Xiang Ju 向舉
| Occupation | RNOther · Marquis of Qingyi | Faction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | RN | Biography in | |
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R1 |
Profile
Xiang Ju held the noble title of Marquis of Qingyi. The Records give him no biography of his own, and his name appears once, in the Biography of the First Sovereign in Records of Shu 2. In the 25th year of Jian'an (220), after Emperor Wen of Wei proclaimed himself emperor and word spread that the Han emperor had been killed, a number of officials submitted a document citing the River Chart, the Luo Writing, the prophetic and apocryphal texts and the omens of Heaven to ask Liu Bei to ascend the imperial throne, and his name stands among them immediately after that of the Consultant and Marquis of Yangquan Liu Bao. Chen Shou's main text does not record his courtesy name, his origin, his office or what happened to him afterward. Records, Shu 2 §55–59
In the Romance he appears in only 1 of the 120 chapters, Chapter 80, and no chapter has his name in its title. After Zhuge Liang, feigning illness, has obtained the consent of the King of Hanzhong and strikes the screen, the civil and military officials come in from outside, prostrate themselves and ask him to perform the great ceremony; among them his name appears as 'Xiang Ju, Marquis of Qingyi', following the Grand Tutor Xu Jing and the General Who Pacifies the Han Mi Zhu. Romance, Ch. 80 §34–37
In the Records
According to the Biography of the First Sovereign, in the 25th year of Jian'an (220) Emperor Wen of Wei proclaimed himself emperor and changed the era name to Huangchu. When word spread that the Han emperor had been killed, the First Sovereign (Liu Bei) announced mourning, put on mourning garments and conferred on him the posthumous title Emperor Xiaomin. After this, reports of all kinds of auspicious omens came in from many places, day after day and month after month. Records, Shu 2 §55
Thereupon the Consultant and Marquis of Yangquan Liu Bao, the Marquis of Qingyi Xiang Ju, the Lieutenant Generals Zhang Yi (張裔) and Huang Quan, the Subordinate of the Grand Marshal Yin Chun, the Attendant Officer Mounted Escort of Yi Province Zhao Zuo, the Headquarters Attendant Officer Yang Hong, the Libationer Attendant Officer He Zong, the Attendant Officer for Deliberation Du Qiong, and the Attendant Officers for Encouraging Learning Zhang Shuang, Yin Mo and Qiao Zhou, among others, submitted a document. The document said that the River Chart, the Luo Writing and the prophetic and apocryphal texts of the Five Classics had been sifted and made clear by Confucius, and that their verifications and responses reached back to remote antiquity, and it cited passages such as 'in the ninth generation it meets Bei (備), and they unite to become the time of the emperor' from the Luoshu Zhenyaodu and 'the emperor is established three times, and the ninth meets Bei (備)' from the Xiaojing Gouming Juelu. Records, Shu 2 §55–56
The document also cited the report that for years a yellow vapour had risen straight up several zhang in the southwest, that during the 22nd year of Jian'an (217) a vapour like a banner had several times crossed the middle of the sky from the west to the far east, and that in that year Venus, Mars and Saturn had constantly followed Jupiter, the Year Star. It said that while the emperor at Xu was still alive the officials had not dared to let a word slip, but that recently Mars had again followed Jupiter and appeared in the Wei, Mao and Bi lodges, and it asked that the Great King respond to Heaven and accord with the people by swiftly taking up the great enterprise and bringing peace to the realm. Records, Shu 2 §57–59
Next the Grand Tutor Xu Jing, the General Who Pacifies the Han Mi Zhu, the General Military Adviser Zhuge Liang, the Minister of Ceremonies Lai Gong, the Minister Steward Wang Mou and others also submitted a document, saying that more than eight hundred officials had submitted documents one after another, all citing auspicious signs and omens. In the 4th month of the 26th year of Jian'an (221) the First Sovereign ascended the imperial throne south of Wudan in Chengdu. Records, Shu 2 §60 · 65
In Chen Shou's main text Xiang Ju's name appears only in this one passage of the Biography of the First Sovereign, and his courtesy name, origin, office and later life are not recorded. Records, Shu 2 §55
In the Romance
In Chapter 80 of the Romance, when word reaches Chengdu that Cao Pi has made himself Emperor of Great Wei and that the Han emperor is rumoured to have already been killed, the King of Hanzhong (Liu Bei) weeps aloud all day, has the officials put on mourning and confers the posthumous title Emperor Xiaomin. When the King of Hanzhong, falling ill from his grief over this, entrusts all affairs of state to Kongming, Kongming confers with the Grand Tutor Xu Jing and the Grandee of Splendid Happiness Qiao Zhou, wishing to raise the King of Hanzhong to emperor, and Qiao Zhou cites as omens auspicious winds and felicitous clouds, a yellow vapour soaring up at the northwest corner of Chengdu, and the Emperor Star appearing in the field of the Bi, Wei and Mao lodges. Romance, Ch. 80 §29–30
When Kongming and Xu Jing lead the officials in submitting a memorial, the King of Hanzhong asks whether they wish to plunge him into disloyalty and unrighteousness, shakes out his sleeves and withdraws into the inner palace. When they ask again three days later he still refuses, saying that although he is a descendant of Emperor Jing he has bestowed no benefits on the people. Kongming tells the officials of a plan and then stays away, pleading illness; when the King of Hanzhong comes in person to visit him, he confides that his worry is that the officials, harbouring resentment, will soon scatter, and draws from the King the reply that it will not be too late to act once the Military Adviser has recovered. Romance, Ch. 80 §31–36
Kongming springs up from his couch and strikes the screen once, and the civil and military officials waiting outside all come in, prostrate themselves on the ground and ask that, since His Highness has already consented, he choose a day to perform the great ceremony. The King of Hanzhong sees that they are the Grand Tutor Xu Jing, the General Who Pacifies the Han Mi Zhu, the Marquis of Qingyi Xiang Ju, the Marquis of Yangquan Liu Bao, the Headquarters Officer Yang Hong, the Officer for Deliberation Du Qiong, the Minister of the Household Huang Quan, the Academician Yin Mo, the Director of Studies Qiao Zhou, the Lieutenant General Zhang Yi (張裔), the Gentleman Attendant Officer Qin Mi and others, and he exclaims in alarm that it is they who have plunged him into unrighteousness. Romance, Ch. 80 §37–38
The Erudite Xu Ci and the Gentleman Remonstrant Meng Guang take charge of the rites and an altar is built south of Wudan in Chengdu; in the 4th month of the 26th year of Jian'an, after Qiao Zhou reads the prayer aloud on the altar, the King of Hanzhong receives the jade seal, ascends the imperial throne and changes the era name to the 1st year of Zhangwu. The Romance says only that the officials great and small were promoted and rewarded one by one, and does not record what office Xiang Ju received or what happened to him afterward. Romance, Ch. 80 §38–39 · 41–42
Where the Romance differs
Where his name appears: In Chapter 80 of the Romance, Xiang Ju appears as one of the officials who come in when Zhuge Liang strikes the screen, prostrate themselves and ask for the great ceremony. In the Biography of the First Sovereign in the Records, he is one of the officials who submitted a document citing the omens of Heaven and the prophetic and apocryphal texts to urge the accession to the imperial throne. Romance, Ch. 80 §37Records, Shu 2 §55
Order of names: In Chapter 80 of the Romance, Xiang Ju is placed after the Grand Tutor Xu Jing and the General Who Pacifies the Han Mi Zhu and before the Marquis of Yangquan Liu Bao. In the Biography of the First Sovereign in the Records, Xiang Ju is placed after the Consultant and Marquis of Yangquan Liu Bao, while Xu Jing and Mi Zhu belong to the group that afterwards submitted a separate document together with Zhuge Liang, Lai Gong, Wang Mou and others. Romance, Ch. 80 §37Records, Shu 2 §55 · 60
Who reported the omens: In Chapter 80 of the Romance, Qiao Zhou, conferring with Kongming and Xu Jing, cites the auspicious winds, the yellow vapour to the northwest of Chengdu and the Emperor Star. In the Records, the yellow vapour in the southwest, the movements of the stars and prophetic texts such as the Luo Writing were contained in the document submitted jointly by a number of officials, beginning with Liu Bao and Xiang Ju. Romance, Ch. 80 §30Records, Shu 2 §55–58
How the accession was urged: In Chapter 80 of the Romance, when the King of Hanzhong repeatedly refuses, Zhuge Liang wins his consent with a ruse of feigned illness, and Xiang Ju is among the officials who come in at the signal. The Biography of the First Sovereign in the Records gives the document of Xiang Ju and others and that of Xu Jing, Mi Zhu, Zhuge Liang and others in turn, and the Biography of Zhuge Liang records that when the First Sovereign would not consent, Zhuge Liang persuaded him by citing the words of Geng Chun. The ruse of feigned illness does not appear. Romance, Ch. 80 §34–37Records, Shu 2 §55 · 60Records, Shu 5 §19–20
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
Abilities
The Records score (Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, main text) is the baseline. Each ability compares how the Romance redrew the same person, and the evidence from both sources explains the difference.
- LEA3331−2
- STR3131±0
- INT4038−2
- POL4542−3
- CHA4040±0
- VIR4545±0
- ADP4846−2
- SCH4240−2
- DIP4038−2
- DIS3533−2
Abilities shaped by the Romance — where it differs from the Records Differences of 10 or more
No ability differs by 10 or more — the Romance portrays this person much as the Records do.
10 similar abilities — show evidence
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Marquis of QingyiShu 2 §55
NNo direct record — estimated from his rank among the officials as Marquis of QingyiCh. 80 §37
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Marquis of QingyiShu 2 §55
NNo direct record — estimated from his rank among the officials as Marquis of QingyiCh. 80 §37
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Marquis of QingyiShu 2 §55
NNo direct record — estimated from his rank among the officials as Marquis of QingyiCh. 80 §37
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Marquis of QingyiShu 2 §55
NNo direct record — estimated from his rank among the officials as Marquis of QingyiCh. 80 §37
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Marquis of QingyiShu 2 §55
NNo direct record — estimated from his rank among the officials as Marquis of QingyiCh. 80 §37
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Marquis of QingyiShu 2 §55
NNo direct record — estimated from his rank among the officials as Marquis of QingyiCh. 80 §37
RPut his name to the document citing auspicious omens to urge the First Sovereign's accessionShu 2 §55
NStood among the civil and military officials asking the King of Hanzhong to ascend the imperial throneCh. 80 §37
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Marquis of QingyiShu 2 §55
NNo direct record — estimated from his rank among the officials as Marquis of QingyiCh. 80 §37
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Marquis of QingyiShu 2 §55
NNo direct record — estimated from his rank among the officials as Marquis of QingyiCh. 80 §37
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as Marquis of QingyiShu 2 §55
NNo direct record — estimated from his rank among the officials as Marquis of QingyiCh. 80 §37
Records Romance Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.
Romance chapters (1)
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