Sui and Tang · Rebel Ruler and Bandit

Zhu Can 朱粲

Attested AD 613 - AD 618

Passages: 6
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Zhu Can was a rebel Ruler and Bandit.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Posthumous name	Emperor of Chu	楚帝
Nickname	Kedahan Bandit	可達寒賊

Life and dates

Attested activity

AD 613 to AD 618 大業中…義寧末
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passages 151, 155
AD 618 義寧末
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passage 155

Career and standing

county clerk 縣史
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passage 150
Became
Bandit
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passage 151
Emperor of Chu 楚帝
Polity Chu 楚 · Era Name Changda 昌達
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passage 153

Places and affiliations

Polity Chu 楚 · Relation Ruled
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passage 153
At Chengfu, Bozhou 亳州城父
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passage 149
At Nanyang 南陽 · Relation Captured
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passage 154

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passages 158-159

Events and relationships

Campaigned against Changbai bandits
AD 605 to AD 618 大業中 · Military · Soldier
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passage 151
Defeated at Guanjun
AD 618 義寧末 · Military · Defeated · With Ma Yuangui (馬元規) · At Guanjun 冠軍
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passage 155
Devoured households of guests
Violence · Perpetrator · With Lu Congdian (陸從典)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passage 161

Assessments and attributes

Assessment extreme cruelty and cannibalism · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passages 157, 160-161
practiced cannibalism; steamed children for food
Cruelty
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 87, passages 157, 160

References in the histories

New Book of Tang, Chapter 87Volume 87 Biographies 12: Xiao, Fu, Shen, Li, Liang · 6 passages

方子通等僭盛時，復有硃粲、林士弘、張善安亦竊名號於淮、楚間。 While Zitong and his peers were at their peak, Zhu Can, Lin Shihong, and Zhang Shian also carved out titles between the Huai and the Chu country.

朱粲，亳州城父人。 Zhu Can was born in Chengfu, Bozhou.

大業中從軍，伐賊長白山，亡命去為盜，號「可達寒賊」，自稱迦樓羅王，眾十萬。 In the Daye era he served in the campaign against the Changbai rebels, then deserted, styled himself the "Kedahan Bandit" and King Garuda, and gathered a hundred thousand men.

僭號楚帝，建元為昌達。 He proclaimed himself Emperor of Chu with the era name Changda.

粲所克州縣皆發藏粟以食，遷徙無常，去輒燔廥聚，毀城郭，不務稼穡，專以劫為資。 Wherever he conquered he emptied the granaries to feed his troops, never staying long: on departure he burned storehouses, wrecked walls, ignored agriculture, and lived by raiding alone.

隋著作佐郎陸從典、通事舍人顏湣楚謫南陽，粲初引為賓客，後盡食兩家。 Lu Congdian, a Sui adjunct in the Author's Bureau, and Yan Mintu, a Palace Herald, both exiled to Nanyang, were welcomed as guests—then his soldiers devoured both families to the last.