Du Ji

Du Ji (163 – 224), courtesy name Bohou, was an official who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He later served as a high-ranking official in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. He had the reputation of being a model governor, valiant, loyal and wise. He was the grandfather of Du Yu, the author of the most influential Zuo Zhuan commentary, who gave the work its modern form.

Early career Du Ji was from Duling County , Jingzhao Commandery , which is in present-day southeastern Xi'an, Shaanxi. When he was 19, he served in the convict labour section under the magistrate of Zheng County (鄭縣; present-day Hua County, Shaanxi). He personally saw all of the hundreds of convicts in the county prisons, weighed the severity of their transgressions, and despatched them to their labours accordingly. Following this, he was nominated as a xiaolian and appointed as a fucheng (府丞; an aide) in the Hanzhong stores office.

Towards the end of the Han dynasty, Du Ji abandoned his post and fled south to Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan). He returned to the north sometime between 196 and 205, and was recommended to Cao Cao by Xun Yu. Du Ji was appointed as a Director of Justice to under the Minister of Works (then held by Cao Cao), then sent west to Xiping Commandery (西平郡; present-day Xining, Qinghai) to serve as the commandery's Administrator and as Colonel Who Protects the Qiang .

Thus the rebel forces in Hedong lacked all middle and lower management, and Wei Gu and Fan Xian stayed put, training their troops while rebellion spread in adjacent commanderies. Having hollowed out the effectiveness of the rebel army from inside, Du Ji took his leave, accompanied by a few dozen horsemen. In a few weeks' time, he had mustered a force of over four thousand. Wei Gu's forces, along with Gao Gan and Zhang Sheng , attacked Du Ji but could not dislodge him.

When Xiahou Dun's army arrived, Gao Gan and Zhang Sheng fled, while Wei Gu and Fan Xian were executed. Du Ji pardoned their assistants and conspirators, and sent them back to their old occupations.

As the commandery's Administrator, Du Ji promoted lenience and mercy, and aided the populace by exerting as little control over them as possible. When someone impeached him or spoke out against him, Du Ji would have the person summoned and explain to them his plans, with the command to think them over thoroughly. If there was something the person still did not understand, Du Ji would summon them again to explain more clearly. The local elders were greatly amenable to this policy, and quickly accepted Du Ji as a model governor. He would exempt particularly filial sons and dutiful wives from state labour, and taught improved farming methods to increase harvests. This achieved, he began teaching martial arts in the winters, and had the people keep their weaponry in good order. He opened a school where he personally taught from the Chinese classics. Cao Cao increased Du Ji's salary after this.

When Cao Cao was enfeoffed as the Duke of Wei by Emperor Xian in 213, he appointed Du Ji as a Master of Writing . Two years later, Cao Cao invaded Hanzhong Commandery and Du Ji sent 5,000 men to join Cao Cao's army in the campaign. According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, his soldiers were so loyal that not a single person from the Hedong battalion fled from combat. Cao Cao again compared Du Ji to Xiao He and Kou Xun, and said Hedong was like a limb to him.

Throughout the 16 years Du Ji governed Hedong Commandery, it was the most stable among all the commanderies in China at the time. Cao Pi is said to have wept upon hearing news of Du Ji's death, and wrote that he "epitomised loyalty". whose authors would have been sensitive to the fact that Du Ji's grandson was Emperor Wu's uncle.