Su Chuo
Drafted the Six-Article Edict and the system of tax accounts and household registers for Yuwen Tai.
Life
Talked through the night
Su Chuo came from the Su clan of Wugong. Widely read, he was especially expert in mathematics. After talking through the night with him, Yuwen Tai thought very highly of him and made him Left Assistant Director of the Grand Branch Department of State Affairs, involving him in confidential matters.
Six-Article Edict
In 541 he drafted the Six-Article Edict: first cultivate the mind, promote moral teaching, make full use of the land, promote the worthy, take care in lawsuits, and equalize taxes and labor service. Yuwen Tai ordered all officials to recite and study it, and those who did not master it could not hold office. He also created the methods of tax accounts and household registers and set standard formats for official documents.
Died young from worry and overwork
Frugal by nature, he often worried and toiled over the state's lack of funds. He died in 546 at only forty-nine. Yuwen Tai personally escorted the funeral, sending his coffin home on a single plain cart.
Legacy
Su Chuo's reforms laid the institutional foundation for the rise of the Western Wei and Northern Zhou, and many later Sui and Tang institutions can be traced back to him.
Major works & achievements
- Six-Article Edict
- Created the system of tax accounts and household registers
Did you know? Father and son both took part in building the institutions of the Western Wei and Northern Zhou; his son Su Wei became a chancellor of the Sui dynasty.
Key dates
- 535Trusted by Yuwen Tai
- 541Drafted the Six-Article Edict
- 546Died