Xiao Lun 蕭綸

Xiao Lun 蕭綸 (ca. 507–551), zi Shidiao 世調. Liang period prince and poet.

Xiao Lun's ancestral home was Nan Lanling 南蘭陵 (the Danyang 丹陽 area northwest of modern Changzhou). He was the sixth son of Emperor Wu of Liang (r. 502–549). In 514, he was granted the noble title of Prince of Shaoling 邵陵. He was sent out as governor of Langye 瑯邪 (administrative seat west of modern Jurong 句容, Jiangsu), Pengcheng 彭城 (modern Xuzhou), and Guiji 會稽 (modern Shaoxing). In 520, Xiao Lun was assigned as regional inspector of Jiangzhou 江州 (administrative seat Chaisang 柴桑, southwest of modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi). In 524, he was appointed regional inspector of Southern Yanzhou 南兗州 (administrative seat Guangling 廣陵, northeast of modern Jiangdu 江都, Jiangsu). In the next year, his noble title was removed, and he was dismissed from his post on the grounds of imperious conduct and engaging in outrageous behavior.

In 527, Xiao Lun had his noble title restored. In 532, he was appointed regional inspector of Yangzhou 揚州 (administrative seat, modern Nanjing). He appropriated property from people, and when an aide to the chamber-lain for palace revenues reported him to the court, Xiao Lun had a retainer murder him. Xiao Lun was again removed from office and deprived of his noble title, only to have it restored soon thereafter.

In 535, Xiao Lun was appointed secretariat director. In 537, he was sent out as regional inspector of Jiangzhou, and then transferred to regional inspector of Southern Xuzhou. When Hou Jing led his forces into the capital in 549, Xiao Lun fled to Yingzhou 郢州 (administrative seat, mod-ern Wuhan) where he received orders to lead an army against the enemy troops. After an initial victory, the enemy army overwhelmed his much smaller force, and he fled to Jingkou 京口 (modern Zhenjiang).

In 550, Xiao Lun returned to Jingzhou, where Xiao Ke 蕭恪 (d. 552) assigned him to oversee military affairs. However, when Xiao Yi 蕭繹 (508– 555) moved against him, he fled to Wuchang 武昌 and then Runan 汝南 (west of modern Wuhan) where he was forced to ally with the Northern Qi regime. In 551, an army of the Western Wei invaded Runan, and Xiao Lun was captured and killed.

Xiao Lun was quite learned and skilled in writing. The monograph on bibliography of the Sui shu records his collection in six juan. The two Tang histories list a collection in four juan. This was lost in the Song. Lu Qinli preserves six of his poems in Xian Qin Han Wei Jin Nanbeichao shi. Yan Kejun includes ten of his prose pieces in Quan shanggu Sandai Qin Han Sanguo Liuchao wen. One of his best known pieces is “Yinju Zhenbai xian-sheng Tao jun bei” 隱居貞白先生陶軍碑, which is a grave inscription written for Tao Hongjing 陶弘景 (456–536). It is a prime example of Southern Dynasties parallel prose and also an important source of information about Tao Hongjing's life.

Bibliography

Studies

• Cao Daoheng and Shen Yucheng, Zhongguo wenxuejia dacidian, 387.
• Cao Daoheng and Sheng Yucheng, Zhonggu wenshi ziliao congkao, 585–86.
• Cao Daoheng 曹道衡. Lanling Xiaoshi yu Nanchao wenxue 蘭陵蕭氏與南朝文學, 119–21. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2004.

Translations

• Birrell, New Songs from a Jade Terrace, 201–2.

DRK