Yuwen Zhongzhi (宇文忠之)

Overview

The translated histories identify Yuwen Zhongzhi as a diplomat, historian, official, and scholar. This record brings together 8 passages from 1 chapter across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Yuwen Zhongzhi	宇文忠之	Yuwen Zhongzhi
Nickname	Black Yu	黑宇	Hei Yu
Surname		宇文	Yuwen
Given		忠之	Zhongzhi

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Explicit · weishu:086:s0096

Roles

Diplomat
Historian
Official
Scholar

Life and dates

Death

Cause: illness from resentment
Explicit · weishu:086:s0109

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 元象初 · Western Interval: Start: AD 538 · End: AD 539
Explicit event contextual date · weishu:086:s0104
Source Date: Text: 天平初 · Western Interval: Start: AD 534 · End: AD 537
Explicit event contextual date · weishu:086:s0101
Source Date: Text: 武定初 · Western Year: AD 543
Explicit event contextual date · weishu:086:s0105

Family

Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.

Child of Yuwen Kan (宇文侃)
Kinship Term: father / 父 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son
Parent of Yuwen Junshan (宇文君山)
Kinship Term: son / 子 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son

Origins and identity

Label: distant kin of the southern Chanyu / 南單于之遠屬
Explicit · weishu:086:s0097

Career and standing

Label: attendant of the secretariat / 中書侍郎 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 天平初 · Western Interval: Start: AD 534 · End: AD 537
Explicit event contextual date · weishu:086:s0101
Label: general who pacifies the south / 安南將軍 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 武定初 · Western Year: AD 543
Explicit event contextual date · weishu:086:s0105
Label: erudite of the Imperial University / 太學博士 · Action: appointed
Explicit · weishu:086:s0100
Label: right vice director of the Masters of Writing / 尚書右丞 · Action: appointed
Explicit · weishu:086:s0105
Label: regular attendant of direct communication at scattered cavalry / 通直散騎常侍 · Action: held · Concurrent: true · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 元象初 · Western Interval: Start: AD 538 · End: AD 539
Explicit event contextual date · weishu:086:s0104
Status: dismissal · Action: stripped-of-name-and-rank
Explicit · weishu:086:s0106

Places and affiliations

Polity: Eastern Wei / 東魏 · Relation: served
Explicit · weishu:086:s0101
Place: Luoyang in Henan / 河南洛陽
Explicit · weishu:086:s0096

Works and attributed material

Work: national history / 國史 · Relation: compiler
Explicit · weishu:086:s0103

Events and relationships

Kind: diplomatic · Role: deputy-envoy · Action: mission-to-Xiao-Yan · Other Person Id: Zheng Boyou (鄭伯猷)
Explicit · weishu:086:s0104

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: competent in letters but without refined conduct · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · weishu:086:s0114
Kind: physical-description · Statement: dark-skinned
Explicit · weishu:086:s0102

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Book of Wei, Chapter 86Volume 81: Qi Jun, Shan Wei, Liu Renzhi, Yuwen Zhongzhi · 8 passages

Open chapter

綦儁山偉劉仁之宇文忠之 Qi Jun; Shan Wei; Liu Renzhi; Yuwen Zhongzhi

與宇文忠之之徒、代人為黨，時賢畏惡之。 He formed a faction with Yuwen Zhongzhi and other men of Dai; the worthies of the day feared and despised them.

字文忠之，河南洛陽人也。 Yuwen Zhongzhi was from Luoyang in Henan.

忠之獵涉文史，頗有筆札，釋褐太學博士。 Zhongzhi read widely in literature and history, wrote competently, and on entering office was made erudite of the Imperial University.

裴伯茂與之同省，常侮忽之，以忠之色黑，呼為「黑宇」。 Pei Bomao served in the same bureau and often slighted him; because Zhongzhi was dark-skinned, he nicknamed him "Black Yu."

忠之好榮利，自為中書郎，六七年矣，遇尚書省選右丞，預選者皆射策，忠之入試焉。 Zhongzhi loved rank and profit; he had been an attendant of the secretariat for six or seven years when the Masters of Writing selected a right vice director—all candidates took the archery examination—and Zhongzhi entered the competition.

忠之雖文史足用，而雅道蔑聞。 Zhongzhi, though competent in letters and history, showed no trace of refined conduct.

按此卷以北史卷五０綦儁、山偉、宇文忠之三傳及卷二０劉庫仁附劉仁之傳補。 This scroll was patched from Beishi juan 50 (biographies of Qi Jun, Shan Wei, and Yuwen Zhongzhi) and juan 20 (Liu Kuren appendix, Liu Renzhi).