Su Jun

Biography

Family Background and Early Years Su Jun came from a locally influential clan in Ye County, Changguang Commandery. As a young man he was a scholar with literary ability. He first served as a clerk and at age eighteen was recommended as xiaolian. In 311, the fifth year of Yongjia, the Disaster of Yongjia threw northern China into warfare. Su Jun gathered several thousand households in his home region and built a fortified settlement for protection. His fortification was described as the strongest of the local strongholds. He promoted what the source calls royal civilization, collected exposed human bones and reburied them, and won considerable popular support, leading the inhabitants to choose him as their leader. Sima Rui, then at Jianye, heard of Su Jun's activities and appointed him General Who Pacifies and Gathers. Cao Yi, Inspector of Qing Province, disliked Su Jun's popularity and feared he would become a future threat, so he planned to attack him. Su Jun, alarmed, led several hundred households south to Guangling and was appointed General Who Displays the Eagle. He later helped suppress Zhou Jian's rebellion at Pengcheng, was rewarded with the post of Administrator of Huailing, and was then transferred to Chancellor of Lanling. ### The Wang Dun Rebellion and Military Achievements In 322, the first year of Yongchang, the Wang Dun Rebellion broke out as the powerful minister Wang Dun marched on Jiankang. Su Jun received an imperial order to resist, but divination produced an unfavorable result and he delayed advancing. After court forces were defeated and Wang Dun entered Jiankang, assumed the title of Grand Councilor, and controlled the government, Su Jun withdrew to Xuyi. At this time his former subordinates from Huailing petitioned the court to appoint him there again. The court accepted their request, granted him the additional title General Who Displays Might, and later transferred him to Administrator of Linhuai. In 324, the second year of Taining, Wang Dun again attacked Jiankang with the intention of usurpation. Prefect of the Masters of Writing Xi Jian summoned Liu Xia and Su Jun to defend the capital. Wang Dun sent Su Jun's elder brother to persuade him not to obey the summons, but Su Jun refused and still led troops to the relief of Jiankang. Wang Dun's follower Qian Feng and the Jiangnan magnate Shen Chong planned to attack Su Jun's troops before they could rest after their long march and therefore assaulted Zhugezhu. Su Jun and Han Huang intercepted them at Nantang and inflicted a major defeat. After the Wang Dun Rebellion was suppressed, Su Jun was rewarded with promotion to Bearer of Credentials, General Who Champions the Army, and Administrator of Liyang, given the additional title Regular Mounted Attendant, and enfeoffed as Duke of Shaoling with 1,800 households. ### Garrisoning Liyang and Growing Arrogance After the Wang Dun Rebellion, Su Jun became proud of his achievements and elite troops and gradually developed independent ambitions. He commanded ten thousand veteran soldiers equipped with high-quality weapons, making him a formidable military power. In 326, the first year of Xianhe, he sent troops to repel Later Zhao forces advancing on Shouchun and thereby relieved pressure on Jiankang. Yet he also repeatedly gathered fugitives and outlaws. He even sheltered Bian Chan, elder brother of Bian Xian, a follower of Sima Zong, Prince of Nandun, who had been executed for rebellion, and defied orders to hand him over. Yu Liang therefore concluded that Su Jun would eventually become a source of disorder and, over strong opposition at court, decided to summon him to the capital. ### The Su Jun Rebellion and Defeat In 327, the second year of Xianhe, the court formally ordered Su Jun to become Minister of Agriculture, nominally promoting him while in reality separating him from his army. Su Jun had already sent his military secretary He Reng to Yu Liang to express his wish to remain at his post, and after the summons he asked instead to be transferred to an undeveloped command in Qing Province, but Yu Liang refused both requests. Fearing Yu Liang would harm him, Su Jun rejected the order on the advice of his staff officer Ren Rang and joined Zu Yue in raising troops, claiming that his purpose was to punish Yu Liang and marching on Jiankang. Although Su Jun's forces encountered resistance during their eastward advance, they won the main engagements and approached Jiankang in 328, the third year of Xianhe. Prefect of the Masters of Writing Bian Kun and Intendant of Danyang Yang Man were killed one after another, while Yu Liang collapsed without fighting and fled to Wen Jiao. Su Jun stormed the palace city, allowed his troops to plunder, seized women and property from the inner palace and government storehouses, compelled officials to serve him, stripped men and women of clothing, and caused cries of suffering throughout the city. He appointed himself General of Agile Cavalry and Supervisor of the Affairs of the Secretariat and took overall control of government. That same year a loyalist coalition formed under General Who Attacks the West Tao Kan. Su Jun forced Emperor Cheng to move to Stone City. Wen Jiao, Tao Kan, and others joined forces against him but initially made little progress. On the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, corresponding to November 13, 328, Tao Kan led naval forces against Stone City while Wen Jiao, Yu Liang, and Zhao Yin led troops to challenge Su Jun. Su Jun led eight thousand men to resist. Drunk, he charged north with only a few horsemen. When the attack failed and he withdrew, his horse became stuck, and Tao Kan's subordinates Peng Shi and Li Qian struck him with thrown spears and killed him after he fell from the horse. After Su Jun's death his head was cut off, his corpse dismembered, and his remains burned. Morale in the loyalist army rose sharply and Su Jun's forces collapsed. His younger brother Su Yi took command of the remnants but was defeated and killed the following year.

Su Jun was a general of the Eastern Jin who rose by military merit, doing much in the suppression of Wang Dun's revolt and of disorders in the south, and holding the post of interior minister of Liyang with more than ten thousand troops, an important command on the lower Yangtze. When Emperor Ming died and the young Emperor Cheng took the throne, Yu Liang directed the government; wishing to strip the provincial commands of their troops by central authority, he summoned Su Jun to court in 327, and Su Jun refused and rose with the similarly disaffected Zu Yue.

The next year his army entered Jiankang, the palace suffering badly, Emperor Cheng being held at Shitou city and Yu Liang fleeing to Xunyang. Su Jun then dominated the government at Jiankang, but his troops' indiscipline lost him the people's support. In 329 the coalition organized by Wen Jiao and Tao Kan counterattacked, Su Jun was thrown from his horse and killed in the fighting, his followers scattering and the rising put down.

The revolt was a major crisis of the young Eastern Jin, its cause lying directly in the structural problem between the throne and the provincial commands: the center tried to weaken them and they resisted by force, a conflict recurring throughout the dynasty. After the rising the palaces and offices of Jiankang were rebuilt, the political pattern adjusted under Yu Liang, Wang Dao, Xi Jian and others.

The course of his rising is directly tied to Yu Liang's attempt to reduce the provincial commands: Yu summoned him to court on the ground that he was gathering fugitives at Liyang, and Su Jun's request to be transferred to Qingzhou was refused, whereupon he took up arms with Zu Yue's support. The exchange shows how the contest between the Eastern Jin center and the commands generally ran through summons and transfers, while open conflict depended on the balance of strength and the degree of mutual suspicion.

After the rising was put down the provincial commands were rearranged: Xi Jian held Jingkou, Tao Kan Jingzhou and Wen Jiao Jiangzhou, these three balancing one another and forming the basic pattern of Eastern Jin politics for decades afterward.

The course of his rebellion is recorded in some detail in the Book of Jin and the Comprehensive Mirror.

His political role in the Eastern Jin is remembered by later ages through this rebellion.

The origin and character of his troops make a concrete case for the study of provincial military power in the Eastern Jin.

The central event of his life is the rebellion of the Xianhe years.

His end stands in contrast with his earlier services.

Major Activities

Military Activities In his early career Su Jun built a fortified settlement in his home region for self-defense, then moved south to Guangling and helped suppress Zhou Jian's rebellion, displaying military ability. During the Wang Dun Rebellion he led troops to defend Jiankang and defeated Qian Feng's forces at Nantang, making a major contribution to Wang Dun's defeat. He later guarded Liyang and became an important Eastern Jin military force north of the Yangzi, at one point repelling Later Zhao troops and relieving a threat to Jiankang. During the Su Jun Rebellion he captured Jiankang and briefly controlled the central government before being defeated and killed. ### Political Activities After his service in suppressing Wang Dun, Su Jun was enfeoffed as Duke of Shaoling and given the additional title Regular Mounted Attendant, becoming an important Eastern Jin general. His achievements and army made him increasingly arrogant; he accepted fugitives, concealed offenders in defiance of court orders, and entered into growing conflict with the central government. When Yu Liang later sought to reduce his military power by summoning him to court, Su Jun refused and rebelled, setting off the Su Jun Rebellion. ### Travels and Movements Su Jun's main areas of activity included his northern home in Ye County, Changguang Commandery, as well as Guangling, Huailing, Lanling, Liyang in present-day He County, Anhui, and Jiankang in present-day Nanjing. The place where he was killed was later known as “Su Jun Lake,” identified in the source with present-day Xiaotaoyuan in Nanjing. ### Relations with Contemporaries Su Jun interacted with commanders including Xi Jian and Liu Xia and once joined them in defending Jiankang. He had a deep conflict with Yu Liang, eventually taking up arms against him. He allied politically and militarily with Zu Yue. Su Jun's elder brother was sent by Wang Dun to urge him not to respond to the court summons for aid, but Su Jun refused to follow that advice.

Personal Relations

• Younger brother: Su Yi, who took over Su Jun's troops after his death and was defeated and killed the following year
• Son: Su Shuo, who fought alongside Su Jun ### Ruler–Subject Relations - Emperor Cheng of Jin: after capturing Jiankang, Su Jun forced him to move to Stone City
• Sima Rui: appointed Su Jun General Who Pacifies and Gathers and later General Who Displays the Eagle
• Yu Liang: regent and senior minister whose attempt to summon Su Jun triggered the rebellion ### Colleagues and Adversaries - Xi Jian: summoned Su Jun to defend Jiankang and later participated in the forces opposing him
• Liu Xia: joined Su Jun in defending Jiankang
• Zu Yue: allied with Su Jun in the rebellion against Yu Liang
• Tao Kan: leader of the coalition against Su Jun; his forces ultimately killed him
• Wen Jiao: important commander in the coalition against Su Jun

Historical Assessment

Eastern Jin / Contemporary - The Book of Jin describes Su Jun as “a scholar in youth, with literary ability,” but also states that “Jun came from a common household, gathered followers amid disorder, became a fierce general, and ultimately brought about his own defeat through arrogance.”

• Wen Jiao, Tao Kan, and others regarded Su Jun as a rebel and raised troops against him.
• Wang Dao protected Emperor Cheng but was unable to prevent Su Jun's violence. ### Northern and Southern Dynasties - Southern Dynasties historians recorded the Su Jun Rebellion extensively and treated it as an important episode of Eastern Jin political turmoil.
• Later generations worshiped Su Jun as a fierce deity under the name “God Marquis Su,” with the cult spreading as far as the Qing and Qi regions in the north.
• Liu Shao once granted Su Jun the title General of Agile Cavalry, reflecting his later deification. ### Tang and Song Periods - The Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance gives a detailed account of the Su Jun Rebellion, and the source attributes to Sima Guang the assessment that Su Jun “came under suspicion because of his merits and ultimately reached the point of rebellion.”
• Tang poets referred to the Su Jun Rebellion in historical verse. ### Modern Period - Modern historians often treat the Su Jun Rebellion as a representative case of conflict between Eastern Jin aristocratic politics and imperial power.
• Tian Yuqing's Aristocratic Politics of the Eastern Jin analyzes the background of the rebellion and regards Yu Liang's effort to reduce Su Jun's power as its immediate trigger.
• The site associated with Su Jun Lake remains, according to the source, as material evidence for the study of Eastern Jin history.