Gaotang Long

Historical Record

Gaotang Long, styled Shengping, was a native of Pingyang in Mount Tai and a descendant of Gaotang Sheng of Lu. In his youth he was already known as a classical scholar. The Administrator of Mount Tai, Xue Ti, once appointed him as a Surveillance Officer. On one occasion the commandery's military supervisor quarreled with Xue Ti, going so far as to call Xue Ti by his given name and shout at him. Seeing this, Gaotang Long laid his hand on his sword and rebuked the supervisor, citing the stories of Duke Ding of Lu with Confucius, and of Zhao with Qin, to emphasize the principle that a subject must remonstrate frankly and uphold the dignity of his lord. ^c:4297 The supervisor turned pale at his words, and Xue Ti, too, started up and stopped Gaotang Long. Afterward, Gaotang Long resigned his post and withdrew to live in Jinan.

In the eighteenth year of Jian'an (213), Cao Cao summoned Gaotang Long as an aide on the Chancellor's military council. Thereafter he served as Literary Officer to Cao Hui, Marquis of Licheng. During the mourning for Cao Cao, Cao Hui, far from grieving, went galloping about hunting; Gaotang Long admonished him with ritual propriety, fulfilling his duty of guidance. ^c:4298 During the Huangchu era, Gaotang Long went out as Chief of Tangyang, and because of his outstanding performance was later selected as Tutor to the Prince of Pingyuan (the future Emperor Ming of Wei, Cao Rui). After Cao Rui ascended the throne, he appointed Gaotang Long as Attendant of the Palace Gentlemen, Erudite, and Commandant of the Imperial Equipages. When the Emperor Ming first came to the great inheritance, a minister proposed holding a banquet, but Gaotang Long cited the precedents of the grief of Tang Yao, Yu Shun, and Gaozong, holding that a banquet should not be set, and the Emperor Ming adopted his advice. ^c:4298

Gaotang Long was later transferred to be Administrator of Chenliu. He once recommended a man of Du named You Mu, over seventy years old and of lofty virtue, as Aide of the Accounts Section; the Emperor Ming approved and specially granted him the office of Gentleman of the Interior in commendation. Gaotang Long was summoned to be a Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary and granted the rank of Marquis Within the Passes. ^c:4298 His learning was profound, and he was especially versed in astronomy. Together with the Gentleman of the Masters of Writing Yang Wei and the Erudite-in-Waiting of the Grand Historian Luo Lu, he collated and reckoned the calendar and compiled the Taihe Calendar. Although he differed with the Grand Historian in calculating solar eclipses and the dark of the moon, his subtlety was nonetheless known far and near. ^c:4298

During the Qinglong era (233–237), the Emperor Ming of Wei undertook great construction works, building palaces and transporting a great bell from Chang'an. Gaotang Long submitted a memorial of remonstrance, pointing out the historical lesson of how King Jing of Zhou's casting of large coins and making of a great bell had brought about the decline of Zhou's virtue, and criticizing the Emperor Ming for seeking instruments that ruined the state and for exhausting the people and squandering wealth. ^c:4299 The Emperor Ming once handed Gaotang Long's memorial to Bian Lan, ordering him to refute it. Gaotang Long then emphasized that rites and music are the foundation of governing the state, pointed out that rise and fall, survival and ruin, are often bound up with whether the institutions of rites and music are observed, and admonished the Emperor Ming to emulate the sage kings in accepting remonstrance, and the loyal minister likewise to exhaust his integrity. ^c:4299 The Emperor Ming expressed his approval of this.

When the Lingxiao Tower-Gate was first built, magpies nested upon it. The Emperor Ming questioned Gaotang Long, who replied with the lines from the Book of Songs, "The magpie has its nest, the dove dwells in it," warning the Emperor Ming that this was a portent showing Heaven's admonition, that with the palace unfinished there was danger of another surname becoming its master, and urging him to halt the multitude of labors and govern with frugality. ^c:15630 In the same year, a comet appeared at the constellation Dachen. Gaotang Long again submitted a memorial, emphasizing that in building capitals and palaces a sovereign should give priority to the ancestral temple and the altars of state, not to lavishly adorning his dwelling. He pointed out that the Emperor Ming's great construction works had set the people to lamenting and complaining, and that the warning of the heavenly portent was precisely Heaven's earnest, fatherly instruction to the Emperor Ming, urging him to heed it so as to avoid repeating the downfall of Jie of Xia and Zhou of Shang. ^c:15631

At that time, military and state affairs were many and the laws severe. Gaotang Long submitted a memorial proposing that rites and music be honored, Confucian scholars esteemed, recluses raised up, the calendar corrected, the color of garments changed, harmony and ease promoted, and frugality and simplicity prized, holding that this was the fundamental way to transform custom and pacify the people in governing the state. ^c:6789 The Emperor Ming adopted his advice, changing the third month of spring in the fifth year of Qinglong to the fourth month of early summer in the first year of Jingchu, esteeming yellow as the color of garments and using white for sacrificial victims, so as to accord with the rectitude of earth. ^c:6789 Gaotang Long was later transferred to be Superintendent of the Imperial Household. The Emperor Ming continued to expand the palaces and ornament the towers and pavilions, burdening the people with labor. Liaodong did not pay court, the mourned Empress died, excessive rains fell, and Ji Province suffered floods. Gaotang Long once again submitted a memorial of earnest remonstrance. ^c:6790

In the Novel

Romance of the Three Kingdoms gives no independent literary portrayal of Gaotang Long; his deeds are not incorporated into the novel's plot. There is therefore no distinctive depiction of Gaotang Long in the novel nor any deviation from the historical biographies.

Key Relationships

* Cao Rui (advises_in): Gaotang Long was an important counselor and remonstrating minister of Emperor Ming of Wei, Cao Rui. He remonstrated with Cao Rui many times, including advising against setting a banquet during the mourning period ^c:4298, opposing great construction works and the casting of a great bell ^c:4299, warning of the portent of the magpies nesting on the Lingxiao Tower-Gate ^c:15630, and pointing out the heavenly warning of the comet at Dachen ^c:15631. Cao Rui adopted much of Gaotang Long's loyal counsel and praised his remonstrances. ^c:4299
* Xue Ti (serves): In his early years, Gaotang Long served as Surveillance Officer under Xue Ti, Administrator of Mount Tai. When the commandery's military supervisor was insolent to Xue Ti, Gaotang Long stepped forward, laid his hand on his sword, and rebuked the supervisor, upholding Xue Ti's dignity. ^c:4297
* Cao Wei (serves): Gaotang Long served the Cao Wei regime all his life—from aide on the Chancellor's military council in Cao Cao's time to Attendant of the Palace Gentlemen, Erudite, Commandant of the Imperial Equipages, Administrator of Chenliu, Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary, and Superintendent of the Imperial Household in the time of Emperor Ming of Wei—always loyal in his service. ^{c:4298 c:6790}
* Cao Hui (mentor_of): Gaotang Long once served as Literary Officer to Cao Hui, Marquis of Licheng. During the mourning for Cao Cao, when Cao Hui made merry instead of grieving, Gaotang Long admonished him with ritual propriety, fulfilling his duty of guidance. ^c:4298

Iconic Scenes

* Laying his hand on his sword to save his lord: While serving as Surveillance Officer under Xue Ti, Administrator of Mount Tai, when the commandery's military supervisor was insolent to Xue Ti, Gaotang Long stepped forward, laid his hand on his sword, and rebuked the supervisor, taking the deeds of the ancients as a mirror and upholding Xue Ti's dignity, displaying his loyal, valiant, and upright character. ^c:4297
* Earnestly remonstrating with the Emperor Ming: When Emperor Ming of Wei, Cao Rui, undertook great construction works and exhausted the people and squandered wealth, Gaotang Long submitted memorials of earnest remonstrance many times. He cited the precedent of King Jing of Zhou's casting of a great bell bringing about the decline of Zhou's virtue, pointing out that the Emperor Ming's conduct was no different from that of a ruler who ruined his state. ^c:4299 He also took the magpies nesting on the Lingxiao Tower-Gate and the comet at Dachen as portents, warning the Emperor Ming that these were Heaven's admonitions to him, and urging him to halt the multitude of labors and govern with frugality, displaying his bearing as a loyal minister concerned for state and people and bold in frank remonstrance. ^{c:15630 c:15631}
* Correcting the calendar and changing the color of garments: Gaotang Long held that transforming custom and making clear the way of moral instruction must begin from the root, and proposed honoring rites and music, correcting the calendar, and changing the color of garments. The Emperor Ming adopted his advice, changing the third month of spring in the fifth year of Qinglong to the fourth month of early summer in the first year of Jingchu, esteeming yellow as the color of garments and using white for sacrificial victims so as to accord with the rectitude of earth, embodying Gaotang Long's contribution to the reform of ritual institutions. ^c:6789
* Concern even unto death: Although the histories do not directly record the specific words and deeds of Gaotang Long before his death, his repeated earnest remonstrances with the Emperor Ming throughout his life—submitting memorials even amid the Emperor Ming's great construction works and the frequent natural and human calamities, heedless of personal danger—and his spirit of "though my body be ground to dust and my clan destroyed, it would still be a year of life; how should I fear the calamity of offending so as to keep Your Majesty from hearing the most loyal words" ^c:15630 fully embody his unwavering loyalty unto death and his deep concern for the fate of the state.