Zhong Yao (é¾ç¹Â, 151 â April or May 230), also referred to as Zhong You, courtesy name Yuanchang (å Â常), was a Chinese calligrapher and politician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of China. He served in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His calligraphy was highly regarded as he was known as one of the Four Worthies of Calligraphy () in the history of Chinese calligraphy.
In 202, when Cao Cao led his forces to attack Yuan Shang and his brother Yuan Tan at the Battle of Liyang, Yuan Shang ordered Gao Gan, Guo Yuan and Huchuquan to lead troops to attack Hedong Commandery (æ²³æ±é¡; around present-day Xia County, Shanxi), which was guarded by Jia Kui, an official under Cao Cao. Jia Kui could not hold up against the attack, so the people in Hedong Commandery offered to surrender to Guo Yuan on the condition that he would not harm Jia Kui. Guo Yuan agreed and captured Hedong Commandery, after which Yuan Shang appointed him as the commandery's Administrator (太å®Â). When Jia Kui refused to surrender to Guo Yuan, the latter wanted to kill him but the people of Hedong Commandery helped Jia Kui escape.
In the meantime, Cao Cao ordered Zhong Yao to recruit forces from Liang Province to deal with Guo Yuan and Gao Gan. Ma Teng, a warlord in Liang Province, responded to Zhong Yao's call and sent his son Ma Chao and an officer Pang De to assist Zhong Yao in attacking Guo Yuan and Gao Gan at Pingyang County (å¹³é½縣; west of present-day Linfen, Shanxi). Pang De led the vanguard, slew Guo Yuan in the midst of battle and took his head, without knowing that the man he killed was Guo Yuan. After the battle, when Zhong Yao's men searched the battlefield, they found Guo Yuan's headless body. Shortly after, Pang De went to meet Zhong Yao and he threw Guo Yuan's head in front of him. Zhong Yao cried when he recognised Guo Yuan's head because Guo Yuan was his maternal nephew. Pang De immediately apologised to Zhong Yao, who replied, "Even though Guo Yuan was my nephew, he was an enemy of the state. Why do you apologise?"
Following Cao Pi's death and Cao Rui taking the throne, Zhong Yao was appointed as the Grand Tutor () of Wei in 226. As a student of Cai Yong, a famous calligrapher and intellectual, he also contributed to the development of standard script (kaishu), and is known as the "father of standard script". His famous works include the Xuanshi Biao (), Jianjizhi Biao (), and Liming Biao (), which survive through handwritten copies, including by Wang Xizhi. Qiu Xigui (2000, p. 143) describes the script in Zhong's Xuanshi Biao as:
According to Hu Zhao's biography in Records of the Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou, Zhong Yao's calligraphy was widely emulated by contemporaries, alongside those of Hu, Handan Chun, Wei Ji (å«è§Â), and Wei Dan (é¦è¯Â).
After Zhu Jianping became friends with Zhong Yao and Xun You, the pair asked Zhu for a reading together. The prediction warned that though Xun You was younger, Zhong Yao would be the one left caring for Xun You's household. Zhong Yao joked all he would do was arrange a marriage for Xun You's concubine but after Xun You died in 214, Zhong Yao was left reflecting on the joke as he indeed looked for a marriage for the concubine. Zhong Yao wrote that Zhu Jianping's skill was greater than figures of the past like the Warring States physiognomist Tang Ju and former Han diviner Xu Fu.
Zhong Yao also once said of Xun You, "Every time I plan something, I'll carefully think through it again and again until I'm certain that I can't make any more changes. However, after consulting Gongda, he always has new insights to offer." Xun You created 12 strategies for Zhong Yao. Zhong Yao died before he managed to finish writing a book about the 12 strategies, hence some of them were lost. The historian Pei Songzhi thought it was a huge pity that Xun You's strategies were lost because Zhong Yao died at the age of 79 â some 16 years after Xun You's death â so he probably should have had ample time to finish writing the book.
Zhong Yao's grandfather, Zhong Hao (), was a prominent scholar in the Eastern Han dynasty; the mother of Zhong Hao's paternal nephew Zhong Jin (; son of an elder brother of Zhong Hao) was a paternal aunt of Li Ying. Zhong Yao's father, Zhong Di (), refused to enter politics because of the Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions. Zhong Yao had two known siblings: a brother, Zhong Yan (), who received a marquis title; a sister, who was the mother of Guo Yuan.
Zhong Yao had at least three spouses. The first, Lady Sun (), was known for being jealous of his other concubines and for seeking to harm them or make them fall out of his favour. Zhong Yao divorced her after he discovered that she tried to poison Zhang Changpu, a then-pregnant concubine. The royal family of Cao Wei tried to intervene the divorce but failed as Zhong Yao attempted to harm himself as an action of protest. He married Lady Jia (), the second spouse, as his formal wife after he divorced Lady Sun. Zhang Changpu maintained her status as a concubine up to her death.
Zhong Yao had at least two sons. The elder one, Zhong Yu (), served as the Minister of Justice () and General of Chariots and Cavalry () in the Wei government. The younger one, Zhong Hui, was born to Zhang Changpu. He also served as a general in the Wei government and is best known for his role in the Wei conquest of Shu Han, one of Wei's rival states, in 263. However, he launched a rebellion in 264 against the Wei regent Sima Zhao, but failed and was killed by his soldiers, who started a mutiny against him.
Zhong Yu had four sons: Zhong Jun (), Zhong Yong (), Zhong Yi () and Zhong Chan (). Zhong Yi was raised as Zhong Hui's adoptive son because Zhong Hui was single and had no children. Zhong Yong was killed along with his uncle Zhong Hui during the mutiny and his family members were executed. In the aftermath of Zhong Hui's failed rebellion, Zhong Jun, Zhong Yi and Zhong Chan were implicated, arrested and placed on death row for their relations to Zhong Hui. However, Sima Zhao took into consideration that Zhong Yao and Zhong Yu had rendered meritorious service to Wei, hence he decided to let them preserve their posterity. He made the Wei emperor Cao Huan issue an imperial decree, which pardoned Zhong Jun and Zhong Chan and restored them to their original official positions and titles. Zhong Yi, however, was executed because he was Zhong Hui's adoptive son and was hence not eligible for the pardon.
Wang Hun's wife Zhong Yan was either Yao's granddaughter or great-granddaughter.