Ren Zhigu has been the subject of interest and debate for a long time. Its importance lies in the impact it has on different aspects of daily life. In this article, we will explore in depth what Ren Zhigu means, its history, its current relevance and its future projection. Additionally, we will analyze how Ren Zhigu affects different sectors of society and how it has evolved over time. With a critical and objective perspective, this article seeks to provide a comprehensive vision of Ren Zhigu and its influence in today's world.
Ren Zhigu (任知古) was a Chinese politician of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving briefly as chancellor.
Despite Ren's high status, little is firmly established about his background or career except for the time that he served as chancellor—as, unusual for a chancellor, he did not have a biography in either the Old Book of Tang or the New Book of Tang.[1] He was not even listed as a chancellor in the table of the chancellors' family tree, among the Rens.[2]
As of 691, Ren was serving as Fengge Shilang (鳳閣侍郎), the deputy head of the legislative bureau of government (鳳閣, Fengge), when Wu Zetian gave him the designation Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a chancellor de facto. In 692, he, along with fellow chancellors Di Renjie and Pei Xingben and other officials Cui Xuanli (崔宣禮), Lu Xian (盧獻), Wei Yuanzhong, and Li Sizhen (李嗣真), were accused of treason by Wu Zetian's secret police official Lai Junchen. Eventually, they escaped death when Di was able to hide a secret petition inside clothes that his family members took back home and was able to persuade Wu Zetian that they were not plotting treason. However, they were still exiled—in Ren's case, he was demoted to be the magistrate of Jiangxia County (江夏, in modern Wuhan, Hubei). There was no further reference in history about him, and it is not known when he died.