Zhou Zhao 周昭

Zhou Zhao of Yingchuan wrote an essay praising Bu Zhi, Yan Jun and others. It reduced to four the reasons why worthy officials since ancient times had lost their good names, ruined themselves, brought down their families and harmed their states: haste in debate, contention for fame and power, attachment to factions, and eagerness for quick success. Haste in debate wounds others, contention for fame and power costs one's friends, attachment to factions blinds the ruler, and eagerness for quick success costs one's virtue; no one, it said, had ever kept himself whole without ridding himself of these four. Records, Wu 7 §90

As the most outstanding among the gentlemen of his own day, Zhou Zhao named Gu of Yuzhang, Commissioner Zhuge, Chancellor Bu, Minister of the Guards Yan and Zhang the General Who Displays Might. Citing phrases from the Analects, he said that Yuzhang led people on well and helped others realize what was good in them; that the Commissioner embodied the saying 'seen from afar he is stern, approached he is gentle'; that the Chancellor practiced being 'respectful yet at ease, dignified yet not fierce'; and that the Minister of the Guards and the General Who Displays Might studied without seeking emolument. He wrote that although the five gentlemen differed in virtue and weight, they were alike in not committing the four failings, and that Yuzhang had brought to light the merits of Ding Xu, from a humble family, and of Wu Can, once a herdboy, setting them alongside the Lu and Quan families. Records, Wu 7 §91–92

He also said that the three men, the Commissioner, the Chancellor and the Minister of the Guards, had been friends when they were commoners without office, and that at first the Minister of the Guards was ranked first, the Chancellor next and the Commissioner last, but that once they served the ruler together their reputations came to be the reverse of what they had been at first. Even so, he said, the friendship of the three never suffered. When Lu, the General Who Spans the River, died, the Minister of the Guards was chosen to succeed him but firmly declined, saying that he lacked the talent of a commander; the other two gentlemen became senior generals and attained the height of wealth and honor but did not recommend the Minister of the Guards, so that each kept to his own aims and preserved both his good name and their friendship. Records, Wu 7 §93–96

Of the General Who Displays Might he said that his reputation was next to that of the three gentlemen and he had been entrusted with the defense of a region, but because their careers and merits differed in seniority, the honor of their ranks differed; in that position he clearly knew his place, and whenever he attended court he acted according to ritual and spoke frankly. The essay concluded that in governing the state, commanding armies and achieving the feats of hegemons and kings these five men did not surpass others, but that in practicing the Way with purity, not seeking improper gain and preserving their names and conduct they were truly worth emulating, and that it therefore discussed their affairs in outline to show to later gentlemen. Records, Wu 7 §96–97

After the essay Chen Shou noted that Zhou Zhao's courtesy name was Gongyuan and that he had compiled the Book of Wu together with Wei Yao, Xue Ying and Hua He. Zhou Zhao later became Gentleman of the Palace Secretariat but was implicated in an affair and imprisoned; Hua He sent up a memorial trying to save him, but Sun Xiu would not listen, and in the end he is said to have been executed. Chen Shou's main text does not record the year of his death. Records, Wu 7 §98

The Biographies of Zhang, Yan, Cheng, Kan and Xue (Records of Wu 8) contain a memorial that Hua He sent up on behalf of Xue Ying. Hua He said that in the last years of the Great Emperor, Ding Fu and Xiang Jun first compiled the Book of Wu, but their work was not worth recording; in the time of the Young Emperor five men, Wei Yao, Zhou Zhao, Xue Ying, Liang Guang and Hua He himself, were again chosen to search out past events, and what they compiled together was complete from beginning to end. But Zhou Zhao and Liang Guang died first, Wei Yao betrayed the favor shown him and committed a crime, and Xue Ying went out as a general and was then exiled for an offense, so that the book was left lying and had not been completed and presented. Records, Wu 8 §56–57

In the assessment of Volume 7, after judging Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong, Zhuge Jin and Bu Zhi, Chen Shou said that Zhang Cheng and Gu Shao were open-minded men of standing who delighted in and honored worthy people, and that because Zhou Zhao's discussion praised them very highly, he recorded it in detail. Records, Wu 7 §100