Ministers › Remonstrators
Zhao Zheng
Former Qin official and writer who served Fu Jian, known for frank remonstrances sung as well as spoken; after Fu Jian's death in 385 he became a Buddhist monk under the name Daozheng.
At dawn in a palace courtyard, a large drum hangs in a small roofed frame beside a red pillar, with a bound bundle of scrolls on a low stand in front; a stone balustrade leads toward a large hall in the mist, and a row of tiny people stands far away.
Also known as Wen Ye · Zhao Zheng (variant) · Daozheng (Buddhist name)
Zhao Zheng, courtesy name Wenye, also written Zhao Zheng with a variant character, came from Qingshui in Lueyang (today's Gansu), though one account says Jiyin. At eighteen he became Compiler of Records under Fu Jian of Former Qin, later Gentleman of the Yellow Gate and Grand Administrator of Wuwei. Learned and outspoken, he remonstrated by memorial and in person more than fifty times and sang songs against Fu Jian's favouring of Xianbei nobles and the relocation of the Di people. After Fu Jian was killed in 385 he retired to the Shangluo mountains and became a monk under the name Daozheng, dying in Xiangyang aged over sixty.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active in the reign of Fu Jian of Former Qin (357–385 CE)