Jia Sidao

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Jia Sidao was born on the eighth day of the eighth lunar month in the sixth year of Jiading, corresponding to August 25, 1213, in Tiantai, Taizhou. His father Jia She rose to Military Commissioner of Huainan East Circuit and Commissioner for Jingdong and Hebei circuits, retired as Academician of the Xianmo Pavilion, and was posthumously promoted through several honors to Grand Preceptor, Prince of Wei Commandery, with the posthumous title Zhongsu. Jia Sidao was born to Jia She's concubine Lady Hu. His father died when Jia Sidao was eleven, and the family's circumstances declined.

In 1234, the first year of Duanping, Jia Sidao entered official service through hereditary privilege as a granary official at Jiaxing, beginning his career as a low-ranking local official.

Advancement through His Sister's Favor and Provincial Experience

In 1238, the second year of Jiaxi, Jia Sidao's elder sister entered the palace as a favored consort of Emperor Lizong of Song. Jia Sidao was therefore summoned for a court examination and promoted to an office in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and then to the Armaments Office. At this stage, however, accounts describe him as still behaving like a pleasure-seeking young aristocrat, spending days among courtesans and nights boating and reveling on West Lake. On one occasion, Emperor Lizong saw West Lake brilliantly illuminated from a height and concluded that Jia Sidao was responsible. When this was confirmed the next day, he ordered the metropolitan governor Shi Yanzhi to admonish him. Shi instead defended Jia Sidao, saying that although he retained youthful habits, he possessed talent that could be put to major use. Emperor Lizong therefore sent Jia Sidao to govern Lizhou so that he might gain experience.

For more than a decade thereafter, Jia Sidao held provincial posts, including fiscal commander of Huguang, Vice Minister of Revenue, Deputy Military Commissioner along the Yangzi, Military Commissioner of Jinghu and Prefect of Jiangling, Grand Pacification and Military Commissioner of Jinghu, and Academician of the Duanming Hall in command of the Huai region. He gradually became one of the highest military and civil authorities on the Southern Song frontier. While in provincial office, he continued agricultural-colony measures associated with Meng Gong. The area reportedly remitted as much as 300,000 shi of grain each year, sufficient not only for local provisions and fortifications but also to support other regions, earning praise from Emperor Lizong.

Battle of Ezhou and Consolidation of Power

In 1258, Möngke, Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, launched a large-scale war against the Southern Song. In 1259, Kublai Khan led forces south and besieged Ezhou in the ninth lunar month. Jia Sidao, serving as Right Chancellor and Military Affairs Commissioner, went to direct relief operations and was promoted to Duke of Mao. The fighting at Ezhou lasted for months with heavy casualties on both sides. In the eleventh lunar month, Möngke died during the campaign at Diaoyu Fortress. Kublai was anxious to return north to contend for the khanate, and Jia Sidao took the opportunity to reach an agreement with him, promising submission and annual payments of 200,000 taels of silver and 200,000 bolts of silk. After the Mongol troops withdrew, Jia Sidao pursued them and killed more than 170 enemy soldiers, but reported to the court that the various armies had won a great victory and the siege of Ezhou had been lifted, concealing the private negotiations.

Emperor Lizong rewarded Jia Sidao lavishly, promoting him to Duke of Su and then Duke of Wei, with court officials greeting him outside the capital according to a precedent associated with Wen Yanbo. Jia Sidao increasingly monopolized power. He removed opponents, exiling officials such as Cao Shixiong and Xiang Shibi on corruption charges after they had shown him disrespect in the army. His associates also compiled the Fuhua Bian to celebrate his supposed military exploits.

Government and Reforms

In 1261, Jia Sidao introduced an accounting audit policy for military finances, targeting false expense claims and the practice of maintaining fictitious soldiers on the rolls. In 1263, the source states that, together with Censor Chen Yaodao and Right Remonstrant Cao Xiaoqing, he implemented the Public Fields Law. It limited the amount of land private owners could hold and required the state to purchase holdings above the limit for military supply. Jia Sidao himself donated 10,000 mu of good land in western Zhejiang as public fields. In 1264, he implemented a land reassessment method and issued guanzi currency in an effort to restrain inflation.

In 1265, after Emperor Duzong of Song ascended the throne, Jia Sidao was appointed Grand Preceptor and Duke of Wei and was compared by the emperor to the Duke of Zhou. In 1267 he became Grand Preceptor and Director of State and Military Affairs, with the special privilege of attending the Classics Mat three times a month, appearing at court once every three days, and handling affairs in the main government hall. Jia Sidao thereafter dominated court politics and excluded opponents. Accounts describe a luxurious lifestyle and an intense enthusiasm for cricket fighting. He wrote the Cuzhi Jing, a two-volume work on crickets described in the source as the world's first specialized study of the insect.

Defeat at Dingjiazhou and Death in Exile

In 1274, Emperor Duzong died and Yuan troops captured Ezhou. Students of the Imperial University insisted that only the chief minister's personal leadership could save the situation. Jia Sidao reluctantly established a supreme military headquarters at Lin'an but, fearing Yuan commander Liu Zheng, delayed taking the field. Liu Zheng died in the first lunar month of 1275. Jia Sidao rejoiced and declared that Heaven was helping him, then submitted a memorial announcing his departure. He assembled 130,000 elite troops from several circuits, with boats carrying money, provisions, and equipment said to stretch for more than one hundred li.

In the second lunar month, Song and Yuan forces fought at Dingjiazhou. Jia Sidao sent Song Jing to the Yuan camp seeking peace and asking to resume the Kaiqing arrangement of tribute and submission, but Yuan chancellor Bayan refused. The more than seventy thousand soldiers under Song commander Sun Huchen collapsed, and Jia Sidao fled by small boat to Yangzhou. The defeat at Dingjiazhou was devastating, with uncounted deaths, wounds, and desertions, while Yuan forces advanced directly toward Lin'an.

Officials throughout court demanded that Jia Sidao be executed to answer to the realm. Empress Dowager Xie cited his service to three reigns and at first merely removed him from the posts of Director of State and Military Affairs and supreme commander. Under continued impeachment, he was demoted to Training Commissioner of Gaozhou, ordered to reside in Xunzhou, and had his property confiscated. Zhao Yurui, Prince of Fu, had long hated Jia Sidao and sought someone willing to kill him while escorting him into exile. Zheng Huchen, county commandant of Kuaiji, volunteered. During the journey, Zheng repeatedly humiliated Jia Sidao, removed the canopy from his sedan chair to expose him to the autumn sun, and ordered bearers to sing Hangzhou songs mocking him. In the eighth lunar month, at Mumi'an in Zhangzhou, Zheng repeatedly hinted that Jia Sidao should kill himself. Jia Sidao refused, saying the Grand Empress Dowager had promised he would live. Zheng Huchen then killed him. Jia Sidao was sixty-three.

Major Activities

Battle of Ezhou

In 1259, Kublai Khan besieged Ezhou and Jia Sidao directed relief operations as Right Chancellor and Military Affairs Commissioner. The source states that despite his high rank he shared hardship with ordinary soldiers for several months while defending the isolated city and repelling repeated Mongol attacks. Kublai is recorded as praising his military ability and reproaching his own troops for failing to defeat a single scholar-official defending the city despite their large numbers. After the siege was lifted, Jia Sidao concealed the private peace agreement and reported a major victory, using the prestige of the campaign to consolidate political power.

Public Fields Law

In 1263, Jia Sidao implemented the Public Fields Law, setting limits on private landholding and requiring the state to purchase land above the permitted amount for use in military supply. He reportedly donated 10,000 mu of fertile land in western Zhejiang as public fields. The measure met strong resistance from major landowners but remained in effect from 1263 until 1275, according to the source.

Accounting Audit Policy

In 1261, Jia Sidao introduced an accounting audit policy for military finances, targeting inflated expenses and fictitious soldiers. The measure alienated many commanders but, according to the source, did help correct some abuses in military expenditure.

Literature and Writings

Jia Sidao had literary interests and associated with scholars and writers including Wu Wenying, Liu Kezhuang, Zhao Mengjian, Zhou Mi, and Fang Hui. Works attributed to him include the Yueshengtang Guji Ji, Yuesheng Bielu, Yueshengtang Suichao, and Qiqi Ji. The Shuzhai Laoxue Congtan called him a "commander of poetry and books." His best-known work was the two-volume Cuzhi Jing, with sections on poetic descriptions, form, color, predicting victory, care, fighting, and illness; the source describes it as the world's first specialized monograph on crickets.

Promotion of Talent

During Jia Sidao's period in power, Li Tingzhi and Wen Tianxiang were among those whom he promoted unusually rapidly. Although Wen Tianxiang later became a political opponent, the source records that he nevertheless acknowledged Jia Sidao's military ability by contrasting his courage at Ezhou in 1259 with his later collapse at Lugang.

Personal Relations

Family

• Father: Jia She, Military Commissioner of Huainan East Circuit; posthumously Grand Preceptor and Prince of Wei Commandery
• Mother: Lady Hu, a concubine of Jia She, posthumously Lady of the State of Qin
• Principal mother: Lady Shi, posthumously Lady of the State of Wei
• Elder brother: Jia Guandao
• Elder sister: Lady Jia, favored consort of Emperor Lizong of Song
• Wife: Lady Qi, posthumously Lady of the State of Chu
• Sons: Jia Desheng and Jia Derun
• Grandson: Jia Fanshi

Rulers and Court

• Emperor Lizong of Song: trusted Jia Sidao, whose career accelerated under his favor; after Ezhou Jia dominated government
• Emperor Duzong of Song: appointed Jia Sidao Grand Preceptor and compared him to the Duke of Zhou
• Empress Dowager Xie: after Jia's military defeat cited his service to three reigns and initially spared his life, limiting punishment to dismissal and exile
• Zhao Yurui, Prince of Fu: long hated Jia Sidao and recruited Zheng Huchen to kill him

Friends and Colleagues

• Shi Yanzhi: metropolitan governor who told Emperor Lizong that Jia Sidao had talent suitable for major responsibility
• Wu Wenying, Liu Kezhuang, Zhao Mengjian, Zhou Mi, and Fang Hui: writers and scholars who exchanged poetry and associated with Jia Sidao
• Li Tingzhi and Wen Tianxiang: officials who received exceptional promotion from Jia Sidao

Enemies and Conflicts

• Zheng Huchen: county commandant of Kuaiji who volunteered to escort Jia Sidao and killed him at Mumi'an
• Chen Yizhong: called for Jia Sidao's execution
• Gao Side, Wang Yue, Wang Yinglin, Huang Yong, Chen Wenlong, and others: officials who impeached Jia Sidao
• Wu Qian: former chancellor whom Jia Sidao pushed out and exiled; died in Xunzhou
• Xiang Shibi and Cao Shixiong: exiled by Jia Sidao on corruption charges
• Kublai Khan: reached an agreement with Jia Sidao after the Ezhou campaign and was later involved in renewed conflict with the Song
• Bayan: Yuan chancellor who rejected Jia Sidao's peace request at Dingjiazhou

Historical Assessment

Song and Contemporary Assessments

• An edict of Emperor Lizong praised Jia Sidao's exceptional abilities, quick intelligence, educational background, and capacity for major responsibility.
• Xu Yuanjie similarly praised his ability to handle important affairs.
• Wen Tianxiang acknowledged Jia Sidao's military capacity while contrasting his courage at Ezhou with his later flight at Lugang.
• Kublai Khan was recorded as praising Jia Sidao and wishing for an official of similar ability.
• Sheng Yuanzi called him one of the outstanding men of his time.
• Wang Yue condemned him, saying that no powerful minister of the dynasty had caused disaster as severe as Jia Sidao.

Song and Yuan Historiography

• The History of Song placed Jia Sidao in the "Biographies of Treacherous Ministers" and judged his career overwhelmingly negatively.
• Yuan compilers of the History of Song repeatedly criticized his political domination and damage to the state.

Ming and Qing Periods

• The Ming anti-piracy commander Yu Dayou erected a stele in front of Mumi'an with an inscription stating that Zheng Huchen of the Song executed Jia Sidao there.
• In Zhao Bi's Xiaopin Ji, Jia Sidao appeared as a prisoner in the lowest levels of hell.
• Qu You's Jiandeng Xinhua portrayed him as cruel and jealous.
• Shen Qifeng's Qing work Xieduo depicted him as an evil Buddhist incarnation.
• Zhu Yiqing's Maiyou Ji portrayed Jia Sidao as transformed into a tiger.

Modern Assessments

• Modern scholar Herbert Franke reexamined Jia Sidao's reputation in "Chia Ssu-tao (1213–1275): A Villainous Minister Who Ruined the State?"
• Contemporary researchers have argued that Jia Sidao achieved some results in the early part of his dominance and promoted reforms such as the Public Fields Law and the accounting audit policy, but that personal ambition and political failures prevented him from reversing the Southern Song's decline.
• Lu Xuejuan's Study of the Image of Jia Sidao traces the evolution of his historical image.
• Wei Chi's study of Jia Sidao's alleged role in "ruining the state" analyzes the specific actions and causes behind that judgment.