35 Facts About Chi Chao

Chi Chao, courtesy name Jingxing or Jingyu, was a Chinese politician of the Jin dynasty.

Chi Chao was an advisor and close friend to the Jin Grand Marshal Huan Wen, aiding him in his northern expeditions and abdication of Emperor Fei of Jin.

Chi Chao was highly regarded for his intelligence and way with words.

Chi Chao was compared to his contemporary, Wang Tanzhi as both shared the same kind of fame among the people.

Chi Chao began his career at a very young age in 345 under Sima Yu as a simple official in his staff.

Chi Chao became a subordinate to the general, Huan Wen some time after but no later than 356, as suggested in the biography of Yin Hao in the Book of Jin.

Chi Chao proved to be an exception as he managed to gain Huan Wen's respect through a conversation between the two.

However, he was unsatisfied with the fact that Chi Chao Yin was holding the province of Xuzhou.

Chi Chao Yin did not know of Huan Wen's attitude at the time, so he sent a letter to Huan asking to work together in support of the imperial family.

Chi Chao Yin offered himself to be the first to move his soldiers across the Yellow River.

Chi Chao then forged a new one, pretending to be his father, asking for his retirement and demanding to hand over his responsibilities in Xuzhou to Huan Wen.

Huan was pleased and had Chi Chao Yin transferred to Kuaiji before taking over his role as Inspector of Yanzhou and Xuzhou.

Chi Chao pointed out to Huan Wen that the Bian River was too shallow and that Yan was too far from base which would make supplies hard to reach their army.

Chi Chao believed that the Jin army under Huan's command should be enough to demoralize and defeat them easily.

Chi Chao said to Huan Wen that he should act quickly, as Huan was already 59 years old and could die anytime now.

Huan Wen and Chi Chao spread the rumour among the common people, and no one knew what was right and what was wrong.

Chi Chao then abdicated Emperor Fei with Sima Yu, who he had a tight grasp on during his short reign.

Chi Chao held a significant amount of power in the court, acting as Huan Wen's eye to report him the situation in the government.

Chi Chao once asked Chi Chao if that dynasty would be replaced by that of Huan Wen's, but he assured him that Huan Wen was only doing what was best for the state.

However, Huan Wen would die in 373, and Chi Chao found his power greatly diminished because of this.

In 375, Chi Chao tried to stop Huan Chong from giving up his power in Yangzhou to Xie An, but Chong persisted.

Chi Chao grew to resent the Xie family, particularly, Xie An and Xie Xuan, for their growing prominence in the state while his father slowly went down the ranks.

When Chi Chao heard this, he unexpectedly accepted this outcome and praised the two Xies.

However, Chi Chao defended Xie Xuan by bringing up their time together with Huan Wen, stating that Xie Xuan had proved himself a good eye for talents.

Years later, Chi Chao's argument bore fruit as Xie Xuan decisively defeated Qin at the Battle of Fei River in 383, leading to its hasty decline.

Chi Chao grew ill at the end of 377 and died shortly after.

Chi Chao's father Chi Yin was a stalwart Jin loyalist but never knew about his son's schemes with Huan Wen.

Chi Chao gave one of his students a chest that would stop him from doing so.

Chi Chao was one of the distinguished calligraphers of the Eastern Jin period.

Sengqian's one criticism for Chi Chao was that he lacked strength in his strokes.

Chi Chao was a Taoist but grew infatuated with Buddhism, more specifically through the teachings of Zhu Fatai and Zhidun.

Chi Chao attempted to harmonize the orthodox concepts of Buddhism and Confucianism into one and even wrote a book about it called the 'Fengfayao'.

Chi Chao Yin was a very frugal man and amassed a huge amount of gold in his treasury, but his son was generous and somewhat wasteful.

One day, Chi Chao was talking with his father when Chao brought up the topic of his father's their finances.

However, that day, Chi Chao distributed so much of the gold among his relatives and friends that by the time Chi Yin found out, the treasury was nearly exhausted.