Childhood

Zu Ti was born into a line of government officials in Qiuxian county, Fanyang commandery. As a child, he was described as unruly and carefree. He was said to be illiterate until the age of 14 or 15. This worried his brothers, but the young Zu was also known to be generous and ambitious. Often, he would distribute his grain and silk among the poor, which garnered him the respect of his village clansmen. As he grew older, he took the initiative to study and moved to the capital, Luoyang, where he educated himself on history and ongoing affairs. The people of Luoyang at the time thought of him as a prodigy.^[1] In 289, while living away in Yangping Commandery, Zu Ti was nominated by the local administration to become a Xiaolian and a Xiucai, but he turned down both offers.

War of the Eight Princes

After his stint in Sichuan, Zu Ti went on to serve several different lords during the so-called War of the Eight Princes (291–306). He first served under the Prince of Qi, Sima Jiong, then the Prince of Changsha, Sima Ai, then the Prince of Yuzhang, Sima Chi, before finally working with the Prince of Donghai, Sima Yue. Zu Ti worked as a Registrar under Sima Ai and was in Luoyang when Ai was besieged by the coalition of Sima Yong and Sima Ying between 302 and 304. During the siege, Zu Ti advised Ai to send an imperial edict to Yong's general, Liu Chen (劉沈), ordering him to attack his superior. Ai did so and was able to convince Liu Chen, forcing Sima Yong to divert his attention to Chang'an.^[2]

In 304, Zu Ti participated in Sima Yue's failed campaign in Dangyin (盪陰, today Tangyin County, Henan), where they were badly defeated by Sima Ying and forced back to Luoyang. While Emperor Hui of Jin was held hostage in Chang'an, Zu Ti was approached and invited to serve by several other princes, namely Sima Xiao (司馬虓), Sima Lüe (司馬略) and Sima Mo (司馬模), but he declined them all. After his mother died, Zu Ti resigned from the government to mourn her.^[3]

Fleeing south

In 311, Luoyang and Emperor Huai of Jin were captured by the forces of Han-Zhao, a Xiongnu-led state that declared independence from Jin in 304. To avoid the chaos in the north, Zu Ti and a group of refugees decided to flee south of Yangtze River to Sikou (泗口, located at Xuzhou, Jiangsu). Zu walked on foot, giving his horses and carriages to the sick and old as well as giving food, clothes, and medicines to those who needed them. The group met with bandits along the way, but Zu was able to help them cope with this. Because of this, the refugees elected Zu to be their leader for the rest of their journey. After arriving in Sikou, Zu Ti was appointed the Inspector of Xuzhou and later the Army Libationer-Advisor by the Prince of Langye, Sima Rui. Zu based himself in Jingkou, where he began recruiting abled men into his army.^[4]

Returning north

In 313, a new Jin government was established in Chang'an headed by Emperor Min of Jin. Min sent an edict to Sima Rui instructing him to advance north to help in restoring the Central Plains. However, Rui showed very little interest in carrying out the edict. Seeing this, Zu confidently approached Sima Rui, volunteering himself to oversee an expedition to the north. Rui was not entirely moved by Zu's display of confidence, but nonetheless permitted him and appointed him as Inspector of Yuzhou and General Who Exerts Might. He also provided Zu Ti with food and clothes for his soldiers but not weapons and armor. Zu also had to do the recruitments himself.

Regardless, Zu Ti led his forces north and crossed the Yangtze. While crossing, Zu Ti was said to have struck his oar and declared, "If Zu Ti is not able to restore the Central Plains and return, then let he be like this great river (and never return)!" Zu Ti landed in Huaiyin county in 313, where he built smithies and foundries to have his soldiers produce their own weapons.^[5]

Subduing Zhang Ping and Fan Ya

Zu Ti's first adversaries in his northern expedition were the refugees-turned-warlords, Zhang Ping (張平) and Fan Ya (樊雅), who had set up their fortresses in the princely fief of Qiao. The two men recently submitted to Jin, so in 317, Zu Ti camped at Luzhou and had his Army Advisor Yin Ai (殷乂) pay them visits. However, unbeknownst to Zu, Yin Ai offended Zhang Ping during his visit to the point that Zhang had Yin executed. Both Zhang and Zu Ti rallied their troops against each other soon after. Initially, Zu was unable to break through Zhang's defenses, so he instead plotted to have one of Zhang's generals, Xie Fu (謝浮), turn against him. His ploy succeeded, resulting in Xie Fu assassinating Zhang Ping and surrendering with the rest of Zhang's army. However, Zu Ti was running low on supplies, and he later moved to Taiqiu County (太丘; in present day Yongcheng, Henan).^[6]

Parts of Qiao were still controlled by Fan Ya, who was startled by Zu Ti's recent actions. He led his troops to launch a night attack on Zu Ti's camp. Zu Ti's troops were caught by surprise, but Zu quickly regrouped them and turned away Fan Ya. Zu then attacked Fan but was caught in a stalemate, so he requested the Administrator of Chenliu, Chen Chuan (陳川), and the General of the Household of the South, Wang Han (王含) for reinforcements. Chen Chuan and Wang Han sent Li Tou (李頭) and Huan Xuan respectively to help Zu. Huan was a rather respected individual at the time, and knowing this, Zu decided to use him to negotiate peace with Fan Ya. Fan was convinced by Huan Xuan's reasoning and persuasion, so he agreed to surrender himself and Qiao to Zu Ti.^[7]

Zu Ti's success in Qiao caught the attention of Han-Zhao's top general, Shi Le. Concerned, Le sent his nephew, Shi Hu, to capture Qiao. Wang Han dispatched Huan Xuan again to help Zu Ti, and together, they defeated and drove back Shi Hu.

Battle of Junyi

In 319, Chen Chuan grew abhorrent of Zu Ti after hearing Li Tou lament about not being able to serve Zu, who had treated him well during their time against Fan Ya. Chen Chuan had Li Tou executed for his comments, but this caused Li's friend, Feng Chong (馮寵), to join Zu Ti with 400 people. Angered, Chen Chuan pillaged the commanderies of Yuzhou, but Zu Ti campaigned against and routed him.

After his defeat, Chen Chuan submitted to Shi Le, who at this point, had broken away from Han-Zhao and formed his state of Later Zhao. Zu Ti attacked Chen at Pengguan (蓬關, in modern-day Chenliu, Henan) but was driven back by Shi Hu at Junyi county (浚儀, in modern-day Kaifeng). Reinforcements from Shi Le's general, Tao Bao forced Zu Ti to retreat to Huainan whilst Shi Hu relocated Chen Chuan and his followers to Zhao's capital in Xiangguo.^[8] In 320, Zu Ti sent his general, Han Qian (韓潛) to attack Junyi. The city was split into two sections, with the eastern half occupied by Han Qian and the other occupied by Tao Bao.

Both sides suffered from food shortages, but Zu Ti was able to sell a false impression that his army was more well-supplied than Tao's, which demoralized the Later Zhao troops. Later, when the Zhao general, Liu Yetang (劉夜堂) was transporting grains for Tao Bao, Han Qian and another one of Zu Ti's generals, Feng Tie (馮鐵), attacked Liu at the Bian River and took all of the grains. After 40 days, Tao Bao began to feel overwhelmed, so he fled during the night and retreated to Dongye (東燕, in modern-day Henan). Zu Ti ordered Han Qian to place pressure on Tao from Fengqiu while Feng Tie occupied the rest of Junyi.^[9]

Truce with Later Zhao

At the same time, Zu Ti moved his base to Yongqiu and launched raids against the Later Zhao army, accepting many surrenders from their troops. He also got the Jin generals Guo Mo, Li Ju, Zhao Gu (趙固) and Shangguan Si (上官巳), who were all stationed along the Huai River, to accept his authority after settling a quarrel between the four men. Later Zhao's borders were beginning to feel the strain, so Shi Le sought for peace with Zu Ti.

Shi Le restored Zu Ti's grandfather and father's tombs as an act of good faith and offered to allow trade between them. Although Zu Ti did not directly reply, trade between the two sides occurred just as Shi Le had wanted. One time, Zu Ti's General of the Standard, Tong Jian (童建) defected to Shi Le, but Shi had him beheaded. Tong's head was returned to Zu Ti along with a letter of friendship by Shi Le. Zu Ti was so impressed at his display that he later ordered his followers to return any defector from Zhao and forbid them from pillaging Shi Le's land. Conflict between the two sides gradually died down, and the border between Jin and Zhao experienced a short period of amity.^[10]

"Rising at Cockcrow to Practice the Sword"

A famous story goes that one night, when Zu Ti and Liu Kun were sleeping on the same bed, Zu heard the sound of a cockcrow in the middle of the night. In old times, this was seen as a bad omen. However, Zu saw this differently. He kicked Liu Kun awake, telling him, "This is no evil sound." They then got out of their bed and performed a sword dance. A Chinese proverb, "rising at cockcrow to practice the sword (聞雞起舞)" is accredited to this story, and is used to describe diligence.^[16]