Su Ze

Historical Record

Su Ze, courtesy name Wenshi, was a native of Wugong in Fufeng. In his youth he was already famed throughout his home district for his learning and conduct, and was recommended as Filial and Incorrupt and as Flourishing Talent, and summoned by the offices of the Excellencies, but he took none of these posts. He first served as Grand Administrator of Jiuquan, and later transferred to be Grand Administrator of Anding and then of Wudu ^c:6097. Su Ze was upright by nature and hated evil, often taking Ji An as his model. The Weilüe records that Su Ze's family was for generations a distinguished clan of the locality; during the great disorder and famine of the Three Adjuncts in the Xingping era, he fled to Beidi and lodged with the wealthy household of Shi Liang. Shi Liang treated him badly, and Su Ze once sighed: "The realm will in the end be settled, and not long from now. I will surely come back to be Grand Administrator of this commandery and humble these vulgar men." Later he indeed became Grand Administrator of Anding, and just as Shi Liang and the others were about to flee, Su Ze, learning of it, deliberately sent men to reassure them and treated them with courtesy ^c:6097.

During the Jian'an era, when Cao Cao campaigned against Zhang Lu and passed through the commandery where Su Ze was, he greatly admired him and ordered him to serve as guide for the army. After Zhang Lu was subdued, Su Ze also pacified the Di tribes of Xiabian and opened up the Hexi passage. He was then transferred to be Grand Administrator of Jincheng ^c:3052. At that time, after the ravages of war, the officials and people were scattered, hungry, poor, and hard-pressed, and the registered households had sharply declined. On taking office, Su Ze devoted himself to comforting the people, winning over the Qiang and Hu from without, and using the cattle and sheep they presented to support the poor and aged. He even shared his grain with the people and ate alongside them; within a mere ten days or a month, the scattered people returned in droves, numbering several thousand households. Su Ze also clearly laid down prohibitions, punishing offenders without mercy and rewarding without fail those who heeded his teaching. He personally instructed the people in farming, and that very year reaped a great harvest, so that ever more came to submit to him ^c:3052.

Thereafter, when Li Yue of Longxi rebelled, Su Ze led the Qiang and Hu tribes to surround Li Yue, who then begged to surrender. After Cao Cao died, Qu Yan of Xiping rebelled and styled himself Protector of the Qiang. Su Ze at once dispatched troops to campaign against him; Qu Yan grew afraid and begged to surrender. After Cao Pi ascended the throne, for Su Ze's merit he granted him the additional title Protector of the Qiang and enfeoffed him as a Marquis Within the Passes ^c:3052.

Later, Qu Yan again rallied the surrounding commanderies and counties in revolt; Zhang Jin of Zhangye detained the Grand Administrator Du Tong, and Huang Hua of Jiuquan would not accept the Grand Administrator Xin Ji—both Zhang Jin and Huang Hua styled themselves Grand Administrators in response to Qu Yan. At the same time, the three Hu tribes of Wuwei took the chance to raid, cutting off the roads. The Grand Administrator of Wuwei, Guanqiu Xing, sent urgent word to Su Ze. At that time the powerful clans of the Yong and Liang regions had all driven the Qiang and Hu to follow Zhang Jin and the rest, and the men of the commandery generally held that Zhang Jin's strength was too great to be resisted. Moreover, the generals Hao Zhao and Wei Ping, who had earlier garrisoned Jincheng by edict, had also received orders not to advance west. Su Ze summoned the great officials of the commandery, along with Hao Zhao and the rest, to confer with the Qiang chiefs, pointing out that although the rebel force was strong, they were newly gathered, and not without men who had been coerced—they were not necessarily of one heart. He held that if they seized the moment to strike, the good and the wicked would surely split apart; once split, those who came over to our side would add to our strength while the enemy was diminished. Thus they would both gain real increase in troops and form an advantage in momentum, and leading the army to campaign they would surely break the foe. But if they waited for the main army, dragging it out day after day, the good common folk would have nowhere to turn and would in the end merge with the wicked—and once good and wicked had merged, they could not quickly be separated again. Su Ze held that even though there was an edict, they might break it and act as expediency required ^c:3053. Hao Zhao and the others thereupon heeded his counsel and dispatched troops to relieve Wuwei, subduing the three Hu tribes, and together with Guanqiu Xing broke Zhang Jin at Zhangye. On hearing of it, Qu Yan led three thousand horse and foot to come and meet Su Ze, claiming to wish to aid in the fighting, but in truth intending to make trouble. Su Ze lured Qu Yan into a meeting, seized the chance to behead him, and displayed his head before the host, whereupon Qu Yan's partisans scattered at the news. Su Ze then joined the various armies in surrounding and breaking Zhangye, slaying Zhang Jin and his partisans, while the rest all surrendered. After Qu Yan's army was broken, Huang Hua grew afraid, handed over the Grand Administrator he had detained, and begged to surrender; and so the Hexi region was at last pacified. After Su Ze returned to Jincheng, he was given the additional title Marquis of Duting with a fief of three hundred households ^c:3053.

Su Ze was later summoned into court to be appointed Palace Attendant, a colleague of Dong Zhao. Once, when Dong Zhao pillowed his head on Su Ze's knee to sleep, Su Ze pushed him off, saying: "Su Ze's knee is no pillow for a flattering sycophant." Earlier, when Su Ze and the Marquis of Linzi, Cao Zhi, heard that the state of Wei was supplanting the Han, both had held mourning and wept for it. Cao Pi heard of Cao Zhi doing so but had not heard of Su Ze. When Cao Pi was at Luoyang, he remarked in casual conversation: "I have ascended in answer to the Mandate of Heaven, yet I hear that some have wept—why is this?" Su Ze, thinking he was being addressed, bristled with his whiskers, about to answer with a stern face, when the Palace Attendant Fu Xun pinched him and said, "He is not speaking of you." Only then did Su Ze desist ^c:3055.

Cao Pi once asked Su Ze: "Earlier, when Jiuquan and Zhangye were pacified, the Western Regions sent envoys, and Dunhuang presented a great pearl an inch across—can more still be sought and bought?" Su Ze answered: "If Your Majesty can spread your civilizing influence throughout the Central Plain and let your virtue flow over the deserts, then without seeking they will come of themselves; but if they are sought and obtained, they are not worth prizing." Cao Pi fell silent at this ^c:13152. Later, Su Ze followed Cao Pi on a hunt; when a stag's antlers caught on a branch, allowing the stag to escape, Cao Pi flew into a rage, squatted on his folding stool, drew his sword, and had all the supervising officers arrested, ready to behead them. Su Ze kowtowed and remonstrated: "I have heard that the sage kings of old would not harm men's lives for the sake of beasts. Now Your Majesty is flourishing the civilizing virtue of Tang Yao, yet over the sport of a hunt would slaughter your officers in numbers—your foolish servant holds this must not be. I beg to plead at the risk of my life!" Cao Pi said, "You are an upright minister!" and thereupon pardoned all the supervising officers. Yet Su Ze was thereafter regarded with wariness. In the fourth year of Huangchu, Su Ze was demoted to be Chancellor of Dongping. Before he reached his post, he fell ill and died on the way, with the posthumous title Marquis Gang (the Resolute). His son Su Yi inherited the title. Su Yi died without sons, and the fief passed to his younger brother Su Yu. Su Yu served as Master of Writing during the Xianxi era ^c:13152.

In the Novel

Romance of the Three Kingdoms gives Su Ze no independent literary treatment, and his deeds are essentially not incorporated into the novel's plot. Su Ze therefore has no distinctive image, dialogue, or prominent storyline in the novel. The novel focuses mainly on the grand narrative of the tripartite division and the shaping of the principal figures, and for such figures as Su Ze—who had important achievements in the histories but were not central protagonists—it tends to selectively omit or simplify. Thus the novel has no depiction of Su Ze's "upright nature that hated evil," nor his moving deed of "sharing his grain and eating alongside the people," much less the detailed course by which, with both wisdom and courage, he pacified the rebellion in Hexi. His "knee" anecdote with Dong Zhao, and his remonstrance to Cao Pi that "without seeking they will come of themselves"—these iconic scenes that display his uprightness and wisdom in the histories—are likewise not mentioned in the novel ^c:3055. On the whole, Su Ze is a neglected figure in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and his glorious deeds and distinct character in the histories find no expression in the novel.

Key Relationships

* Cao Wei (serves): Su Ze served the Cao Wei regime throughout his life, esteemed from Cao Cao's time, later given additional enfeoffment for merit in Cao Pi's time, down to his death ^c:3052.
* Cao Cao (commands_in): When Cao Cao campaigned against Zhang Lu, he appointed Su Ze as guide for the army and showed his admiration for him ^c:3052.
* Li Yue (enemy_of): When Li Yue rebelled in Longxi, Su Ze led the Qiang and Hu tribes to surround him, forcing his surrender ^c:3052.
* Qu Yan (enemy_of): Qu Yan rebelled twice; Su Ze campaigned against him and finally lured and killed him, pacifying the unrest in the Hexi region ^c:3053.
* Zhang Jin (enemy_of): Zhang Jin rebelled at Zhangye; Su Ze, with the various armies, broke and slew him ^c:3053.
* Huang Hua (enemy_of): Huang Hua rebelled at Jiuquan, then, frightened by Qu Yan's defeat, begged to surrender to Su Ze ^c:3053.
* Dong Zhao (colleague): When Su Ze was summoned to be Palace Attendant, he was a colleague of Dong Zhao, and the "knee" anecdote arose between them, displaying Su Ze's upright and unbending character ^c:3055.
* Cao Pi (monarch): Cao Pi acknowledged Su Ze's merit, but Su Ze's forthright candor also made him regarded with wariness by Cao Pi ^c:13152.

Iconic Scenes

* The oath and repayment as Grand Administrator of Anding: In his youth Su Ze, lodging with Shi Liang's household, was humiliated, and once vowed "I will surely return to be Grand Administrator of this commandery and humble these vulgar men." Later he indeed became Grand Administrator of Anding, yet treated Shi Liang and the others, who were about to flee, with courtesy—displaying his broad magnanimity ^c:6097.
* Sharing grain with the people, comforting the displaced: When Su Ze served as Grand Administrator of Jincheng, he shared his grain and ate alongside the people, won over the displaced, brought several thousand households to submit, and personally instructed them in farming, bringing the locality a great harvest—embodying his love of the people as his own children and his sound governance ^c:3052.
* Pacifying the Hexi rebellion with wisdom and courage: Facing the joint rebellion of Qu Yan, Zhang Jin, Huang Hua, and the rest, Su Ze overruled the consensus, resolutely sent forth troops, and lured and killed Qu Yan, finally pacifying the Hexi region—displaying his outstanding military talent and decisiveness ^c:3053.
* "Su Ze's knee is no pillow for a flatterer": When Su Ze served as Palace Attendant, Dong Zhao pillowed his head on Su Ze's knee to lie down; Su Ze pushed him off and uttered these forthright words, manifesting his upright, unbending character and his refusal to flow with the flattering sycophants ^c:3055.
* "If sought and obtained, they are not worth prizing": When Cao Pi asked whether more Western treasures could be sought and bought, Su Ze answered, "If the civilizing influence pervades the Central Plain and virtue flows over the deserts, then without seeking they will come of themselves; if they are sought and obtained, they are not worth prizing"—embodying his far-reaching political vision and his esteem for rule by virtue ^c:13152.
* Remonstrating at the risk of his life to pardon the officers: When Cao Pi, having lost a stag in the hunt, sought to behead the supervising officers, Su Ze pleaded at the risk of his own life, remonstrating that Cao Pi should not harm men for the sake of beasts, and finally made Cao Pi pardon the officers—displaying his loyal candor and his fearlessness before overwhelming power ^c:13152.