赵成 / Zhao Cheng (Warring States)
赵成 / Zhao Cheng appears in 《资治通鉴·周纪》58丨赵武灵王如何打造强国 as 赵武灵王’s uncle and the first named elite resistor to 胡服骑射. After Zhao Wuling Wang begins wearing Hu clothing, Zhao Cheng claims illness and refuses to come to court.
His objection is cultural and political rather than tactical. Zhao Cheng argues that the Chinese world is defined by learning, poetry, ritual, music, and customs admired even by outsiders, so suddenly imitating Hu dress would violate inherited norms and stir popular resistance. The episode therefore makes him the voice of elite ritual identity against military adaptation.
Zhao Wuling Wang’s reply turns Zhao Cheng into a reform test case. If the ruler’s own uncle refuses the new dress, reform authority weakens; if close kin comply first, the policy has a visible model for the rest of the aristocracy.
《资治通鉴·周纪》59丨一朝君王一朝臣 resolves the first stage of that test. Zhao Wuling Wang visits Zhao Cheng directly and argues from Zhao’s strategic exposure, lack of cavalry, and past humiliation by 中山国. Zhao Cheng is persuaded enough to wear Hu clothing to court the next day, turning him from the first visible resistor into the first visible elite compliance signal for 胡服骑射.
《资治通鉴·周纪》66丨中国历史上哪些帝王是被活活饿死的（1） brings Zhao Cheng back as a stabilizing alternative inside the succession crisis. The source summary renders the name as 公子赵承 in one place, but the role matches the existing Zhao Cheng branch: 李兑 repeatedly consults him and advises 肥义 to withdraw and hand affairs to Zhao Cheng before 赵章 and 田不李 move.
《资治通鉴·周纪》66丨中国历史上哪些帝王是被活活饿死的（2） makes Zhao Cheng one of the decisive crisis handlers. He and 李兑 bring troops from Handan after Zhao Zhang kills Fei Yi and attacks Zhao He, then defeat Zhao Zhang’s forces. Zhao Cheng blocks Li Dui’s plan to ask Zhao He how to handle the aftermath, arguing that the young ruler should not be made to decide explicitly about an elder brother and a father.
Zhao Cheng and Li Dui then kill Zhao Zhang inside Zhao Wuling Wang’s quarters and keep Zhao Wuling Wang surrounded. The episode says they do not dare directly kill the former ruler, but they also dare not withdraw, so they empty the palace and leave him to starve. After Zhao Wuling Wang’s death, Zhao Cheng becomes chancellor and is titled Anping Jun.
Connections
- 赵武灵王 - ruler and nephew who pressures him to comply.
- 赵国 - state setting.
- 胡服骑射 - reform he resists.
- 中山国 - past humiliation Zhao Wuling Wang uses to justify the reform.
- 战国变法反噬 - adjacent pattern of elite resistance to state-strengthening reform.
- 战国军事形态转变 - military change that gives the clothing dispute its strategic stakes.
- 李兑, 肥义, 赵章, 田不李, 高信, 避责式杀害, and 沙丘之变 - Zhouji 66 succession-crisis branch.