Mao Jie 毛玠 Xiaoxian 孝先

Contents

Biography

Early career and the “hold the Son of Heaven” proposal

Mao Jie was from Pingqiu, Chenliu (in present-day Fengqiu, Henan). His courtesy name was Xiaoxian.

In his youth he was a county clerk and was known for purity and fairness. He considered fleeing the chaos to Jing Province but heard that Liu Biao’s administration was not clear, so he went to Luyang instead. When Cao Cao governed Yan Province he recruited Mao Jie as Assistant to the Governor.

Mao Jie said to Cao Cao: “The realm is split, the sovereign has moved, the people have lost their livelihoods and flee famine and displacement. The court has no store for a year; the people have no settled hearts—this cannot last. Yuan Shao and Liu Biao may have many men and strong forces, but neither has a long-term plan or anyone who builds foundations. In war those who act with righteousness win; holding position requires resources. You should uphold the Son of Heaven to command those who do not submit, repair farming and planting, and store military supplies. Then the work of a hegemon or king can be achieved.” Cao Cao respected and adopted the advice and transferred him to Officer in the Chancellor’s Office.

Selection with Cui Yan

When Cao Cao was Minister over the Masses and then Chancellor, Mao Jie served as Clerk in the Eastern Section and, with Cui Yan, was responsible for selection. They promoted only the pure and upright; those with a fine reputation but shallow conduct were never recommended. Mao Jie was himself frugal and helped spread a spirit of integrity, so that even favoured high officials did not dare exceed norms in dress or carriages. Cao Cao said, “With selection like this, the realm governs itself—what more need I do?”

When Cao Pi was General of the Five Offices he once went in person to see Mao Jie and asked him to look after certain relatives. Mao Jie replied that he had only avoided fault by keeping to his duty; the people Cao Pi named did not meet the criteria for promotion, so he dared not comply. When the army returned to Ye and the court discussed abolishing offices, some who feared Mao Jie’s refusal of private requests wanted to abolish the Eastern Section and argued that by old practice the Western Section was first and the Eastern second, so the Eastern should go. Cao Cao saw through it and said that the sun and moon rose in the east and people spoke of east first—why abolish the Eastern Section? So the Western Section was abolished instead.

After Cao Cao pacified Liucheng he distributed captured goods and specially gave Mao Jie a plain screen and a plain armrest “because you have the manner of the ancients.” Mao Jie held high office but often wore cloth and ate vegetables; he raised his late brother’s son as his own and gave aid to poor kinsmen, so his house had no surplus. He was later transferred to Army Adviser to the Right.

Director of the Right Section and heir dispute

In 213, when the Wei principality was established, Mao Jie became Director of the Right Section of the Masters of Writing and again oversaw selection. Cao Zhi was then in favour. Mao Jie secretly advised Cao Cao that Yuan Shao had been ruined by not distinguishing嫡 from庶, and that to depose the heir or establish another was a grave matter he did not wish to hear. At a gathering of officials, when Mao Jie went to the latrine, Cao Cao looked at him and said to the rest, “This is what the ancients called the one who upholds the straight in the state—he is my Zhou Chang.”

Accusation and death

In 216, after Cui Yan was executed, Mao Jie was deeply unhappy. Someone then accused him: when he had gone out and seen a convict who had been tattooed, whose wife and children had been made government slaves, Mao Jie had said, “The reason Heaven does not send rain is probably this.” Cao Cao was angry and had Mao Jie arrested. Zhong Yao questioned him. Mao Jie defended himself, citing historical cases of slander and saying that his post had made him many enemies and that he had neither spoken such words nor to any particular person at any time—he asked for a proper hearing and confrontation with his accuser. With Huan Jie and He Qia pleading for him, he was only dismissed, not executed. He later died at home. Cao Cao sent a coffin, sacrificial vessels, money, and silk, and appointed his son Mao Ji as Gentleman of the Palace.

He Kui zhuan (commentary) records that Fu Xun told He Kui that Ding Yi was hostile to him and had already harmed Mao Jie, and that He Kui should yield to Ding Yi; He Kui refused.

Historical evaluations

Cao Cao said that with selection as Mao Jie conducted it, “the realm governs itself” and called him “the one who upholds the straight” and “my Zhou Chang.”
Cao Pi later listed Mao Jie among those who had been “loyal and straight at court and trod the path of benevolence and righteousness.”
Chen Shou described him as “pure, public-spirited, and plain in conduct.”
The Xianxian xingzhuang said he was “refined, bright, and fair” and that in selection he “raised the solid, rejected the flashy, advanced the modest, and restrained cliques,” so that officials with fat private purses but no merit were dismissed and not used, and “the four seas were of one mind in cultivating conduct.”

References

Records of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 12, Biography of Mao Jie
Records of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 12, Biography of He Kui (commentary)