^ (
峻 少 为书生 ,有 才 学 ...) Book of Jin, vol.100 - ^ (时曹嶷领
青 州 刺史 ,表 峻 为掖令 ,峻 辞 疾 不 受。嶷恶其得众,恐 必为患,将 讨之。峻 惧,率 其所部数 百 家 泛海南 渡 。) Jin Shu, vol. 100 - ^ (
我 甯山头望廷尉,不能 廷尉望 山 头。) Jin Shu, vol.100 - ^ According to Emperor Cheng's biography in Book of Jin, Su Jun occupied Jiankang on the bingchen day of the 2nd month of the 3rd year of the Xianhe era of his reign; the date corresponds to 4 Mar 328 in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. [(咸和
三 年 二 月 )丙 辰 ,峻 攻 青 溪 栅,因 风纵火 ,王 师又大 败。尚 书令、领军将 军卞壸,丹 阳尹羊 曼,黄 门侍郎 周 导,庐江太守 陶 瞻并遇 害 ,死者 数 千 人 。庾亮又 败于宣 阳门内 ,遂 携其诸弟与 郭 默 、赵胤奔寻阳。于是司 徒 王 导、右 光 禄 大夫 陆晔、荀嵩等 卫帝于太极殿,太 常 孔 愉守宗 庙。贼乘胜麾戈 接 于帝座 ,突入 太 后 后 宫,左右 侍 人 皆 见掠夺。是 时太官 唯 有 烧余米 数 石 ,以供御膳 。百姓 号泣 ,响震都邑 。] Jin Shu, vol.07