Xiao Ji 蕭紀

Xiao Ji 蕭紀 (508–553), zi Shixun 世詢. Liang period prince and writer.

Xiao Ji's ancestral home was Nan Lanling 南蘭陵 (the Danyang 丹陽 area northwest of modern Changzhou). He was the eighth son of Emperor Wu of Liang (r. 502–549). In 514, he was named Prince of Wuling 武陵 commandery. Emperor Wu especially doted on him. He served as governor of Langye 琅邪 (administrative seat Jincheng 金城 in Puzhou 蒲州, modern Jurong 句容, Jiangsu), Pengcheng 彭城 (administrative seat, modern Xuzhou), and Guiji 會稽 (administrative seat Shanyin 山陰, modern Shaoxing). In 524, he was assigned as regional inspector of Dong Yangzhou 東揚州 (administrative seat, modern Shaoxing). He was summoned to the imperial court where he served as palace attendant. He was then appointed governor of Danyang 丹陽 (the area of the capital district) and put in charge of military affairs at the Shitou 石頭 fortress. In 529, he was sent out as governor of Jiangzhou 江州 (administrative seat, modern Nanchang, Jiangxi). In 537, he was appointed governor of Yizhou 益州 (administrative seat, modern Chengdu).

According to the Liang shu, in April 549, when the imperial palace was seized by the Hou Jing army, Xiao Ji did not send any relief troops to aid Xiao Yi 蕭繹 (508–555), who was leading the Liang forces against Hou Jing. However, as Cao Daoheng points out, this account was written by historians sympathetic to Xiao Yi. According to the Nan shi, Xiao Ji sent his oldest son Xiao Yuanzhao 蕭圓照 (d. 553) in command of an army of 20,000 crack troops from Shu to assist Xiao Yi. In the Nan shi account, Xiao Yi is recorded as ordering Xiao Yuanzhao not to advance beyond Baidi 白帝 (east of modern Chongqing). After Xiao Ji learned of Emperor Wu's death on 12 June 549, he was preparing to lead an army himself to the east, but Xiao Yi commanded him to remain in Shu. In May or June 552 Xiao Ji assumed the title of emperor in Shu (modern Sichuan). In the eighth month (September–October) of this same year, Xiao Ji led an army down the Yangzi River against Xiao Yi, but was stalled at the gorges. During this time the Western Wei general Yuchi Jiong 尉遲迥 (d. 580) attacked Xiao Ji's headquarters in Chengdu. Xiao Ji was captured by a military officer loyal to Xiao Yi. He was beheaded along with his two sons in 553.

According to the Liang shu, during his youth Xiao Ji was a diligent scholar and a talented writer. He reputedly disliked literary ornament, and his writing had gu qi 骨氣 (bone and vitality). The monograph on bibliography of the Sui shu lists Xiao Ji's collected works in 8 juan. The two Tang histories record a collection of the same size. This was lost in the Song. Lu Qinli has collected six poems that are attributed to Xiao Ji in his Xian Qin Han Wei Jin Nanbeichao shi, but two of them are also credited to Liu Xiaochuo and Xiao Gang.

Bibliography

Studies

• Cao Daoheng and Shen Yucheng, Zhongguo wenxuejia dacidian, 384.
• Cao Daoheng 曹道衡. Lanling Xiaoshi yu Nanchao wenxue 蘭陵蕭氏與南朝文學, 123–24. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2004.

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