Pei Xingben (裴行本) was a Chinese politician of

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...

's Zhou Dynasty, serving briefly as chancellor. Despite Pei'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''. It is known that his grandfather Pei Xian (裴獻) served as a provincial governor during

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

's predecessor dynasty Sui Dynasty and carried the title of Duke of Linfen, but nothing is known about his father Pei Yishan (裴義山) except the name.''New Book of Tang'', vol. 71, part 1
As of 691, Pei Xingben was serving as the deputy minister of public works (冬官侍郎, ''Donguan Shilang''), 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

Ren Zhigu Ren or REN may refer to: Abbreviations * Orenburg Tsentralny Airport, IATA code REN, civil airport in Russia * Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), Portuguese company * Renanthera, abbreviated as Ren, orchid genus * Ringer equivalence number (RE ...

and

Di Renjie Di Renjie (630 – November 11, 700), courtesy name Huaiying (懷英), formally Duke Wenhui of Liang (梁文惠公), was a Chinese politician of Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties, twice serving as chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian. He was one of ...

and other officials Cui Xuanli (崔宣禮), Lu Xian (盧獻),

Wei Yuanzhong Wei Yuanzhong (魏元忠) (died 707), né Wei Zhenzai (魏真宰), formally Duke Zhen of Qi (齊貞公), was an official of the Chinese Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian and her son Em ...

, and Li Sizhen (李嗣真), were accused of treason by Wu Zetian's secret police official

Lai Junchen Lai Junchen ( Chinese: 來俊臣) (died April 28, 697) was a Chinese politician and writer. He was a well-known secret police official during the Chinese Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties, whose ability to interrogate and falsely implicate officials of ...

. 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 Pei's case, stripped of official status and exiled to the Lingnan region. There was no further reference in history about him, and it is not known when he died. (Lai tried to specifically argue that Pei's alleged crimes were particularly severe and if the other six were not to be executed, at least Pei should, but Wu Zetian, following the recommendation of Xu Yougong (徐有功), did not kill Pei.)

Notes and references

* ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song (960–1127), Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959&n ...

'', vols. 204, 205. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pei, Xingben Chancellors under Wu Zetian Pei clan of Hedong