Gu Yong
Gu Yong, courtesy name Yuantan, was a Chinese calligrapher, musician, and politician. He served as a minister and the second Imperial Chancellor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the late Eastern Han dynasty in the Jiangdong region, Gu Yong studied under the tutelage of Cai Yong in his early years and earned high praise from his mentor. He started his career as a county chief and served in various counties throughout Jiangdong. Around the year 200, he came to serve the warlord Sun Quan, who controlled the Jiangdong territories, and performed well in office as an acting commandery administrator. After Sun Quan became the ruler of the independent state of Eastern Wu in 222, Gu Yong steadily rose through the ranks as a minister and ultimately became Imperial Chancellor. He held office for about 19 years from 225 until his death in 243.
Background and early life
Gu Yong was born in Wu County, Wu Commandery, which is present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu, towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty. His great-grandfather Gu Feng was a former Administrator of Yingchuan Commandery. The Gu clan, which he was from, was one of the four most influential clans in Wu Commandery and also in the Jiangdong region at the time.Sometime in the 180s, when Cai Yong was living in Wu Commandery, Gu Yong met him and learnt calligraphy and music from him. While studying under Cai Yong's tutelage, Gu Yong showed that he was not only diligent and focused in his studies, but also fast-learning and easily teachable. As a result, he earned high praise from Cai Yong, who told him: "You will definitely reach the pinnacle of success. I offer you a new name – the same as mine." Gu Yong thus changed his given name to "Yong" which was similar to Cai Yong's "Yong". He also adopted "Yuantan", which literally means "top praise", as his courtesy name to reflect the high praise he received from his mentor.
The Administrator of Wu Commandery heard of Gu Yong's fame and recommended him as a talent to join the civil service. Shortly after he reached the age of adulthood, he started serving as the chief of Hefei County before he was reassigned to Lou County, Qu'e County and then Shangyu County.
Early career under Sun Quan
When the Han central government granted the warlord Sun Quan the nominal appointment of Administrator of Kuaiji Commandery around 200 or 201, Sun Quan in turn appointed Gu Yong as his deputy and the acting Administrator to help him govern Kuaiji Commandery because he was based in Wu Commandery at the time. During his tenure, Gu Yong pacified and integrated rebels and minorities under his jurisdiction and maintained peace. He earned much respect from his subordinates and the people alike for his good performance. After holding office for many years, he was reassigned to be a Left Major under Sun Quan.In 222, after Sun Quan became the King of Wu, he promoted Gu Yong to the positions of Minister of Imperial Ancestral Ceremonies and Prefect of the Masters of Writing in his kingdom. He also enfeoffed Gu Yong as the Marquis of Yangsui District. As Gu Yong went straight back to his office after his conferment ceremony, his family did not know that he had been made a marquis so they were very surprised when they found out later.
In 225, Gu Yong fetched his mother from his hometown in Wu County to live with him in Wuchang, the imperial capital of Eastern Wu. When she arrived, Sun Quan greeted and welcomed her in person, and later paid his respects to her in his imperial court in the presence of all his subjects. Sun Quan's heir apparent, Sun Deng, also greeted her. In the same year, Gu Yong was reassigned to serve as Minister of Ceremonies and promoted from a district marquis to a county marquis under the title "Marquis of Liling". Later that year, he succeeded Sun Shao as the Imperial Chancellor of Eastern Wu and took charge of the imperial secretariat. Yi Zhongtian commented that the appointment of Gu Yong and later Lu Xun as Chancellor was the compromise between the local Jiangdong nobility and the ruling clique of Eastern Wu, as both Gu and Lu descended from notable and powerful Jiangdong clans. Sun Quan was eager to grant more power shares for the Jiangdong nobility as long as it enabled the Sun royal family to maintain the overall control.
As Imperial Chancellor of Eastern Wu
While holding office as Imperial Chancellor, Gu Yong managed the administration well. He assigned his subordinates to their respective appointments in a way which not only generally suited their preferences, but also allowed them to put their talents to good use. He also often went on inspection tours to assess local conditions and see if policy changes could be made to improve the people's lives. When he had new ideas, he secretly proposed them to Sun Quan. If his ideas were approved and implemented, he gave the credit to Sun Quan instead of claiming it for himself. If his ideas were rejected, he kept quiet and did not reveal anything. As a result, Sun Quan trusted and regarded him highly.A reticent person
Although Gu Yong always maintained a polite and respectful tone when he spoke up on issues in the imperial court, he was also known for standing by his principles and holding his ground when he had to. On one occasion, when Sun Quan sought feedback from his subjects on policy matters, Zhang Zhao used the opportunity to ask for a review of the laws. He presented the findings he collected over a period of time, and pointed out that the laws were too strict and the penalties for crimes were too harsh. Sun Quan did not respond to Zhang Zhao and instead turned to Gu Yong and asked him: "Sir, what do you think?" Gu Yong replied: "My observations coincide with what Zhang Zhao just described." Sun Quan thus approved Zhang Zhao's request for a review of the laws.Sun Quan often sent his palace secretaries to consult Gu Yong on policy matters. If Gu Yong approved, he had food and drinks prepared for the secretaries while they discussed and refined their ideas with him. If he disapproved, he appeared solemn and remained silent, and had no food and drinks prepared for them. The secretaries then scrapped their ideas and went back. Sun Quan once said: "If Lord Gu is happy, that means he approves your idea. If he doesn't say anything, that means he thinks your idea can be improved. When that happens, I will think through again carefully." This quote showed that Sun Quan had much faith and respect for Gu Yong.
Response to suggestions to launch border raids
Around the time, many Wu military officers in charge of defending the border along the southern banks of the Yangtze River wanted to gain credit for making contributions in battle, so they often wrote to the imperial court to suggest launching small raids on Wu's rival state Wei in the north.When Sun Quan sought Gu Yong's opinion on this, the latter said: "I heard that in warfare, one should refrain from trying to make petty gains. When these officers make such suggestions, they actually just want to claim some credit and glory for themselves, rather than for the greater benefit of our State. Your Majesty should ban them from making such suggestions. If a suggestion doesn't do much harm to the enemy and isn't sufficient for us to showcase our military prowess, then it shouldn't be taken into consideration." Sun Quan heeded his advice.
Throughout his tenure as Imperial Chancellor, Gu Yong never shared his opinions on policy issues except when he spoke to Sun Quan in person.
Lü Yi scandal
Around the 230s, Sun Quan appointed Lü Yi, whom he highly trusted, as the supervisor of the bureau in charge of auditing and reviewing the work of all officials in both the central and regional governments. Along with his colleague Qin Bo, Lü Yi freely abused his powers by picking on trivialities and falsely accusing numerous officials of committing serious offences. As a result, some officials were wrongfully arrested, imprisoned and tortured during interrogation.Gu Yong was one of Lü Yi's targets. The latter initially prepared to make a case against him for incompetence and ask Sun Quan to remove him from office. However, after an official Xie Gong pointed out that Pan Jun, the Minister of Ceremonies, would most likely become the next Imperial Chancellor if Gu Yong were to be removed from office, Lü Yi immediately dropped the case against Gu Yong because he knew that Pan Jun resented him and would take action against him if he became Imperial Chancellor.
Lü Yi's abuses of power finally came to an end in 238 when Sun Quan learnt the truth about him and understood the gravity of the situation. After removing Lü Yi from office, Sun Quan had him imprisoned under the watch of the Ministry of Justice, and then ordered Gu Yong to conduct an investigation. While interrogating Lü Yi, Gu Yong maintained his composure and performed his job professionally. Before Lü Yi was escorted out, Gu Yong asked him, "Do you have anything else to say?" Lü Yi kowtowed and remained silent. When another official Huai Xu started scolding Lü Yi, Gu Yong sternly rebuked Huai Xu: "As government officials, we should follow the laws. Why must you do this?"
The Eastern Jin dynasty historian Xu Zhong disapproved of Gu Yong's handling of Lü Yi's case. He pointed out that Lü Yi's actions had severely damaged the integrity of the Eastern Wu government and reduced people's trust in the government. Xu Zhong argued that Gu Yong should not even provide Lü Yi an opportunity to defend himself, because if Lü Yi pleaded not guilty and Gu Yong submitted his plea to Sun Quan, there was a risk that Sun Quan might believe that Lü Yi was innocent and therefore release him. If that happened, then, in Xu Zhong's opinion, the efforts of Sun Deng, Pan Jun, Lu Xun and the others who stood up to Lü Yi's abuses of power would have been in vain. Xu Zhong also argued that Gu Yong should not reprimand Huai Xu for scolding Lü Yi because Lü Yi deserved it for his evil deeds.