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Shangguan Jie
Western Han minister named by Emperor Wu as a regent for Emperor Zhao, whose plot with the Prince of Yan against Huo Guang ended in his execution in 80 BC
In a council hall, a long table holds an unrolled map scroll, a brass-cornered chest and a brush pot, with tall-backed chairs around it and a bronze lamp at the left; a figure stands with their back turned on the balcony at the right, with palace roofs beyond.
Also known as Zi Shaoshu
- Roles
- Chief Ministers
Shangguan Jie, courtesy name Shaoshu, came from Shanggui in Longxi. When wind stopped Emperor Wu's carriage on the way to Ganquan, he carried its canopy alongside, and his strength won him charge of the Weiyang stables. The History of the Han (Hanshu) says that when the recovered emperor found the horses thin and raged, Shangguan wept that he had thought only of the emperor's health, and was promoted to palace attendant and then minister coachman. On his deathbed in 87 BC Emperor Wu made him General of the Left and, with Huo Guang and Jin Midi, a guardian of Emperor Zhao; he was later made Marquis of Anyang. His son married Huo Guang's daughter, and their six-year-old daughter became Emperor Zhao's empress. Rivalry with Huo led him to plot with Princess Eyi, Liu Dan, Prince of Yan, and Sang Hongyang to kill Huo and depose the emperor; the plot was exposed in 80 BC and his clan was wiped out, though the young empress was spared.
Life and times
Dates Birth unknown–80 BCE