During the Song Dynasty, Yangzhou produced a wide variety of peony flowers, including one with red top and bottom and a circle of yellow pistils in the middle, which resembled a Song official wearing a red official robe and a golden belt around his waist, so people called it “golden waist wrapping” or “golden belt around”. According to the official uniform system of the Song Dynasty, only the prime minister was qualified to wear red official robe and golden belt, so the officials took it as an auspicious omen to be promoted to a higher position, and it was also believed that if there was a “golden belt around” this peony, it was an omen for the local prime minister.
In 1045, Han Qi, who had left the capital to implement the “New Deal” with Fan Zhongyan, Fubi and Ouyang Xiu, became the governor of Yangzhou. One day, Han Qi found a peony plant in the back garden of the government office had four forks, each fork had a beautiful and peculiar flower with red top and bottom and yellow pistil in the middle, it was the “golden belt around”.
Han Qi was so impressed that he planned to hold a flower viewing party and entertain four guests to enjoy it in order to respond to the four flowers. At that time, Wang Gui and Wang Anshi, who were both working in the Da Lisi, happened to be in Yangzhou, so Han Qi invited them. Because there were four flowers in bloom and one person was still missing, Han Qi sent an invitation to him because he was the oldest among the court officials.
Unexpectedly, the next day, the state Qianjiji ambassador suddenly had diarrhea and could not come to the flower feast, so Han Qi temporarily invited Chen Shengzhi, who happened to be passing through Yangzhou and was also working in the Da Lisi, to participate.
After the four people will be together, together to the back garden of the government office to drink wine and enjoy the flowers. While enjoying the flowers and laughing, Han Qi also cut the four “gold wrapped waist”, in each head inserted a, very stunning.
Unexpectedly, in the following thirty years, the four people who attended the flower feast all became prime ministers one after another, and this is the famous story of “Four Phases Pinning Flowers” in history. Because of the limitation of space, this article will introduce one of the famous prime minister, who is also the initiator of the flower feast, Han Qi.
Huang Shen’s “Han Wei Gong’s Flower Pin with Gold Belt” scroll (or “Han Qi’s Flower Pin”) in the Qing Dynasty. (Public domain)
Han Qi, the “Minister of Society”
Han Qi was born into a family of officials, and his character and backbone were so outstanding that he was admitted to the imperial examinations at a young age, and was ranked second. The history says that when the ranking was announced, the emperor was congratulated by the ministers on the appearance of five-colored clouds at sunset, and he was congratulated for having another wise minister.
During the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, he worked as a general superintendent (a deputy in charge of civil engineering and construction), a general judge in Zizhou, a minister of the Imperial Household, a supervisor of the Zuozang Treasury (one of the national treasuries), a magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, and a judge of the three divisions. No matter what official he was, Han Qi always took it easy.
In 1036, Han Qi was appointed as the right admonisher. In 1038, when there was a disaster and a large number of stragglers, while the chancellor Wang Sui, Chen Yaozuo, and the counsellor Han Yi and Shi Zhongli did nothing, Han Qi wrote a letter to point out their mediocrity and sorely complained that the Song Dynasty Han Qi wrote a letter to point out their mediocrity, stating that the 80-year peaceful foundation of the Song dynasty must not be “left to the mediocre ministers to destroy at will”, and as a result, all four were removed from office on the same day. Since then, Han Qi’s fame has been felt in the capital.
Wang Zeng, who was the chancellor at the time, seldom praised others, but he told Han Qi that his appeal “can be said to be pertinent without being pedantic”, and Han Qi became more confident after hearing it.
In 1039, due to the famine in Yizhou and Lizhou in Sichuan, Han Qi became the ambassador of the body volume. After he took office, he reduced tax exemptions, expelled incompetent officials and greedy and brutal officials, reduced hundreds of kinds of labor, and saved 1.9 million people from famine. The local people were grateful and said, “The coming of the messenger (referring to Han Qi) has rehabilitated me.”
After returning to the capital from Sichuan, Han Qi was appointed as a pacifier in Shaanxi because he was familiar with the army in the northwest to deal with the rebellion of Li Yuanhao, who originally submitted to Song and later established Western Xia. After arriving in Shaanxi, he defended the defeated and captured defender Liu Ping and recommended Fan Zhongyan, who had been relegated to Yuezhou (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province) for “recommending cronies” to defend against the enemy. After that, he and Fan were appointed as the minister of Qinfeng and the ambassador of the invasion.
Initially, in the strategy of dealing with Western Xia, Han Qi took a tough stance because of the small number of troops and advocated an offensive strategy to fight a duel with the Xia army, while Fan Zhongyan advocated a lasting defense and took advantage of the opportunity to attack and discuss under the premise of strengthening armaments, and was not in favor of an offensive war deep into the enemy’s territory. The Emperor also wanted to solve the problem as soon as possible, so he adopted Han Qi’s idea.
Unexpectedly, Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan were demoted after the Song army’s disastrous defeat at Shuichuan, but later Han Qi was restored to his official position as a four-way strategic pacification envoy and ambassador of Shaanxi, stationed in Jingzhou. Thereafter, Han Qi agreed with Fan Zhongyan’s defense strategy and the two worked together to guard the northwest. Since they had been guarding the frontier for the longest time and were famous for a long time, the people were convinced and the court relied on them, so they were called “Han Fan”.
Han Qi agreed with Fan Zhongyan’s defense strategy, and the two men worked together to defend the northwest. Schematic diagram. (Public domain)
In 1043, when the situation on the border eased a bit and Song and Western Xia entered into peace negotiations, Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan were transferred back to the capital together and served as deputy Privy Counsels. Han Qi objected to this and stated the harm of doing so, stating seven things that should be done first, the core of which was to reorganize the government and select talents. This is consistent with the reform measures proposed by Fan Zhongyan above. This political reform, which was presided over by Fan Zhongyan with the active participation of Han Qi and Fu Bi, is known in history as the “Qingli New Deal”.
However, the implementation of the New Deal aroused the opposition of conservative officials, and there were more and more statements to denigrate the reformers, after which Fan Zhongyan and Fu Bi were all demoted from the court, while Han Qi was not affected due to the “straightforward nature” of Emperor Renzong, but Han Qi’s defense of them was ignored. After that, he also supported the Jing Yuan Road marshal Yin Su to oppose the construction of Liu Hu in Weizhou (now Zhuang Lang in Gansu), but the court “did not say yes”, disappointed, Han Qi asked himself to leave the capital, to be a bachelor in the Palace of Government to Yangzhou. The “New Deal” also failed.
Later, after leaving Yangzhou, Han Qi and to Yunzhou (now in Shandong), Dingzhou (now in Hebei) to serve in the northern border. While in Dingzhou, he was praised by Emperor Renzong for his efforts to improve the local and military situation, forcing the Khitan to return the land they had occupied, and providing relief to millions of starving people.
In June 1058, Han Qi was promoted to the post of Chancellor of the Ministry of Justice, and became the Chancellor of the Palace of the Magistrates, and in August 1061, he was promoted to the post of Minister of Justice, and was appointed to the post of Chancellor of the Palace of the Magistrates, and was given the title of Duke of Yiguo. Since then, he has been the prime minister for ten years.
In 1063, when King Renzong died and King Yingzong was crowned, Han Qi assisted him, first by helping him to resolve the differences with the Empress Dowager, and then by advising King Yingzong on border defense issues and suggesting that when the Western Xia attacked Songcheng When the Western Xia attacked Songcheng, he suggested to “stop the annual gift and stop the peace market” and sent an envoy to ask the Western Xia for punishment. Yingzong acted on his advice, and Li Langjo, the king of Western Xia, really went to the table to thank him for his sin. When King Yingzong received the news, he looked at Han Qi and said, “As you expected.”
In the first month of 1067, King Yingzong died and King Shenzong reigned. Because he had assisted three emperors, there were concerns that he was autocratic and impeached him. Han Qi therefore requested to leave his post, but Shenzong refused. However, after the burial of King Yingzong, Han Qi stopped serving in the Central Secretariat and resolutely resigned from his post. The divine emperor had to tearfully demote him, but promoted his son Han Zhongyan to the post of the Secret Cabinet.
In 1069, Wang Anshi became the chancellor and carried out changes to the law, and issued the “Green Miao Law”. Han Qi submitted several petitions against it. King Shen Zong once showed his petitions to the chancellors and ministers, saying, “Han Qi is a truly loyal minister who, although he is outside the court, never forgets the affairs of the court.” Han Qi’s petition once made King Shen Zong want to stop the change of law, but the change continued to be implemented at Wang Anshi’s insistence.
Han Qi’s portrait in the Qing Palace Collection (public domain)
In 1075, Han Qi died at the age of 68. One evening before his death, a large star fell near the official office and the horses in the manger were startled. Shenzong mourned in the court and cried so much that he stopped going to court for three days. Han Qi was also given the posthumous title of Minister of Shang Shu, and his posthumous title was “Zhong Xian”, and he was entitled to the temple court of King Ying. King Shen Zong also ordered his son and grandson to serve as officials in Xiangzhou all year round to protect his grave.
It is said in the history books that Han Qi had a reputation in his early years as a man of great insight and courage who did not show his anger or joy on his face, so it is believed that he was as deep and steady as Zhou Bo in the Han Dynasty and his talent in politics was comparable to Yao Chong in the Tang Dynasty. As a bachelor guarding the border, he was just thirty years old, but people all over the world already called him “Han Gong” to show their respect.
Whenever there was a change in the court, even in the midst of crisis and suspicion, Han Qi did what he had to do. Someone once kindly advised him, “What you are doing is indeed good, but if something goes wrong, not only will you not be able to protect yourself, but I am afraid your family will be in danger.” Han Qi’s reply was, “What kind of words are these? As a minister, I should try my best to serve my sovereign, and I will not hesitate to live or die; as for success or failure, it is the will of God, so how can I do nothing for fear of not succeeding? Those who listened to him were deeply ashamed and admired his temperament.
Han Qi was a simple and loyal man by nature, and he was treated with the same courtesy, regardless of his rank. He was known as the wise and wise minister with Fu Bi, and the world called him “Fu Han”.
His advice only recognized the word “reason” and never catered to someone’s heart. For example, when he was the prime minister, Wang Anshi was so famous that some people thought he could be reappointed, but Han Qi thought otherwise. Later, when he left office, Shen Zong asked him if Wang Anshi could preside over the affairs of state, and Han Qi said frankly, “Wang Anshi has more power as a Hanlin bachelor, but not in the position of an auxiliary minister.”
Han Qi’s fame spread to Liao and Western Xia, and he was the “chief of the barbarians”. It is said that when Han Qi was guarding the Daimyo Province in Beijing (present-day Daimyo, Hebei) in the early years of Song Shenzong, the Liao envoys had to warn their subordinates not to ask for anything when they crossed the border. According to the practice at that time, Liao ambassadors did not write their names when they passed through Beijing and corresponded with the guards. However, after Han Qi took office, Liao’s deputy envoy Cheng Yao Xi, who came to Song to congratulate on the same day festival, deliberately wrote his name in the letter to show his respect. Moreover, every time the Song dynasty sent an envoy to the Liao dynasty, the Liao people also asked Han Qi about his recent condition. Once, when his son Han Zhongyan went to Liao, the Liao monarch learned that he looked like his father and ordered the craftsman to draw him so that he could look up to him.
As stated in the Preface to Han Wei Gong Ji‧Prologue, “Gong served three dynasties and assisted in the strategy of two dynasties, and his merits survived in the society and the country, and the future generations of the world, children and pawns, admired his name.”
Reference.
Mengxi Pen-talk‧Supplementary Pen-talk
History of the Song Dynasty
The History of the Song Dynasty
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