Yao Chong (; 650([开元]九年薨，年七十二，...) Jiu Tang Shu, vol.96 – September 28, 721([开元九年]九月...丁未，开府仪同三司、梁国公姚崇薨。) Jiu Tang Shu, vol.08.), born Yao Yuanchong (姚元崇), known 700s–713 by the courtesy name Yuanzhi (), posthumous name Duke Wenxian of Liang (), was an official of the China's Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties, serving as chancellor under four sovereigns—Wu Zetian, her sons Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Ruizong, and her grandson Emperor Xuanzong. After his resignation in 716, he still had great influence inside the imperial government, and his opinions often influenced the decisions of Emperor Xuanzong and the succeeding chancellors.
Family Consorts and issues: Lady Wang, of the Wang clan (女王氏) Furen, of the Zheng clan (夫人鄭氏) Furen, of the Liu clan (夫人劉氏) Yao Yi (姚彝; 677- 16 September 716), first son Yao Yi (姚异), second son Unknown: Yao Yi (姚弈), third son Lady Yao (姚氏), of the Yao clan
Background Yao Chong was born in 650, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. His father Yao Shanyi (姚善意) served Emperor Gaozong's father Emperor Taizong as the commandant at Xi Prefecture (巂州, roughly modern Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan).
Yao Chong himself started his civil service career serving as an attendant to Emperor Gaozong's son and crown prince Li Hong, and was known for being able to write quickly. He later served as the food supply officer at Pu Prefecture (濮州, roughly modern Heze, Shandong). He was then moved in his office five times and eventually became Xiaguan Langzhong (夏官郎中), a low-level official at the ministry of defense.
During Wu Zetian's reign During the Khitan invasion of 696–697, Yao Chong was serving at the ministry of defense, when there was much emergency paperwork due to the Khitan invasion. Yao conducted the official business with efficiency and gave much useful comments when he processed the paperwork. This impressed Emperor Gaozong's wife Wu Zetian, then "emperor" (the only woman with that title in Chinese history) of her Zhou dynasty, and she gave him an unusually steep promotion to be the deputy minister of defense (夏官侍郎, Xiaguan Shilang).
In 697, after Wu Zetian's secret police official Lai Junchen, who had been responsible for falsely implicating many officials in treason accusations and executing them, was himself executed, Wu Zetian made a comment that after Lai's death, she had not heard of any accusations of treason. Yao pointed out that Lai, along with other secret police officials, had been making false accusations, and that he believed that in the future there would not be any treason accusations at all. Pleased with Yao's comment, she awarded him money.
In 698, Wu Zetian gave Yao the designation Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a chancellor de facto, probably at the recommendation of the senior chancellor Di Renjie.
In 702, Wu Zetian considered launching a campaign against Eastern Tujue, and she put her son Li Dan the Prince of Xiang in command of the army, assisted by her family members Wu Sansi the Prince of Liang, Wu Youning the Prince of Jianchang, and the chancellor Wei Yuanzhong. Yao Yuanchong was to serve as secretary general for Li Dan on this campaign, but eventually the campaign was not launched. Around this time, there was an ethnic Tujue chieftain named Zhali Yuanchong (吒利元崇) who rebelled against Zhou. Wu Zetian did not want Yao to share a name with Zhali, and therefore had him use his courtesy name of Yuanzhi.
In 704, Yao, who was by that point Fengge Shilang (鳳閣侍郎), the deputy head of the legislative bureau of government (鳳閣, Fengge), citing the fact that his mother was old, requested to be relieved of his office so that he could attend to his mother. In summer 704, Wu Zetian made him Li Dan's secretary general, but allowed him to have the salary and prestige as officials of the third rank (i.e., chancellors—while the secretary general for an imperial prince was only ordinarily fourth rank, second division, first classNew Book of Tang, vol. 49, part 2 .). Less than a month later, she made him also the minister of defense (夏官尚書, Xiaguan Shangshu) and chancellor de facto again, with the greater designation of Tong Fengge Luantai Sanpin (同鳳閣鸞臺三品). However, he declined the post of minister of defense, explaining that while he was serving Li Dan, for him to be in command of the army would hurt Li Dan (i.e., possibly bring suspicions on Li Dan). Therefore, Wu Zetian instead made him the minister of rites (春官尚書, Chunguan Shangshu). Around this time, Wu Zetian's lover Zhang Yizhi wanted to move 10 senior Buddhist monks from the capital Luoyang to a temple that he had built in Ding Prefecture (定州, roughly modern Baoding, Hebei). These monks did not wish to go and petitioned Yao, who ruled that the monks did not have to go, despite repeated requests by Zhang. Zhang therefore spoke to Wu Zetian against Yao, and Yao was demoted to be the minister of husbandry (司僕卿, Sipu Qing), although he remained chancellor. Soon, Wu Zetian, while letting Yao remain chancellor, made him the commanding general of the army at Lingwu, apparently again contemplating a campaign against Eastern Tujue. Before Yao departed for Lingwu, Wu Zetian met him personally and asked him to recommend someone who is suitable for being chancellor, and Yao recommended Zhang Jianzhi. She then made Zhang Jianzhi chancellor.
In spring 705, while Yao was still away from Luoyang, Wu Zetian was ill, and the affairs of state were largely decided by Zhang Yizhi and his brother Zhang Changzong, also Wu Zetian's lover, and there were rumors that Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were planning on formally seizing power. Zhang Jianzhi, distressed over the situation, entered into a plot with other officials Cui Xuanwei, Jing Hui, Huan Yanfan, and Yuan Shuji, as well as the generals Li Duozuo and Li Dan (李湛, note different character than the Prince of Xiang), to carry out a coup. Once Yao returned from Lingwu, Zhang Jianzhi and Huan discussed the plot with him, and he joined the plot. Soon, the coup was carried out, and Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were killed. Wu Zetian, while still carrying the title of emperor, was forced to yield the throne to her son Li Xian the Crown Prince (formerly emperor), and Li Xian was restored to the throne as Emperor Zhongzong. For his participation in the coup, Yao was created the Marquess of Liang.
During Emperor Zhongzong's second reign Soon, Wu Zetian was moved from the main palace to the secondary palace Shangyang Palace (上陽宮), under heavy guard, although Emperor Zhongzong still honored her with the title of Emperor Zetiandasheng (則天大聖皇帝, from which "Wu Zetian," by which she was later known, was derived). When she was moved, most officials celebrated, but Yao Yuanzhi wept bitterly. Huan Yanfan and Zhang Jianzhi told him, "This is no time for you to cry. It may be that today is the start of a disaster for you." Yao responded:
Huan and Zhang Jianzhi thereafter demoted Yao to be the prefect of Bo Prefecture (亳州, roughly modern Bozhou, Anhui). Perhaps because of this, he survived the subsequent reprisal that Emperor Zhongzong later carried out at the suggestion of his cousin Wu Sansi (Wu Zetian's nephew) against the coup leaders in 706, and he later was made the prefect of Chang Prefecture (常州, roughly modern Changzhou, Jiangsu), then Yue Prefecture (越州, roughly modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang), then Xu Prefecture (許州, roughly modern Xuchang, Henan).
During Emperor Ruizong's second reign In 710, Emperor Zhongzong died suddenly—a death that traditional historians believed to be a poisoning carried out by his wife Empress Wei and daughter Li Guo'er the Princess Anle so that Empress Wei, like Wu Zetian, could become "emperor" and Li Guo'er could become crown princess. For the time, however, Emperor Zhongzong's son by a concubine, Li Chongmao the Prince of Wen, became emperor (as Emperor Shang), with Empress Wei as empress dowager and regent. Less than a month later, a coup led by Emperor Zhongzong's sister Princess Taiping and Li Dan's son Li Longji the Prince of LInzi killed Empress Wei and Li Guo'er. Emperor Shang was deposed, and Li Dan, himself a former emperor, became emperor again (as Emperor Ruizong). Emperor Ruizong recalled Yao Yuanzhi, then serving as the prefect of Xu Prefecture, to the central government to serve as the minister of defense (now with the changed title of Bingbu Shangshu (兵部尚書)) and gave him the chancellor designation of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Sanpin (同中書門下三品). He and another chancellor, Song Jing, were said to be concentrating on ending the problematic policies of Emperor Zhongzong's reign, including reforming the civil service system and removing officials who had improperly received offices by bribing powerful people at court. In particular, one abuse he and Song sought to reverse was how Emperor Zhongzong had commissioned several thousands of officials without review by the examination bureau (門下省, Menxia Sheng), which was in charge of reviewing imperial edicts, and at their requests, Emperor Ruizong removed these officials from their offices. (Because Emperor Zhongzong signified that a review by the examination bureau was not necessary by sealing the envelopes containing the commissions in a slanted manner, these officials were known as the "slanted-sealed officials" (斜封官).) Later that year, Yao was made Zhongshu Ling (中書令) – the head of the legislative bureau (now named Zhongshu Sheng (中書省)) and a post considered one for a chancellor.
Meanwhile, Li Longji, while he was not Emperor Ruizong's oldest son or born of his wife, the deceased Empress Liu, was made crown prince after Emperor Ruizong's return to the throne because of his accomplishment in the coup against Empress Wei. He soon frequently clashed with his aunt Princess Taiping, however, on matters of politics, and Princess Taiping tried to spread the sentiment that Li Longji should not be crown prince, and that his older brother Li Chengqi the Prince of Song, who was born of Empress Liu, or his cousin Li Shouli the Prince of Yong (the son of Emperor Ruizong's older brother Li Xian (note different character than Emperor Zhongzong)) should be crown prince. In 711, Song and Yao, trying to end to political uncertainty, suggested sending Li Chengqi and Li Shouli out of the capital Chang'an to serve as prefectural prefects, while sending Princess Taiping and her husband Wu Youji (Wu Zetian's nephew) to settle in the eastern capital Luoyang. Emperor Ruizong accepted the suggestion except as to Princess Taiping's place of settlement (sending her to the closer Pu Prefecture (蒲州, roughly modern Yuncheng, Shanxi) rather than Luoyang). When Princess Taiping found out, however, she complained bitterly to Li Longji, and Li Longji, in fear, publicly requested that the orders be rescinded and that Song and Yao be put to death for alienating him from his aunt, brother, and cousin. In response, Emperor Ruizong cancelled the orders and demoted both Song and Yao to be prefectural prefects—in Yao's case, to be the prefect of Shen Prefecture (申州, roughly modern Xinyang, Henan). He was then moved several times in his office, to be the prefect of Xu Prefecture (徐州, roughly modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu—a different Xu Prefecture than where he had served before) and then Lu Prefecture (潞州, roughly modern Changzhi, Shanxi). He was then made the secretary general at Yang Prefecture (揚州, roughly modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), and was said to have governed it so well that the people built a monument dedicated to him. Eventually, he became the prefect of Tong Prefecture (同州, roughly modern Weinan, Shaanxi).
During Emperor Xuanzong's reign