生平

早年

郗超的祖父是东晋名臣郗鉴，父亲是郗愔，其父祖都忠于王室。郗超自幼「卓荦不羁，有旷世之度，交游士林，每存胜拔，善谈论，义理精微」，谢安曾认为他比自己侄子们出色。原任大司马桓温参军，后召为「征西大将军掾」，一直在桓温幕府效力，为其谋主。桓温为人英气高迈，所以很少有受他推崇的人，然而在与郗超交谈之后，桓温却对其非常钦佩，常说郗超深不可测，遂倾意礼待，郗超也和桓温结下深交。

北伐

太和四年（369年）三月，桓温请与徐、兖二州刺史郗愔、江州刺史桓冲、豫州刺史袁真等讨伐前燕。当时，郗愔所领徐州，为精兵所聚之地。桓温常说：「京口酒可饮、兵可用」，很不愿意让郗愔居于京口。郗愔却不知道内情，还写信给桓温，说要跟他一起扶持王室。郗超看到信之后立即把他毁掉，自己代父亲写另一封信给桓温。内容是自己年老有病，不堪军旅，请桓温统率自己所领之兵，并乞闲职自养。桓温见信大喜，即刻转郗愔为会稽太守，自己兼并郗愔之兵，又自领平北将军、徐兖二州刺史，实力大增。

四月，桓温亲率步骑5万自姑孰(今安徽当涂)出发开始北伐。郗超认为：「道远，汴水又浅，恐漕运难通」。桓温不听。六月，桓温军至金乡(今山东嘉祥南)，适逢大旱，河床乾涸，水运断绝。桓温派冠军将军毛虎生在钜野(今山东巨野北)开挖运河300里，引汶水和清水(古济水自钜野泽以下别名清水)会合。桓温率水军从清水进入黄河，船舰绵延几百里。郗超又建议：「清水入河，无通运理。若寇不战，运道又难，因资无所，实为深虑也。今盛夏，悉力径造邺城，彼伏公威略，必望阵而走，退还幽朔矣。若能决战，呼吸可定。设欲城邺，难为功力。百姓布野，尽为官有。易水以南，必交臂请命。但恐此计轻决，公必务其持重耳。若此计不从，便当顿兵河济，控引粮运，令资储充备，足及来夏，虽如赊迟，终亦济克。若舍此二策而连军西进，进不速决，退必愆乏，贼因此势，日月相引，僶俛秋冬，船道涩滞，且北土早寒，三军裘褐者少，恐不可以涉冬。此大限阂，非惟无食而已」。桓温不采纳，继续挥军伐燕。果然在枋头(今河南浚县西南)为燕将慕容垂所败，狼狈逃回。

废立之事

咸安元年（371年），桓温攻克寿春，问郗超：「此足以雪枋头之耻乎？」郗超回答：「未厌有识之情也」。桓温负其才力，久怀异志。其北伐本意是欲先立功河朔，然后接受九锡，从而夺取政权。在枋头之败后，桓温威望顿减，所以才有此一问。晚上，郗超至桓温营中，对其说：「明公既居重任，天下之责将归于公矣。若不能行废立大事、为伊霍之举者，不足镇压四海，震服宇内，岂可不深思哉！」桓温素有野心，遂纳其策，行废立之事。当年十一月，桓温废司马奕为东海王，后转为海西公另立会稽王司马昱为帝，是为简文帝。

行废立之后，桓温权倾朝野。当时郗超因为与桓温的关系，朝中大臣都很畏惧。谢安曾与左卫将军王坦之一起谒见郗超，到了晚上还未能入见，王坦之想走，谢安说：「你就不能为了性命，先忍一忍？」由此可见郗超的权势之大。郗超一直是桓温的谋主，谢安和王坦之见桓温时，郗超卧在帐中窃听他们的谈话。恰巧这时来一阵风把帐幕吹开，谢安嘲笑道：「郗生可谓入幕之宾矣。」

逸事

郗超笃信佛教，生性好布施，曾送与当世高僧别墅。由于父亲郗愔吝啬，累积铜钱千万文，郗超一日之内散尽父亲的上千万文钱，救济亲友。

当初郗超与桓温结党，因为父亲忠于晋室，所以不敢让父亲知道。临终前，将一箱密谋书信交给门生保管，嘱咐道：「公年尊，我死以后，若以哀惋害寝食者，可呈此箱；不尔，即焚之。」后来郗愔果然悲痛欲绝，门生呈上书信，郗愔见儿子为桓温出谋划策，图谋东晋江山，大怒道：「小子死已晚矣！」从此不再悲伤。

死后，其妻周马头拒绝返回娘家，为一时美谈。

郗超生前与王坦之俱有重名，时人谓之：「盛德绝伦郗嘉宾，江东独步王文度。」

Family and background

Chi Chao's was from Jinxiang County in Gaoping Commandery. His grandfather, Chi Jian, was a famous general of the early Eastern Jin era who helped put down the rebellions of Wang Dun and Su Jun. Chao's father, Chi Yin (郗愔) also served in the government and succeeded Jian after his death in 339, although Yin was said to have been not as talented as his father.

Chi Chao was highly regarded for his intelligence and way with words. It was because of this that he had many friends in intellectual circles. The Jin minister Xie An once praised him by claiming that he was better than his own nephews. Chi Chao was also compared to his contemporary, Wang Tanzhi as both shared the same kind of fame among the people.

Service under Huan Wen

Early career

Chi Chao began his career at a very young age in 345 under Sima Yu as a simple official in his staff. He became a subordinate to the general, Huan Wen some time after but no later than 356, as suggested in the biography of Yin Hao in the Book of Jin. Huan was a very cold and aloof man, rarely making friends with anyone. Chi Chao proved to be an exception, however, as he managed to gain Huan Wen』s respect through a conversation between the two. Henceforth, the duo were very trusting and supportive of one another.

In 363, Huan Wen made Chi Chao his Army Advisor and Wang Xun his Registrar. Due to the two of them being the general's favourites, the people of Jingzhou and those in Huan Wen's camp made a ditty about the three:

Huan Wens 3rd northern expedition

In 369, Huan Wen was prepared to invade Former Yan. However, he was unsatisfied with the fact that Chi Yin was holding the province of Xuzhou. Huan Wen secretly resented Chi as he wanted Xuzhou for himself as that was where most of Jin's best soldiers were stationed. Chi Yin did not know of Huan Wen's attitude at the time, so he sent a letter to Huan asking to work together in support of the imperial family. Chi Yin also offered himself to be the first to move his soldiers across the Yellow River. When the letter reached Huan Wen's camp, Chi Chao took it and tore it. He then forged a new one, pretending to be his father, asking for his retirement and demanding to hand over his responsibilities in Xuzhou to Huan Wen. Huan was pleased and had Chi Yin transferred to Kuaiji before taking over his role as Inspector of Yanzhou and Xuzhou.

As Huan Wen marched towards Yanzhou, Chi Chao began to cast his doubts on the campaign. He pointed out to Huan Wen that the Bian River was too shallow and that Yan was too far from base which would make supplies hard to reach their army. Huan Wen chose to ignore his advice and marched on to Jinxiang, where he saw that the water around the area had all dried up. Huan Wen ordered Mao Muzhi to build a canal from the Wen River to let water flow into the Qing River and proceeded to sail into the Yellow River.

Here, Chi Chao proposed to Huan two plans. The first was that Huan Wen should quickly concentrate his forces towards Yan's capital in Yecheng. Chi Chao believed that the Jin army under Huan's command should be enough to demoralize and defeat them easily. Taking their capital would force the Murongs to move north while the common people around the area would surrender to Jin en masse. His second proposal was that they establish garrison lines near the rivers to prevent themselves from being cut off from supplies. Although they would have to delay the invasion, Chi Chao was confident that Jin would still win if they have a functioning supply line. Unfortunately, Huan Wen chose to ignore both of his suggestions. The campaign resulted in disaster as Huan was decisively defeated at the Battle of Fangtou by Murong Chui. Huan was too cautious to take on Yecheng and his plans to ensure a supply line failed as the canal he ordered Yuan Zhen to build was not completed in time.

Abdicating Emperor Fei

Yuan Zhens rebellion

Huan Wen returned to Jin embarrassed from what he considered his worst defeat. The reason he wanted the campaign was so that Yan's demise would allow him to receive the nine bestowments and take the throne. His latest defeat prevented this, and now he considered a different approach to becoming emperor. Saving face, he blamed Yuan Zhen for failing to secure his supply line. This in turn caused Yuan Zhen to rebel in Shouchun in 370. Huan defeated the rebellion in 371. Afterwards, he asked Chi Chao if this would be enough to clear his defeat at Fangtou, but Chi Chao believe it was not.

Smear campaign against Emperor Fei

One night, Chi Chao visited Huan Wen's home. He said to Huan Wen that he should act quickly, as Huan was already 59 years old and could die anytime now. If Huan Wen could not be emperor, then he should at the very least abdicate the emperor and replace him with someone he could control. Chi Chao and Huan Wen developed a scheme. They knew about Emperor Fei's controversial sex life, so they came up with a rumour that he was infertile. They claim that his wives and concubines were sleeping with his favourite ministers such as Xiang Long (相龙) and Ji Hao (计好), and that his three children were not actually his. Huan Wen and Chi Chao spread the rumour among the common people, and no one knew what was right and what was wrong.

Huan Wen would enter the capital the next month with an edict he claimed was from Empress Dowager Chu. He then abdicated Emperor Fei with Sima Yu, who he had a tight grasp on during his short reign. Chi Chao would become Gentleman-Attendants of the Palace Secretariat.

Reign of Emperor Jianwen and Emperor Xiaowu

Reign of Emperor Jianwen

Chi Chao held a significant amount of power in the court, acting as Huan Wen's eye to report him the situation in the government. Because of this, many in the court including Xie An feared him. Sima Yu, now Emperor Jianwen of Jin, lamented the Jin dynasty's fate. He once asked Chi Chao if that dynasty would be replaced by that of Huan Wen's, but he assured him that Huan Wen was only doing what was best for the state. As Chi Chao withdrew himself to see his father, the emperor sighed and told him to tell his father that his emperor had failed to protect the state.

Meanwhile, the Jin ministers, Xie An and Wang Tanzhi, formed an alliance to prevent too much power from falling into Huan Wen's hands. They often visited Huan Wen and Chi Chao's home to discuss important matters. One time, as Chi Chao and Huan Wen made a list on who to purge from the court, Xie An and Wang Tanzhi came visiting. Huan Wen hid Chi Chao behind his bed curtains but when a gust of wind revealed him, Xie An simply joked, "You can say that he is your 'guest within the curtains (入幕之宾)'!"

After Huan Wens death

Emperor Jianwen died just a year into his reign and was replaced by his on Emperor Xiaowu. However, Huan Wen would also die in 373, and Chi Chao found his power greatly diminished because of this. Chi took the role Chief Clerk of the Left of the Minister Over The Masses after Huan's death, but had to leave the government to hold a mourning session for his mother. This allowed Xie An to influence the court during Chi's absence. When he returned from his session, court decided to appoint Chi Chao Cavalier In Regular Attendance, General Who Declares Might and Prefect of Linhai, but he turned them all down.

Despite Huan Wen's family holding two-thirds of the empire, his brother and successor, Huan Chong had no imperial ambitions and stayed loyal to the Jin dynasty. In 375, Chi Chao tried to stop Huan Chong from giving up his power in Yangzhou to Xie An, but Chong persisted.

Chi Chao grew to resent the Xie family, particularly, Xie An and Xie Xuan, for their growing prominence in the state while his father slowly went down the ranks. In 377, the Former Qin state threatened the dynasty and there was no one leading the defense against them, so Xie An nominated his nephew Xie Xuan. When Chi Chao heard this, he unexpectedly accepted this outcome and praised the two Xies. The court was in disbelief as Xie Xuan at this point had never held such an important position. However, Chi Chao defended Xie Xuan by bringing up their time together with Huan Wen, stating that Xie Xuan had proved himself a good eye for talents. Years later, Chi Chao's argument bore fruit as Xie Xuan decisively defeated Qin at the Battle of Fei River in 383, leading to its hasty decline.

Death

Chi grew ill at the end of 377 and died shortly after. His father Chi Yin was a stalwart Jin loyalist but never knew about his son's schemes with Huan Wen. Before his death, Chi Chao was concerned that his father would be too grief struck by his death. He gave one of his students a chest that would stop him from doing so. After he died, Chi Yin was indeed heartbroken by his death and never ate for days, so the student gave him the chest. In it were the plans that Chi Chao and Huan Wen made to overthrow the dynasty. His grief turned to anger, and he exclaimed, "My son should have died sooner!" Thus, Chi Yin no longer mourned him.

Literary works

Calligraphy

Chi Chao was one of the distinguished calligraphers of the Eastern Jin period. In fact, five of his family members including Chi Jian were talented in calligraphy, and in the 8th century book about calligraphy, the "Shushu Fang (述书赋)", the writer Dou Ji (窦臮), listed the Chi family with the Xie, Wang and Yu clans as the four families that dominated the art during their time. According to the Liu Song dynasty calligrapher, Wang Sengqian, in his book, "Fashu Kau (法书考)", Chi's works were inferior to the "Two Wangs" (Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi) but superior to that of his father Chi Yin in terms of beauty and compactness. Sengqian's one criticism for Chi Chao was that he lacked strength in his strokes.

Fengfayao

Chi Chao was a Taoist but grew infatuated with Buddhism, more specifically through the teachings of Zhu Fatai and Zhidun. He attempted to harmonize the orthodox concepts of Buddhism and Confucianism into one and even wrote a book about it called the 'Fengfayao'. Due to the lack of translation of Buddhist texts, the Fengfayao contains many common misinterpretations held by most Jin officials and scholars at the time. Regardless, it was one of the most important pieces of Buddhist writing that contributed to its spread in the 4th century.

Anecdote

Chi Yins treasury

Chi Yin was a very frugal man and amassed a huge amount of gold in his treasury, but his son was generous and somewhat wasteful. One day, Chi Chao was talking with his father when Chao brought up the topic of his father's their finances. After some pestering, Yin decided to allow his son to use his treasury just for a day, thinking that he would only lose a small portion of the money. However, that day, Chi Chao distributed so much of the gold among his relatives and friends that by the time Chi Yin found out, the treasury was nearly exhausted.