Yao Gu

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Yao Gu came from the Yao family of Sanyuan in Jingzhao, modern Sanyuan in Shaanxi. He was a son of Yao Si, commander of the Fuyan Circuit under the Northern Song. The Yao and Zhong families were regarded as the two major military lineages of Shaanxi, serving for generations on the northwestern frontier. Yao Si was known for bravery and spent many years fighting Western Xia, eventually becoming commander of the Fuyan Circuit. Yao Gu’s elder brother Yao Xiong was also a prominent general. He successively held high military honors including acting Minister of Works and Military Commissioner of Fengning, and after death received the honorary rank of Kaifu Yitong Sansi and the posthumous title Wuxian.

Yao Gu followed his father and elder brother on the Shaanxi frontier from an early age and participated in both defensive and offensive operations against Western Xia. The biographical record in the History of Song is brief and says only that he “repeatedly rendered military service.” Given the Yao family’s long-standing frontier role, his early career appears to have consisted of the gradual accumulation of military merit in the Fuyan and Xihe regions, followed by promotion through lower military offices.

Middle Career

In middle age Yao Gu held a succession of regional military posts and eventually became Military Pacification Commissioner of the Xihe Circuit. Xihe was one of the most important northwestern defense zones of the Northern Song, and the office made him one of the senior military and administrative figures in the region. The sources indicate that his career was not a continuous rise and that he was at some point demoted for an unspecified matter.

By the end of the Xuanhe era, after the Jin had destroyed the Liao and begun moving south against the Song, pressure on the Northern Song frontier increased dramatically. As an experienced Shaanxi commander, Yao Gu became one of the military figures on whom the court relied.

The Jingkang Relief Campaign and the Battle for Taiyuan

In the first month of 1126, the first year of the Jingkang era, the eastern Jin army under Wanyan Zongwang, also known as Wo Libu, besieged Bianjing, while the western army under Wanyan Zonghan captured Taiyuan. Emperor Qinzong of Song urgently ordered relief forces from across the empire to come to the capital. Yao Gu led troops to the capital and joined Zhong Shidao, Yao Pingzhong, and others. Members of the Zhong and Yao military families each commanded their own forces and competed with one another. Yao Pingzhong, Yao Gu’s son, feared that the Zhong family would monopolize the credit for military success. Under the pretext that “the soldiers should not be rushed into battle,” he independently launched a night attack on the Jin camp. The plan was exposed, and Song forces suffered a major defeat. After the failure, Emperor Qinzong was forced to accept Jin peace terms involving territorial concessions and payments, and the Jin temporarily withdrew.

As the Jin army pulled back, the court ordered Yao Gu, Zhe Yanzhi, Fan Qiong, and other commanders to escort the withdrawing forces with 100,000 troops. The Jin withdrawal was incomplete, however, and Wanyan Zonghan’s western army continued to besiege Taiyuan. The court therefore appointed Yao Gu to direct the Hedong relief effort, with Zhong Shizhong as his deputy, and ordered them to advance by separate routes. Yao Gu recovered Longde Prefecture, modern Changzhi in Shanxi, briefly improving the military situation. Wanyan Zonghan maintained the siege of Taiyuan and severed communication between the city and the outside. Yao Gu occupied key positions along the approaches and fought several engagements with Jin forces with mixed results.

The court was anxious to lift the siege and repeatedly sent envoys pressing Yao Gu and Zhong Shizhong to engage quickly. Zhong advanced to Pingding Army, modern Pingding in Shanxi, recovered Jinyang and Yuci after a series of successes, and arranged to join Yao Gu and another commander, Zhang Hao, for a combined attack. Yao Gu and Zhang Hao did not arrive at the agreed time. Zhong advanced too far alone and, while withdrawing toward Yuci, was defeated and killed. Some historical accounts criticized Yao Gu over Zhong’s death, while other scholars have pointed out that the Jin held the numerical advantage and that the failure of Yao and Zhang to arrive may have reflected battlefield conditions rather than deliberate inaction.

After Zhong Shizhong’s death, Jin forces concentrated against Yao Gu. The two armies met at Pantuo Village and fought for several days. Yao Gu was defeated and withdrew to Longde Prefecture. The court demoted him and appointed Xie Qian in his place. Yao Gu then stationed his troops at Weisheng Army. His subordinate Jiao Anjie, without verifying the enemy situation, falsely reported that a major Jin force was approaching, causing panic. Jiao strongly urged Yao Gu to withdraw, and the resulting retreat led to the loss of two prefectures and another major Song defeat. Grand Councilor Li Gang recalled Jiao Anjie to the capital and had him executed at Qionglin Garden. Censor-in-chief Chen Guoting then impeached Yao Gu over the defeat, and the court ordered him exiled to Guangzhou in Lingnan.

Final Years and Outcome

After Yao Gu was exiled to Guangzhou, the Northern Song collapsed the following year, in 1127. During the Jianyan era of the Southern Song, Yao Gu was at some point restored to official status, though the sources do not record what office he received or what he did afterward. His later activities are unknown.

Major Activities

Military Career

Yao Gu’s career centered on the northwestern and Hedong fronts. In his early years he followed his father and brother in campaigns against Western Xia and accumulated substantial frontier experience. During the Jingkang crisis he took part in the relief of Bianjing, the escort of the Jin army during negotiations, and the effort to relieve Taiyuan. The recovery of Longde Prefecture was one of the brighter moments of his military career, but the defeat at Pantuo Village and the loss of Weisheng Army effectively ended his political standing.

Relief of Taiyuan

The attempt to relieve Taiyuan was the central episode of Yao Gu’s military career. In the third month of 1126 he directed one of the relief columns while Zhong Shizhong advanced along another route. Yao Gu recovered Longde Prefecture, held important approaches, and fought repeatedly against Wanyan Zonghan’s forces. Coordination problems among Yao Gu, Zhong Shizhong, and Zhang Hao prevented the Song forces from breaking the siege. After Zhong was killed, Yao Gu was unable to sustain the effort alone and was eventually defeated. Taiyuan subsequently fell, opening the northern approaches of the Northern Song.

Rivalry with the Zhong Military Family

The Yao and Zhong clans were the two leading military families of Shaanxi. Their members served together during the Jingkang crisis but also competed for military credit. Yao Pingzhong’s failed night attack on the Jin camp was connected in the source to concern that the Zhong family would receive all the merit. The coordination failure between Yao Gu and Zhong Shizhong during the Taiyuan campaign was likewise associated with the delicate relationship between the two military lineages. This kind of competition among command families is presented in the source as one contributing factor to the Northern Song’s military failures.

Personal Relations

Family

• Father: Yao Si, commander of the Fuyan Circuit and long active in campaigns against Western Xia
• Elder brother: Yao Xiong, acting Minister of Works and Military Commissioner of Fengning; posthumously honored as Kaifu Yitong Sansi with the posthumous title Wuxian
• Son: Yao Pingzhong, known for bravery during the Jingkang era; disappeared after the failed night attack on the Jin camp

Colleagues

• Zhong Shidao: prominent Shaanxi commander who served at the same time during the Jingkang crisis
• Zhong Shizhong: deputy commander in the Hedong relief effort; killed after defeat while trying to relieve Taiyuan
• Zhe Yanzhi: jointly commanded troops escorting the Jin army during the Jingkang negotiations
• Fan Qiong: jointly commanded troops escorting the Jin army
• Zhang Hao: agreed to combine forces during the Taiyuan relief campaign but did not arrive on time
• Xie Qian: replaced Yao Gu after his defeat
• Jiao Anjie: Yao Gu’s subordinate whose false report destabilized the army; later executed by Li Gang

Ruler and Ministers

• Emperor Qinzong of Song: ordered Yao Gu to answer the imperial call, appointed him to the Taiyuan relief effort, and later exiled him to Guangzhou
• Li Gang: Grand Councilor who ordered the execution of Jiao Anjie
• Chen Guoting: Censor-in-chief who impeached Yao Gu for the defeat

Historical Assessment

Northern Song and Contemporary Views

• Censor-in-chief Chen Guoting impeached Yao Gu after the defeat and argued that his responsibility could not be excused, directly contributing to his exile to Guangzhou.
• Li Gang did not directly punish Yao Gu in the Jiao Anjie affair but was also critical of the failure of military command.
• Contemporary opinion often blamed the failure of coordination between Yao Gu and Zhong Shizhong and argued that the missed rendezvous left Zhong isolated and led to his death.

Southern Song Period

• The History of Song gives Yao Gu only a brief biography, stating that he had “repeatedly rendered military service” but devoting more attention to the failed Taiyuan relief campaign, with an implicitly critical tone.
• Southern Song historians often treated failures of coordination among commanders as a major reason for the Northern Song’s collapse and used the Yao Gu–Zhong Shizhong episode as an example.
• The Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance criticized Yao Gu for failing to join Zhong Shizhong in time, while also noting the objective advantage in Jin military strength.

Ming and Qing Periods

• Wang Fuzhi, discussing late Northern Song military failures in his writings on Song history, argued that Yao Gu and Zhong Shizhong were not commanders capable of resisting the Jin.
• Bi Yuan’s compilation of the Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance largely followed the History of Song in its treatment of Yao Gu and offered little additional judgment.
• Ming and Qing historians often treated Yao Gu as representative of the military-family officers of the late Northern Song, criticizing him as courageous but lacking strategic perspective.

Modern Period

• Modern studies of the Northern Song collapse often use the failed relief of Taiyuan by Yao Gu and Zhong Shizhong to illustrate structural problems in the late Song command system.
• Some scholars argue that the coordination failure should not simply be blamed on individuals but reflected broader institutional problems, including confused court command and the lack of a clear chain of authority among generals.
• The story of Yao Gu’s son Yao Pingzhong and the failed night attack became widely known in later tradition, and the rise and decline of the Yao family has often been discussed as an example of the fate of Northern Song military lineages.