Ministers › Chief Ministers
Jin Ridi
Xiongnu prince taken captive as a boy who became Emperor Wu's trusted attendant, seized a would-be assassin and was named a regent for Emperor Zhao
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 Wengshu
- Roles
- Chief Ministers
Jin Midi, courtesy name Wengshu, was heir to the Xiongnu king of Xiuchu. In 121 BCE his father agreed to surrender to the Han, changed his mind and was killed by his ally the Hunye king, and the fourteen-year-old prince, his mother and his brother became state slaves set to tend horses. When Emperor Wu reviewed the herds he noticed the tall, grave groom and his well-fed horses, made him superintendent of horses and later a palace attendant and counsellor, and gave him the surname Jin, 'gold', after the golden figure his father had used in sacrifices to Heaven. When his eldest son flirted with palace women, Jin killed the boy himself. In 88 he grappled with and captured Mang Heluo, who was trying to assassinate the emperor. The dying Emperor Wu named him a regent for Emperor Zhao with Huo Guang; he accepted the marquisate of Du only when mortally ill in 86 and died the next day.
Life and times
Dates 134 BCE–86 BCE