姚期 / Yao Qi (Eastern Han)

Overview

姚期 / Yao Qi is synthesized as a Guangwu-era founding commander whose current evidence now combines local pacification judgment and court remonstrance. Hanji 683 supplies an earlier Wei commandery case: during the Tanxiang bandit threat, Yao Qi handles an internal plot by leniency, shame, proper burial, and restoration rather than immediate collective killing. Hanji 708 later identifies him as a Yuntai founding general and makes his main court role the warning that Liu Xiu’s repeated praise of Ji Zun is frightening other officials.

Current Profile

Hanji 683 puts Yao Qi in Wei commandery while Tanxiang bandits attack Wei and Qinghe. When Li Xiong’s younger brother Li Lu plots to welcome the bandits into the city, Yao Qi summons Li Xiong and questions him directly. Li Xiong confesses and says he and his mother deserve death, but Yao Qi does not execute them.

The episode presents the handling as deliberately wider than punishment. Yao Qi tells Li Xiong that if his office is unsatisfactory he can take his mother and go join Li Lu, then sends them out of the city. Li Xiong brings Li Lu to the west gate of Ye; Li Lu is ashamed and kills himself. Yao Qi then arranges a proper burial and restores Li Xiong’s office. The result is local stabilization by shame, kinship pressure, and selective restoration rather than blanket purge.

Hanji 708 gives Yao Qi’s broader founding profile. He is the son of Guiyang administrator Yao Meng, physically imposing, serious in appearance, and known for loyalty and filiality. After recommendation by Feng Yi, he joins Liu Xiu and contributes to the pacification of Hebei, the destruction of Wang Lang, campaigns against Tongma and Qingdu groups, and long-term defense of Wei commandery.

His later source-bounded political importance comes after Ji Zun’s death. As weiwei, he tells Liu Xiu that constant public lament for Ji Zun makes ministers ashamed and afraid. Liu Xiu accepts the warning and stops repeating the comparison, making Yao Qi a case of loyal remonstrance that protects both ruler and officials from an unnecessary pressure signal.

Key Characteristics

• Guangwu-era Wei commandery official whose local judgment appears during the Tanxiang bandit threat.
• Leniency-and-shame pacification actor who separates family connection to a plot from indiscriminate punishment.
• Restorative local governor who buries a dead conspirator properly and restores Li Xiong after the plot is neutralized.
• Yuntai Twenty-Eight General in the Guangwu founding coalition.
• Loyal and filial military actor tied to Hebei, Wang Lang, Tongma, Qingdu, and Wei commandery service.
• Weiwei who detects the political effect of Liu Xiu’s repeated praise of Ji Zun.
• Remonstrance actor whose warning succeeds because Liu Xiu immediately changes behavior.

Evidence

• Local crisis setting: Hanji 683 says Tanxiang bandits attack Wei and Qinghe while Li Lu plots through his brother Li Xiong to welcome them into the city.
• Lenient handling: Hanji 683 says Yao Qi does not kill Li Xiong and his mother after confession, but sends them out to confront Li Lu.
• Shame and restoration: Hanji 683 says Li Lu kills himself in shame, after which Yao Qi gives him a proper burial and restores Li Xiong’s office.
• Founding-general status: Hanji 708 identifies Yao Qi as one of the Yuntai Twenty-Eight Generals and son of Guiyang administrator Yao Meng.
• Military service: Hanji 708 links him to Hebei pacification, Wang Lang’s destruction, action against Tongma and Qingdu groups, and Wei commandery defense.
• Court warning: Hanji 708 says Yao Qi warns Liu Xiu that ministers feel ashamed and frightened when he keeps praising Ji Zun.
• Accepted remonstrance: Hanji 708 says Liu Xiu notices the problem after Yao Qi’s warning and stops repeating the lament.

Qualifications

Yao Qi’s current page is still source-bounded. Hanji 683 gives a focused local-governance story, not a full commandery administration record or a complete Tanxiang campaign account. Hanji 708 names major career points but does not provide a full campaign chronology or title sequence. The episode summary uses the form 姚琪; this page routes it to 姚期 because the Wei commandery and Guangwu-era context match the established figure. Li Xiong, Li Lu, and the Tanxiang bandit group remain source-scoped here, and the Li Lu name is intentionally not linked to the modern investor page with the same Chinese name.

What Changed

• Added Hanji 683 as Yao Qi’s earlier Wei commandery leniency-and-shame pacification case.
• Reframed the profile from only a founding-general and praise-pressure warning actor into a mixed local-governance and court-remonstrance figure.
• Preserved Hanji 708 as the founding-service and successful court-warning layer.

Relationships

• 光武帝刘秀 - ruler whom Yao Qi serves militarily and later warns after Ji Zun’s death.
• 吴汉 - commander whose Tanxiang military victory follows the local crisis Yao Qi handles in Hanji 683.
• 冯异 - recommender who brings Yao Qi into Liu Xiu’s service in the Hanji 708 profile.
• 祭遵 - deceased model official whose praise creates the warning context.
• 公开称贤比较压力 - concept Yao Qi diagnoses and interrupts.
• 查因安抚式治理 - broader adjacent pattern because Yao Qi responds to a plot by treating local cause, shame, and restoration as order-repair tools.
• 纳谏转政策式治理 - related pattern because Liu Xiu changes behavior after Yao Qi’s concise warning.