Qiao Zhou 譙周

Qiao Zhou, courtesy name Yunnan, was a man of Xichongguo County in Baxi Commandery. His father, Qiao Qian (譙𡸫), was versed in the Book of Documents, the various classics and the prophetic texts, but did not answer the summonses of the province and commandery. Qiao Zhou lost his father young and lived with his mother and elder brother. When he grew up he was absorbed in antiquity and devoted to learning, and though his family was poor he paid no attention to household affairs, forgetting sleep and food as he read the classics. He studied the Six Classics minutely and excelled at letter writing, and he was also quite well versed in astronomy but did not set his mind on it. He was eight chi tall, and though he lacked a talent for impromptu debate, he was inwardly deeply knowledgeable and quick. Records, Shu 12 §51–52

In the Jianxing era, when the Chancellor Zhuge Liang concurrently held the post of Governor of Yi Province, he made Qiao Zhou Attendant Officer for Encouraging Learning (quanxue congshi). The Biography of the First Sovereign also lists the Attendant Officer for Encouraging Learning Qiao Zhou among the subjects who in the 25th year of Jian'an (220) submitted a document urging Liu Bei to take the throne. When Zhuge Liang died in enemy territory, Qiao Zhou set off as soon as he heard the news and arrived before an edict came down forbidding people to go to mourn. When the General-in-Chief Jiang Wan concurrently held the post of Inspector of Yi Province, Qiao Zhou was transferred to Attendant Officer for Supervising Learning (dianxue congshi) and put in charge of the province's scholars, and when the Later Sovereign, Liu Shan, established his heir apparent, Qiao Zhou became Coachman of the Heir and was then transferred to Steward of the Heir's Household. Records, Shu 12 §53Records, Shu 2 §55

At that time the Later Sovereign frequently went out on excursions and enlarged his musical establishments, and Qiao Zhou submitted a memorial citing how Emperor Shizu had put virtue first and so made the weak strong, and pointing out that the Later Sovereign sometimes failed to attend the sacrifices of the four seasons while repeatedly going out to view his ponds and parks. He asked him to reduce the additions to the music offices and the harem and keep only what the late emperor had established, so as to leave his descendants a lesson in frugality. Later he was transferred to Grand Master of Palace Leisure (zhongsan dafu) but still attended the heir apparent. Records, Shu 12 §53–55 · 57–60

When the army went out on campaign so often that the people were exhausted, Qiao Zhou debated the advantages and harms of this with the Prefect of the Masters of Writing Chen Zhi, and then withdrew and wrote the Treatise on Rival States (Chouguo lun). It is a story of the small state of Yinyu and the large state of Zhaojian contending as enemies, and through the mouth of Master Fuyu it says that the present was not a time when everything boiled like a cauldron, as at the end of Qin, but a situation like that of the Six States holding their ground side by side, so that one could be King Wen but could hardly be the founding emperor of Han, and that if one exhausted one's arms and indulged in campaigns until the state collapsed like crumbling earth, not even the wise could save it. Records, Shu 12 §61 · 64–65

Later he was transferred to Grandee of Splendid Happiness (guanglu daifu), a rank next to the Nine Ministers. He did not take part in government, but he was treated with courtesy for his conduct as a Confucian scholar, and whenever there was a major deliberation he was consulted and always answered on the basis of the classics. People at the time thought he had no talent of use to the age and few respected him, but Yang Xi alone valued him, saying, 'People like us will never be equal to this tall fellow.' Records, Shu 12 §66Records, Shu 15 §30

Qiao Zhou once asked Du Qiong about the meaning of astronomy, and, expanding on what Du Qiong said, explained that the First Sovereign's personal name meant 'complete' and the Later Sovereign's meant 'hand over', so the Liu house would end by handing over to others. In the 5th year of Jingyao (262), when a great tree in the palace broke for no reason, he wrote on a pillar, 'Many and great, at the appointed time they shall gather; completed and handed over, how could it rise again?', and when Shu fell, people thought his words had come true. Records, Shu 12 §19 · 21–24

In the winter of the 6th year of Jingyao (263), when Deng Ai, General-in-Chief of Wei, entered by way of Yinping and drove far forward, the people of Shu scattered into the mountains and fields. The Later Sovereign assembled his ministers to discuss it; some proposed fleeing to Wu, and some proposed fleeing to the seven commanderies of Nanzhong with their rugged terrain. Qiao Zhou alone said that no one had ever remained Son of Heaven while depending on another state, and that Wei could absorb Wu but Wu could not absorb Wei, so if they were to call themselves vassals, it was better to do so to the larger state; how could the shame of being humiliated twice be the same as being humiliated once? Asked what they would do if Wei would not accept their surrender, he replied that if Wei did not grant a fief from its land, he would go to the capital himself and argue it on the principles of old. Records, Shu 12 §67–69

When the Later Sovereign still hesitated over going south, Qiao Zhou submitted another memorial giving four reasons, among them that the south had submitted only reluctantly, pressed by Zhuge Liang's troops, and would rebel again, and urged him to decide early and so obtain rank and a fief. The Later Sovereign at last followed Qiao Zhou's plan, and Chen Shou wrote that it was thanks to Qiao Zhou's plan that the Liu house escaped harm and the whole state benefited. The Biography of the Later Sovereign likewise records that he surrendered to Deng Ai on the plan of the Grandee of Splendid Happiness Qiao Zhou. Records, Shu 12 §70–74Records, Shu 3 §43

The Later Sovereign's letter of surrender states that he was sending the Palace Attendant Zhang Shao, the Grandee of Splendid Happiness Qiao Zhou and the Commandant Escort of Imperial Equipages (fuma duwei) Deng Liang to carry the seal and ribbon, and the Biography of Xi Zheng records that Xi Zheng wrote that letter. When the Later Sovereign was enfeoffed as Duke of Anle County at Luoyang, Qiao Zhou was enfeoffed as a full marquis together with Fan Jian, Zhang Shao, Xi Zheng and others. In addition, Sima Zhao, then Chancellor of State of Wei, enfeoffed him as Marquis of Yangcheng Precinct for his merit in preserving the state intact. Records, Shu 3 §45 · 48 · 52Records, Shu 12 §99 · 75

When Sima Zhao sent a document summoning him, Qiao Zhou set out but fell ill at Hanzhong and could go no further. In the summer of the 2nd year of Xianxi (265), he showed Wen Li, who was returning from Luoyang, a board on which he had written, 'Dianwu is suddenly gone; Yueyou sinks away'; Dianwu meant Sima and Yueyou meant the 8th month, and in the 8th month Sima Zhao did indeed die. After the house of Jin took the throne and repeatedly summoned him by edict, he had himself carried in a carriage despite his illness and reached Luoyang in the 3rd year of Taishi (267), where he was appointed Chief Commandant of Cavalry. Qiao Zhou asked to return his rank and fief, saying he had been enfeoffed without merit, but this was not permitted. Records, Shu 12 §75–76

In the 5th year of Taishi (269), when Chen Shou went to take his leave of him, Qiao Zhou said that Confucius had died at seventy-two and Liu Xiang and Yang Xiong at seventy-one, and since he was now past seventy, he would not live beyond the next year. In the autumn of the 6th year of Taishi (270) he was made Cavalier Regular Attendant but was too gravely ill to accept, and he died that winter. He wrote more than a hundred pieces, including the Precepts on Law (Faxun), the Treatise on the Five Classics (Wujing lun) and the Investigations into Ancient History (Gushi kao). His youngest son, Qiao Tong, was very fond of his father's learning. Records, Shu 12 §76–77 · 79

In his assessment Chen Shou said that Qiao Zhou was profound and penetrating in letters and reasoning and became a great Confucian scholar of his age, with the stature of Dong Zhongshu and Yang Xiong, and that, together with Xi Zheng, there was something in his conduct that a gentleman would approve. Records, Shu 12 §102