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Jin Midi

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Xiongnu-Chinese politician (134–86 BCE)
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Jin Midi (kneeling) with his mother (seated). Wu Liang shrine, Jiaxiang, Shandong province, China. 2nd century AD. Ink rubbings of stone-carved reliefs as represented in Feng Yunpeng and Feng Yunyuan, Jinshi suo (金石索, 1821 edition).

Jin Midi (134 – 29 September 86 BC) (Chinese: 金日磾; pinyin: Jīn Mìdī, courtesy name Wengshu (翁叔), formally Marquess Jing of Du (秺敬侯), was a Xiongnu Xiutu prince and a general of the Western Han dynasty. He was referred to as a non-Han "barbarian", either with the term Hu (胡) or Yidi (夷狄). He was originally from the Xiutu Kingdom in central Gansu and served as co-regent early in the reign of the Emperor Zhao of Han. He was given the family name "Jin" ("Gold") by Emperor Wu of Han because he worshipped the golden statue of the Xiongnu which Huo Qubing has captured in his military campaigns.

Background

8th century fresco at Mogao Caves depicting the Han Emperor Wu worshiping statues of the Buddha.

Jin Midi was born in 134 BC to a royal Xiongnu family. He was the heir of Xiongnu's Prince of Xiutu, one of the major princes under the supreme ruler of the Xiongnu, the Gunchen Chanyu. After Gunchen's death in 126 BC, his brother Yizhixie succeeded him. During this time, the Prince of Xiutu and another major prince, the Prince of Hunye, were responsible for defending Xiongnu's southwestern border with Han dynasty – modern central and western Gansu.

In 121 BC, Emperor Wu of Han sent his general Huo Qubing to attack Xiongnu, dealing a great defeat on the Xiongnu. In the campaign, Huo killed the Princes of Zhelan (折蘭王) and Luhu (盧胡王), as well as 8,900 Xiongnu soldiers, while capturing the Prince of Hunye's son, chief assistant, and a number of officials, as well as golden statues that the Prince of Xiutu had forged to use to worship heaven. Yizhixie Chanyu was greatly displeased, and was considering summoning the Princes of Hunye and Xiutu to execute them. The princes, in fear, plotted to defect to Han. When Emperor Wu sent Huo to accept their surrender, the Prince of Xiutu changed his mind and tried to back out of defecting. The Prince of Hunye killed him and surrendered to Han, along with the region that he controlled.

Because the Prince of Xiutu was killed, Midi, as well as his mother the princess, as well as his brother Lun (倫), were confiscated to serve as imperial servants. Midi was assigned to the imperial stables.

During Emperor Wu's reign

On a later occasion, during an imperial feast, Emperor Wu ordered that horses be brought to him for him to examine. Midi, and a large number of fellow stable attendants, brought the horses, and as a number of Emperor Wu's beautiful concubines were in attendance, the attendants were struck by their beauty and were looking at them, but Midi did not dare to. Emperor Wu saw Midi and was impressed by his propriety, tall stature, and how healthy and strong the horses under Midi's care were. That same day, he awarded Midi robes and made him the director of the imperial stables, and thereafter became increasingly close to Midi. According to the Hanshu, the reaction of the court was not without some resentment:

Many of the emperor’s relatives and other persons in high position were secretly resentful, saying, ‘His Majesty by some quirk of circumstance gets himself a barbarian boy (胡儿 hu’er) and what does he do but treat him with honor and respect!’ When the emperor heard of their remarks, he only treated Jin Midi more generously than ever.

— Han shu Chapter 68, translation by Watson (1974: 152-153).

As he remembered that the Prince of Xiutu had used golden statues to worship heaven, Emperor Wu gave Midi the surname Jin, meaning "gold". When Jin Midi's mother died, Emperor Wu had her portrait drawn and displayed at his later favorite palace, Sweet Spring Palace, entitling the portrait, "The Princess of Xiutu" (i.e., not regarding her as a servant any more, but by her former status as princess). Two of Jin Midi's sons became close attendants to Emperor Wu and were favored by Emperor Wu. After one of the sons was grown, on one occasion, he was flirting with Emperor Wu's ladies in waiting when Jin Midi saw them. Jin Midi, in anger that his son's behavior was inappropriate, killed him, and then reported to Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu was greatly saddened but became even more impressed with Jin Midi.

Jin Midi's family was ancestral to the famous historian Ban Gu and the general and diplomat Ban Chao.

In 88 BC, the imperial official Ma Heluo (馬何羅) was anxious over the fact that the clan of his friend Jiang Chong (江充) had been slaughtered by Emperor Wu. Jiang had falsely accused Emperor Wu's crown prince Liu Ju of treason in 91 BC, causing Liu Ju to rise in rebellion in fear, killing Jiang. Liu Ju was killed, but in the aftermath, Emperor Wu, discovering that Jiang's accusations were false, had Jiang's clan slaughtered. He thus conspired with his brothers to assassinate Emperor Wu. The assassination attempt was thwarted by Jin, as when he saw Ma about to enter Emperor Wu's bedchambers with a knife, he grabbed and held Ma until other imperial guards could bind Ma.

In 87 BC, Emperor Wu was seriously ill, and he created his youngest son Liu Fuling crown prince. He summoned his close associates to his bedchambers to designate one of them, Huo Qubing's younger brother Huo Guang, as regent. Huo initially declined, arguing that Jin was more capable, but Jin pointed out that he was ethnically Xiongnu and that the other officials and the Xiongnu might think of him lightly. Emperor Wu thus designated Huo as the primary regent, but also designated Jin and Shangguan Jie secondary regents. He soon died, and Liu Fuling took the throne as Emperor Zhao. (In his will, Emperor Wu, citing the suppression of Ma's plot, created Jin, as well as Huo and Shangguan, marquesses, but Jin, citing Emperor Zhao's young age, declined.)

During Emperor Zhao's reign

Tomb of Jin Midi, viewed from the top of the Tomb of Han General Huo Qubing, near Maoling

In fall 86 BC, Jin Midi became seriously ill. Huo Guang, after discussing with Emperor Zhao, had Emperor Zhao approve a creation of Midi as the Marquess of Du on his bed. Midi died the next day and was buried near Emperor Wu's tomb. His family continued to serve as imperial servants until the end of the Western Han dynasty, with seven generations in total.

Mausoleum

Upon his death, Jin Midi was buried in a Mausoleum located at 34°20′29″N 108°34′58″E / 34.341407°N 108.582684°E / 34.341407; 108.582684, next to the Mausoleum of Huo Qubing and no far from the Mausoleum of Han Wudi in Maoling.

References

  1. Yang, Liu (2001). "Origins of Daoist Iconography". Ars Orientalis. 31: 40–41. ISSN 0571-1371. JSTOR 4629579.
  2. bing'zi day of the 9th month of the 1st year of the Shi'yuan era, per vol.23 of Zizhi Tongjian
  3. Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, ed. (September 2016). 现代汉语词典（第7版） [A Dictionary of Current Chinese] (7th ed.). Beijing: Commercial Press. p. 278. ISBN 978-7-100-12450-8. 䃅（磾） dī 用于人名，金日(mì)䃅，汉代人。
  4. 貴戚多竊怨，曰：「陛下妄得一胡兒，反貴重之！」上聞，愈厚焉。in Ford, Randolph B. (23 April 2020). Rome, China, and the Barbarians: Ethnographic Traditions and the Transformation of Empires. Cambridge University Press. p. 124, note 96. ISBN 978-1-108-59660-2.
  5. Ban Gu also uses the terms 夷狄 yidi to describe Jin Midi: 金日磾夷狄亡国 "The nation of the barbarian Jin Midi was destroyed" in Ford, Randolph B. (23 April 2020). Rome, China, and the Barbarians: Ethnographic Traditions and the Transformation of Empires. Cambridge University Press. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-108-59660-2.
  6. Dubs, Homer H. (1937). "The "Golden Man" of Former Han Times". T'oung Pao. 33 (1): 6. JSTOR 4527117.
  7. "本以休屠作金人為祭天主，故因賜姓金氏云。" (HS 68:23b9) in "《漢書》（前漢書）:霍光金日磾傳第三十八 數位經典". www.chineseclassic.com.
  8. Anthony J. Barbieri-Low; Artisans in Early Imperial China, p.168, "Jin Midi was an ethnic Xiongnu who had once been the heir apparent of the Xiuchu King of the Xiongnu."
  9. Tang Yongtong (汤用彤 1893-1964) proposed earlier that it was the Turco-Mongol god of Heaven, the Tengri. Ding Fubao (丁福保 1874-1952）that it was the Persian god Ahura Mazda, and Chu Chae Hyeok (주채혁/朱载赫) that it was the god El of the ancient Canaanite religion.
  10. ^ Byung, Ho Lee (2011). "Forging the Imperial Nation: Imperialism, Nationalism, and Ethnic Boundaries in China's Longue Durée" (PDF). University of Michigan (Thesis).
  11. Dubs, Homer H. (1937). "The "Golden Man" of Former Han Times". T'oung Pao. 33 (1): 6. JSTOR 4527117.
  12. "本以休屠作金人為祭天主，故因賜姓金氏云。" (HS 68:23b9) in "《漢書》（前漢書）:霍光金日磾傳第三十八 數位經典". www.chineseclassic.com.
  13. Chen, Sanping (2011). "Two Notes on the Xiongnu Ancestry of the Authors of "Han-shu"". Central Asiatic Journal. 55 (1): 33–36. ISSN 0008-9192. JSTOR 41928567.
  14. Clark, Anthony E. (2008). Ban Gu's history of early China. Amherst (N.Y.): Cambria press. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-60497-561-1. The "Basic Annals of Emperor Wen" is a chapter that Biao seems to have written entirely. Ban Biao appears as the commentator in the final remarks of the chapter. The passage states, 贊曰﹕臣外祖兄弟為元帝侍中，語臣曰元帝多才藝，美史書．The Eulogy states: My (your minister's) maternal grandmother's older and younger brothers were made the palace retainers of Emperor Yuan. They informed me that Emperor Yuan had several talents in the arts and considered historical books attractive.
    The "minister" in this Eulogy is usually identified as Ban Biao. The Han commentator, Ying Shao, noted that "the annals of both Yuan and Cheng were written by Ban Biao; when 'chen' 臣 (i.e., 'minister') is used, the speaker is Biao. The distaff relative mentioned is Jin Chang" 元，成帝紀皆班固父彪所作，臣則彪自說也．外祖，金敞也.
  15. "古代同志导读：汉武帝-金日磾". test.www.feizan.com.

Sources

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