Liang Shuo (梁硕; died c.25 July 323) was a Chinese rebel leader and official during the Jin dynasty (266–420). He occupied Jiao Province from c.315 and nominally submitted to Wang Dun. However, about eight years later, he was defeated and executed through the efforts of Wang's subordinate Tao Kan.

Life

First rebellion and submission

Liang Shuo's origins were not recorded. His earliest appearance in historical records was as a subordinate of Gu Shou (顧壽; grandson of Gu Ti), governor of Jiao Province. How the conflict between the pair began differs according to the source. The Book of Jin recorded that Gu Shou's father Gu Mi was also a governor of Jiao Province. After Gu Mi's death, another son of Gu Mi, Gu Can (顧参), was forced by the people of Jiaozhou to take over his father's position; Gu Can died shortly after. Gu Can's younger brother Gu Shou then asked to become Inspector of Jiaozhou, but was initially rejected. After Gu Shou's insistence, the people of Jiaozhou relented. As Inspector, Gu Shou killed some officials including one Hu Zhao (胡肇), and wanted to kill Liang Shuo. Liang managed to escape, and raised an army to attack Gu Shou; Gu Shou was captured and poisoned. Liang then invited Tao Wei (who was then Administrator of Cangwu Commandery, a post Tao's father Tao Huang once held) to become Inspector of Jiaozhou. Like his father, Tao Wei was beloved by the people of Jiaozhou; he died after three years as Inspector of Jiaozhou. However, the Zizhi Tongjian indicated that Gu Shou directly succeeded his father as Inspector of Jiaozhou, and it was Liang Shuo who rose in rebellion and killed Gu Shou; Liang then became overall in-charge of Jiaozhou in c.315.

Around the same time, Wang Ji had already declared himself inspector in neighboring Guangzhou when Du Hong (杜弘), a subordinate of Du Tao, surrendered to him. The warlord Wang Dun, feeling that Wang Ji was difficult to control, decided to use Wang Ji and Du Hong to attack Liang Shuo; Dun then nominated Ji as Inspector of Jiaozhou. Liang then nominated Xiu Zhan (修湛; son of Xiu Ze [修则]) as his Inspector of Jiaozhou; the pair managed to repel Wang Ji, who then returned to Guangzhou together with Du Hong, Wen Shao (温卲) and Liu Shen (刘沈). Wang Dun then sent Tao Kan to pacify Guangzhou; Wang Ji died of illness during the pacification and Du Hong surrendered to Wang Dun. Liang Shuo and Xiu Zhan presumably submitted to Tao Kan and by extension, Wang Dun.

Second rebellion and death

The next mention of Liang Shuo was in 322, where Wang Dun nominated Wang Liang (王谅) as Inspector of Jiaozhou; Dun also gave orders to Liang to arrest Xiu Zhan (who was then Inspector of Jiaozhou) and Liang Shuo (who was then Administrator of Xinchang) and execute the pair. Wang Liang first killed Xiu Zhan, which stirred Liang Shuo to rebel again. Liang eventually besieged Wang Liang at Long Biên in c.November, Although Liang eventually killed Wang in c.late June 323, he was in turn defeated and executed by Tao Kan's subordinate Gao Bao (高宝) in July. His head was then sent to the Jin capital Jiankang.

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