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Yao Shu

Type Figure Region China Time 1203–1280 Also known as Gongmao

Yao Shu (1203–1280), courtesy name Gongmao, was a native of Xintai, Shandong, and a prominent Confucian official and statesman of the Jin–Yuan transi…

Timeline

  1. 1203–1249Xintai · ShandongBorn in Shandong, Yao Shu served as Junior Tutor to the Jin crown prince and other posts. After the fall of Jin he retired to his home area, teaching and building a reputation as one of the leading scholars of the northern Han Chinese lands.
  2. 1250–1260Kaiping · Inner MongoliaSummoned by Kublai, he joined the court and, together with Liu Bingzhong and others, planned military and institutional affairs, recommending scholars such as Xu Heng and Zhao Liangbi, and advancing the adoption of Han methods and civil governance in Kublai's appanage.
  3. 1261–1270Shangdu · Inner MongoliaAfter Kublai took the throne, Yao Shu served successively as Left Chancellor of the Central Secretariat and as an official of the Bureau of Military Affairs, taking part in military and political decisions, official selection, and drafting institutions; he was a central figure among Han Confucian officials in the politics of the early 1260s.
  4. 1271–1280Dadu · BeijingAfter the Yuan established its capital at Dadu, Yao Shu continued to take part in court affairs, dying in the capital in his later years with the title Grand Master of Glorious Fortune; his disciples and political legacy deeply influenced the Yuan dynasty's Han Chinese officialdom.

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