Chu Suiliang

Chu Suiliang
Chancellor of the Tang dynasty
Born	596
Died	658 (aged 61–62)
Names
Traditional Chinese	褚遂良
Simplified Chinese	褚遂良
Pinyin	Chǔ Suìliáng
Wade–Giles	Ch'u Tsui-liang
Courtesy name	Dengshan (Chinese: 登善; pinyin: Dēngshàn; Wade–Giles: Teng-shan)
Posthumous name	Duke of Henan

Chu Suiliang (596–658), courtesy name Dengshan, formally the Duke of Henan (河南公), was a Chinese official who served as a chancellor during the reigns of the emperors Taizong and Gaozong in the Tang dynasty. He became increasingly trusted by Emperor Taizong toward the end of his reign and was charged with the responsibilities of serving as the imperial historian and providing honest advice. After Emperor Taizong's death, Chu was entrusted with the responsibilities of assisting Emperor Gaozong, along with Emperor Gaozong's maternal uncle, Zhangsun Wuji. In 655, over his strenuous opposition to Emperor Gaozong's removal of his first wife, Empress Wang, and replacing her with Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian), Chu was demoted, and that began a series of demotions, eventually to be the prefect of the extremely distant Ai Prefecture (愛州, roughly modern Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam). He died in exile in 658.

Chu Suiliang was born in Hangzhou in 596, during the reign of Emperor Wen in the Sui dynasty. His father, Chu Liang (褚亮), had been a mid-level official during both the Chen and Sui dynasties, and was known for his literary abilities. After Emperor Wen's death in 604, Chu Liang continued to serve Emperor Wen's son, Emperor Yang, but Emperor Yang was jealous of his abilities, and when the general Yang Xuangan rebelled in 613 and was quickly defeated, he accused Chu Liang of being friendly with Yang Xuangan and demoted him to be the census official for the distant Xihai Commandery (西海, in modern Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai). Chu Suiliang followed his father there.

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