Chǔ Suìliáng (596–658), courtesy name Dengshan, formally the Duke of Henan, was a Chinese calligrapher, historian, and politician who served as a chancellor during the reigns of the emperors Taizong and Gaozong in the Tang dynasty.
He became increasingly trusted by Emperor Taizong toward the end of his reign and was charged with the responsibilities of serving as the imperial historian and providing honest advice.
Eventually, he was appointed as the prefect of the Ai Prefecture (愛州, roughly modern Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam).
His father, Chu Liang (褚亮), had been a mid-level official during both the Chen and Sui dynasties, and was known for his literary abilities.
In 641, Emperor Taizong was preparing to carry out grand ceremonies at Mount Tai in 642 to sacrifice to the gods of heaven and earth.
After the end of the Goguryeo campaign, Emperor Taizong returned to Ding Prefecture (定州, roughly modern Baoding, Hebei) and was ill at that time.
By the precedents of Yi Yin and Huo Guang, we execute the high level officials who were double-minded, and the state will be secure."
In 648, Chu was made Zhongshu Ling (中書令) — the head of the legislative bureau of government and a post considered one for a chancellor.
Initially, the deputy chief judge of the supreme court, Zhang Ruice (張叡冊), ruled that Chu had broken no laws because he had paid compensation to the interpreter, but Wei pointed out to Emperor Gaozong that Chu had paid just the amount of compensation equal to government condemnation of the property, not fair market value, and Emperor Gaozong demoted Chu to the post of prefect of Tong Prefecture (同州, roughly modern Weinan, Shaanxi).
In fall 653, Chu was made Puye (僕射), the head of the executive bureau of government, but also continued to be in charge of civil service affairs.
(Traditional historians generally believed that Consort Wu killed her daughter herself in order to falsely implicate Empress Wang.)
Chu correctly guessed that Emperor Gaozong wanted to discuss with them deposing Empress Wang and replacing her with Consort Wu.
During the meeting, he became so emotional that he hit his head repeatedly on the ground while bowing such that he bled, and he also offered to resign, drawing Emperor Gaozong's ire.
Meanwhile, Liu Ji's son, Liu Hongye (劉弘業), in a move engineered by the chancellor Li Yifu, who despised Chu, submitted a petition asking that his father be posthumously cleared of wrongdoing, accusing Chu of falsely accusing his father.
Many officials, wanting to ingratiate themselves with Li Yifu, all agreed with the petition, but Le Yanwei pointed out that clearing Liu would effectively state that Emperor Taizong's punishment was inappropriate.
Chu, after arriving at Ai Prefecture, submitted a petition pleading his own case, pointing how he had supported Emperor Gaozong as crown prince and later assisted him in governance, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
In 705, after Empress Wu's own death (after she had taken over as sovereign for a number of years but had recently been overthrown and replaced by her son Emperor Zhongzong), by her will (although whether she wrote the will was questionable), Chu's titles were restored.
When Chu was put in charge of recording Emperor Taizong's acts for historical records in 636, it might have been at least partly due to his skills at calligraphy, as it was recorded that Emperor Taizong had, on one occasion, commented to the chancellor Wei Zheng that after Yu Shinan's death, there was no one that he could discuss calligraphy with—and when Wei heard this, he recommended Chu's calligraphy, and Emperor Taizong immediately summoned Chu into his presence.
When, on one occasion, Emperor Taizong put out notices of rewards, requesting that people submit works of the great Jin dynasty calligrapher Wang Xizhi to him, many people submitted purported works by Wang, and it became difficult to tell which were genuine and which were forged.