Xiao Zong 蕭綜

Xiao Zong 蕭綜 (502–532, alt. 502–531), zi Shiqian 世謙. Liang period prince and writer.

Xiao Zong's ancestral home was Nan Lanling 南蘭陵 (northwest of modern Changzhou, Jiangsu). He was designated the second son of Emperor Wu of Liang (r. 502–549). His mother was Wu Shuyuan 吳淑媛 (fl. 500–502), who had been a member of the harem of the penultimate Southern Qi ruler Xiao Baojuan 蕭寶卷 (483–501). Emperor Wu had taken her as one of his palace ladies in December 501 after the death of Xiao Baojuan. Seven months later she gave birth to Xiao Zong. Some members of the court suspected that Xiao Zong was actually the progeny of Xiao Baojuan. Xiao Zong eventually came to this same conclusion, and he became disaffected from Emperor Wu.

In 504, Xiao Zong was named Prince of Yuzhang 豫章. While still a young boy he was appointed in 511 regional inspector of Yingzhou 郢州 (administrative seat, modern Wuchang). This probably was a nominal post as was his assignment to oversee military affairs at the Shitou fortress in 514 and governor of Danyang 丹陽 (the capital district) in 516. In 517, he was sent out as military inspector of Nan Xuzhou 南徐州 (administrative seat, Jingkou 京口, modern Zhenjiang). In this same year he secretly made sacrifices to the ancestral temples of the seven Southern Qi emperors, which was an expression of his loyalty to the fallen Qi house. In 523, Xiao Zong was assigned as military inspector of Nan Yanzhou 南兗州 (administrative seat Guangling 廣陵, northeast of modern Jiangdu 江都, Jiangsu). At this time he sent an emissary to Xiao Baoyin 蕭寶寅 (d. 530), the sixth son of Emperor Ming (r. 494–498) of the Southern Qi who in 502 fled to the Western Wei. Xiao Baoyin changed Zong's personal name to Zan 贊 (also written Zuan 纘). In 525, during the Liang expedition against the Wei, Xiao Zong joined the service of the Northern Wei. At the Wei court he served as palace attendant, minister of works, and was granted the titles of Duke of Gaoping 高平 and Prince of Danyang 丹陽. They also gave him 3,000,000 cash.

In 527, Xiao Baoyin staged a revolt against the Wei. Fearing that he would be implicated in Xiao Baoyin's treachery, Xiao Zong fled to the Bailu Mountains 白鹿山 (west of modern Hui 輝 county, Henan) where he was captured. The Wei court did not punish him, but appointed him minister of education and grand commandant. He was also married to the Senior Princess of Shouyang 壽陽 (d. 530), the elder sister of Emperor Xiaozhuang (r. 528–530). He later was sent out as regional inspector of Qizhou 齊州 (administrative seat, Licheng 歷城, modern Ji'nan, Shandong).

In November 530, Emperor Xiaozhuang killed Erzhu Rong 尒朱榮 (493– 530), the Wei general who had earlier installed Emperor Xiaozhuang on the throne. The Erzhu family including Erzhu Zhao 尒朱兆 (d. 533) rose against Emperor Xiaozhuang. They led an army into Luoyang where Erzhu Shilong 尒朱世隆 (500–532) tried to force himself on the Senior Princess of Shouyang. After she refused his advances, he had her strangled. Xiao Zong disguised himself as a monk and fled to the Changbai Mountains 長白山 (south of modern Zouping 鄒平, Shandong). He took refuge in the Bailu Mountains. He died of illness at Pingyang 平陽 (modern Linfen 臨汾, Shanxi) at the age of thirty-one.

According to Xiao Zong's biography in the Wei shu, he was quick-witted, wrote well, and was physically strong. He reputedly could control a runaway horse with his hands. Xiao Zong's biography in the Liang shu contains two poems, “Ting zhong ming” 聽鐘鳴 (Listening to the bell ringing) and “Bei luo ye” 悲落葉 (Grieving for the fallen leaves). Cao Daoheng points out that the versions of these poems differ from those preserved in the Yiwen leiju (juan 30 and 88). He speculates that one version was written in the south and later revised when Xiao Zong was living in the north. According to the Luoyang qielan ji 洛陽伽藍記, the “Ting zhong ming” poem circulated in the north.

Bibliography

Studies

• Li Li 李立. “Xiao Zong shengzu nian kao” 蕭綜生卒年考. Jinyang xuekan (1998: 6): 106–7.
• Cao Daoheng and Shen Yucheng, Zhongguo wenxuejia dacidian, 395.
• Cao Daoheng and Fu Gang, Xiao Tong pingzhuan, 103–4.
• Cao Daoheng and Shen Yucheng, Zhonggu wenshi ziliao congkao, 584–85.
• Cao Daoheng 曹道衡. Lanling Xiaoshi yu Nanchao wenxue 蘭陵蕭氏與南朝文學, 85–86, 124–25. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2004.
• Wu Guoping 烏國平. “Lun Liangdai shiren Xiao Zong” 論梁代詩人蕭綜. Wenxue yichan (2009: 5): 53–61.
• Ge Zhiwei 葛志偉. “Xiao Zong shengzu nian kao” 蕭綜生卒年考. Wen xuan yichan (2009: 5): 61.

Works

a. “Ting zhong ming” 聽鐘鳴 (Listening to the bell ringing)

Translation

• Wang Yi-t'ung, trans. A Record of Buddhist Monasteries in Lo-yang, 69–70. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.

Study

• Ge Zhiwei 葛志偉. “Xiao Zong ‘Ting zhong ming' ‘Bei luo ye' shi banben kaobian” 蕭綜《聽鐘鳴》《悲落葉》詩版本考辨. Nanjing shifan daxue wenxueyuan xuebao (2011: 4): 179–81.

DRK