Ministers › Statesman / Official
Tu'an Gu
Jin minister of justice under Duke Jing who, in the Shiji account, exterminated the Zhao clan and was later destroyed by Zhao Wu and Han Jue
In the courtyard of a district government hall, a line of petitioners waits before a raised bench with a long table and document boxes; a blue umbrella stands beside it, a large drum stands at the gate where a few people wait, and a lake with sailboats lies beyond.
Also known as Minister of Justice Tu'an Gu
- Roles
- Statesman / Official
Tu'an Gu was a Jin official who, according to the Shiji's Hereditary House of Zhao, had been a favourite of Duke Ling and became minister of justice under Duke Jing. Citing Zhao Dun's guilt for the duke's murder, he attacked the Zhao clan at Xiagong without the duke's leave, killed Zhao Shuo, Zhao Tong, Zhao Kuo and Zhao Yingqi, wiped out their kin and hunted the surviving orphan. Fifteen years later the restored Zhao Wu and Han Jue attacked him and destroyed his clan. He does not appear in the Zuo Zhuan, only in the Shiji. He is the chief villain of 'The Orphan of Zhao'.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; per the Shiji active c. 597–583 BCE