Pei Ziye (裴子野, 471–532) was a Chinese historian of the southern

Liang dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () or Xiao Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was pre ...

; he lived through the

Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern dynasties (南朝宋) in historiography, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Northern and Southern dynasties#Southern dynasti ...

and

Southern Qi Qi, known in historiography as the Southern Qi ( or ) or Xiao Qi (), was a Chinese imperial dynasty and the second of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It followed the Liu Song dynasty and was succee ...

dynasties. He was the grandson of another historian, Pei Yin (裴駰), a son of the famous historian

Pei Songzhi Pei Songzhi (372–451), courtesy name Shiqi, was a Chinese historian and politician who lived in the late Eastern Jin dynasty and the Liu Song dynasty. His ancestral home was in Wenxi County, Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanizati ...

Childhood

Pei Ziye's mother Lady Wei died when he was born, and he was brought up by his grandmother Lady Yin. When Pei was nine (by East Asian reckoning), Lady Yin died; in his sorrow, Pei cried until he had blood in his tears.

Theory on origin of the
Hephthalites The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian languages, Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to ...

Pei Ziye is, among other things, known for making a mistaken conjecture about the origin of the

Hephthalites The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian languages, Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to ...

, who just sent an embassy at the Chinese court of the Liang dynasty in 516 CE, saying that they may be descendants of the Jushi based on a false etymology. This account appears in Pei Ziye's biography in '' Liangshu'' ( Volume 30): In effect, many foreign embassies visited the Chinese court at that time, and particularly three

Hephthalite The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to 8th centuries CE, ...

(Hua) ambassadors are known, who visited in 516–520 CE, and are described in the '' Portraits of Periodical Offering''. The Emperor then ordered Pei Ziye to write an illustrated account of foreign embassies, ''Fangguoshitu'' (方國使圖), which may have been the basis for the original '' Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang'', and the

account of the '' Liangshu'' ( Volume 54), and this account again mentioned Pei Ziye's wrong conjectural etymology.

''Summary of Song''

Another of Pei Ziye's achievements was his distillation of

Shen Yue Shen Yue (; 441 – 1 May 513), courtesy name Xiuwen (休文), was a Chinese historian, music theorist, poet, and politician born in Huzhou, Zhejiang. He served emperors under the Liu Song dynasty, the Southern Qi dynasty (see Yongming poetry ...

's ''

Book of Song The ''Book of Song'' (''Sòng Shū'') is a historical text of the Liu Song dynasty of the Southern Dynasties of China. It covers history from 420 to 479, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories, a traditional collection of historical records. ...

'' (《宋书》) into a more succinct version, ''Summary of Song'' (《宋略》); after reading ''Summary of Song'', Shen was recorded to have said, "This is a standard which I cannot reach."

Ancestors

Pei Ziye is a member of the Pei clan of Hedong (河东裴氏). His father is Pei Zhaoming (裴昭明; 460 - 502), son of Pei Yin, son of Pei Songzhi. Pei Songzhi's father is Pei Gui (裴圭), son of Pei Mei (裴昧). Pei Mei's great-grandfather is Pei Kang (裴康). Pei Kang, along with his older brother Pei Li (裴黎), and younger brothers Pei Kai (裴楷) and Pei Chuo (裴绰) were famous during their time and were known as the "4 Peis". 裴子野乃)晋太子左率康八世孙。兄黎，弟楷、绰，并有盛名，所谓“四裴”也。''Liang Shu'', vol.30

References

{{reflist 6th-century Chinese historians Pei clan of Hedong

Childhood

Theory on origin of the Hephthalites The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian languages, Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to ...

''Summary of Song''

Ancestors

References

Theory on origin of the
Hephthalites The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian languages, Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to ...