Outside his career, Xi was an influential figure in the rise of Buddhism in China, as he was among the first of his time to try and cooperate the ideas of Confucianism and Taoism with the new teaching in his "Fengfayao (奉法要)".
His grandfather, Xi Jian, was a famous general of the early Eastern Jin era who helped put down the rebellions of Wang Dun and Su Jun.
Xi Chao began his career at a very young age in 345 under Sima Yu as a simple official in his staff.
[4] He became a subordinate to the general Huan Wen some time after but no later than 356, as suggested in the biography of Yin Hao in the Book of Jin.
Due to the two of them being the general's favourites, the people of Jingzhou and those in Huan Wen's camp made a ditty about the three:[6][a] 髯參軍， The bewhiskered aide-de-camp, 短主簿。 And the short records lad.
He then forged a new one, pretending to be his father, asking for his retirement and demanding to hand over his responsibilities in Xuzhou to Huan Wen.
He pointed out to Huan Wen that the Bian River was too shallow and that Yan was too far from base which would make supplies hard to reach their army.
Taking their capital would force the Murongs to move north while the common people around the area would surrender to Jin en masse.
Huan was too cautious to take on Yecheng and his plans to ensure a supply line failed as the canal he ordered Yuan Zhen to build was not completed in time.
They claimed that his wives and concubines were sleeping with his favourite ministers such as Xiang Long (相龍) and Ji Hao (計好), and that his three children were not actually his.
He then forced Emperor Fei to abdicate and replaced him with Sima Yu, whom Huan Wen had a tight grasp upon during his short reign.
[12] Xi Chao held a significant amount of power in the court, acting as Huan Wen's eye to report him the situation in the government.
[12] Meanwhile, the Jin ministers, Xie An and Wang Tanzhi, formed an alliance to prevent too much power from falling into Huan Wen's hands.
One time, as Xi Chao and Huan Wen made a list on who to purge from the court, Xie An and Wang Tanzhi came visiting.
Xi took the role Chief Clerk of the Left of the Minister Over The Masses after Huan's death, but had to leave the government to hold a mourning session for his mother.
When he returned from his session, court decided to appoint Xi Chao Cavalier In Regular Attendance, General Who Declares Might and Prefect of Linhai, but he turned them all down.
Years later, Xi Chao's argument bore fruit as Xie Xuan decisively defeated Qin at the Battle of Fei River in 383, leading to its hasty decline.
Due to the lack of translation of Buddhist texts, the Fengfayao contains many common misinterpretations held by most Jin officials and scholars at the time.
[20] Xi Yin was a very frugal man and amassed a huge amount of gold in his treasury, but his son was generous and somewhat wasteful.
After some pestering, Yin decided to allow his son to use his treasury just for a day, thinking that he would only lose a small portion of the money.