Wei Xuantong (魏玄同) (617 – November 2, 689兩千年中西曆轉換
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courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Hechu (和初), was a Chinese politician during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, serving as

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

during the reign of Emperor Gaozong dominated by Empress Wu, And later alone the

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

of his wife

Empress Wu The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

(later known as Wu Zetian) over their sons Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Ruizong. During Emperor Gaozong's reign, he had drawn hatred from the official Zhou Xing as the conveyor of the bad news that Zhou was not getting promoted, and in 689, Zhou, having by that point become one of Empress Dowager Wu's trusted secret police officials, falsely accused Wei of opposing Empress Dowager Wu. She forced Wei to commit suicide.

Background

Wei Xuantong was born in 617, near the end of

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

's predecessor

Sui Dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

. He was from what would eventually become Ding Prefecture (定州, roughly modern

Baoding Baoding (), formerly known as Baozhou and Qingyuan, is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately southwest of Beijing. As of the 2010 census, Baoding City had 11,194,382 inhabitants out of which 2,176,857 lived in the b ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

), and his grandfather Wei Shikuo (魏士廓) had served as a general for

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...

During Emperor Gaozong's reign

Wei Xuantong himself had passed the

imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

, and thereafter became the magistrate of Chang'an County, one of the two counties making up Tang's capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

. By 664, he was serving as the director of performance reviews at the ministry of civil service, when, on account of his friendship with the

Shangguan Yi Shangguan Yi (; 608 – 4 January 665), courtesy name Youshao (), formally Duke of Chu (), was a Chinese poet and politician. He was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. ...

, who had been executed after unsuccessfully trying to persuade Emperor Gaozong to depose his powerful wife

(later known as Wu Zetian), Wei was exiled to the

Lingnan Lingnan (; Vietnamese: Lĩnh Nam) is a geographic area referring to the lands in the south of the Nanling Mountains. The region covers the modern Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as modern northe ...

region. It was said that during his exile, he was not particularly interested in returning to politics, and he spent most of his days hunting. Early in Emperor Gaozong's ''Shangyuan'' era (674–676), there was a general pardon, and Wei was recalled to the capital. Liu Shenli (劉審禮) the minister of public works was aware of Wei's talent, and he recommended Wei. Wei was subsequently made the secretary general of Qi Prefecture (岐州, roughly modern

Baoji () is a prefecture-level city in western Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China. Since the early 1990s, Baoji has been the second largest city in Shaanxi. Geography The prefecture-level city of Baoji had a population of 3,321,853 accordin ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

), and then the deputy minister of civil service. In 682, he was given the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (同中書門下平章事), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. He was also created the Baron of Julu. Around this time, Wei also submitted a lengthy petition to Emperor Gaozong, advocating a major reform of the civil service system. In his petition, he pointed out that during the

Zhou Dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

and

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

, the responsibilities for recommending, promoting, and evaluating officials were split between various central government officials and local officials, and that only during

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' <

Middle Chinese

: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

and

Jin Dynasty (266–420) The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had pr ...

did the responsibilities began to be concentrated in a single ministry of civil service—a system that he found faulty in that it required a small number of officials to make snap judgment as to the merits of the officials for the entire state, and therefore, even if the officials were capable and honest, they would not be able to make correct decisions all the time—and that the system was open to manipulation through corruption or incompetence. Emperor Gaozong did not take action on his petition. It was also around this time that Wei would bring an enmity against him that would eventually be his undoing. At this time, Zhou Xing, the magistrate of Heyang County (河陽, in modern

Jiaozuo Jiaozuo ( ; postal: Tsiaotso) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Henan province, China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yellow River, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the south, Xinxiang to the east, Jiyuan to the ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

), had become known for his abilities, and was summoned to the capital, as Emperor Gaozong was considering promoting him. However, someone submitted a letter to Emperor Gaozong, pointing out that Zhou had not passed

s, and Emperor Gaozong changed his idea about promoting Zhou. However, Zhou was not aware of this, and he repeatedly visited the government officials, awaiting a promotion. The chancellors said nothing to him, but eventually Wei told him, "Magistrate Zhou, you may go." Zhou thereafter believed that Wei was the one who blocked his promotion, and hated Wei immensely.

During Empress Dowager Wu's regency

In 683, Emperor Gaozong died and was succeeded by his son Li Zhe (as Emperor Zhongzong), but in early 684, after Emperor Zhongzong displayed signs of independence, Empress Wu (by this point

empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother) () is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor in the Chinese cultural sphere. The title was also g ...

and

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

) deposed Emperor Zhongzong and replaced him with his brother Li Dan the Prince of Yu (as Emperor Ruizong), but thereafter held onto power even more tightly. Meanwhile, Wei Xuantong continued to serve as chancellor. By 685, he was serving as one of the secretaries general for the executive bureau of government (文昌臺, ''Wenchang Tai''), when he was made ''Luantai Shilang'' (鸞臺侍郎), the deputy head of the examination bureau (鸞臺, ''Luan Tai''), and he was given a more honored designation as chancellor de facto, ''Tong Fengge Luantai Sanpin'' (同鳳閣鸞臺三品). In 687, he became acting ''Nayan'' (納言), the head of the examination bureau and a post considered one for a chancellor and made the official in charge of Chang'an (as Empress Dowager had, by this point, effectively moved the capital to the eastern capital

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

). By 689, Zhou Xing had become a powerful official—as he had been in charge of many politically charged investigations carried out against officials and nobles under Empress Dowager Wu's direction. He still resented Wei for what he thought was Wei's role in blocking his promotion. Wei had been great friends with fellow chancellor

Pei Yan Pei Yan (裴炎) (died November 30, 684), courtesy name Zilong (子隆), was a Chinese politician during the Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong That dominated by Empress Wu, as well Later alone regency by his ...

, who was executed in 684 for what Empress Dowager Wu saw as opposition against her (i.e., Pei's advocacy that she return imperial powers to Emperor Ruizong). Zhou, knowing this, falsely accused Wei of having said, "The empress dowager is old. It is better to support the emperor, for he will last longer." This angered Empress Dowager Wu, and she ordered that Wei commit suicide, and she sent the assistant imperial censor Fang Ji (房濟) to monitor his suicide. When Fang got to Wei's mansion, he said to Wei, "Honored old man, why do you not pretend to be making a secret accusation? That way, the empress dowager will summon you to her presence, and when she does, you can explain that the accusation against you is false." Wei sighed and responded, "What is the difference between being killed by men and being killed by ghosts i.e., natural death) How can I be an accuser?" He later committed suicide.

Notes and references

* ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

'', vol. 87. * ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'', vol.

117 117 may refer to: *117 (number) *AD 117 *117 BC *117 (emergency telephone number) *117 (MBTA bus) * 117 (TFL bus) *117 (New Jersey bus) *''117°'', a 1998 album by Izzy Stradlin *No. 117 (SPARTAN-II soldier ID), personal name John, the Master Chief ...

. * ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

'', vols. 203, 204. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wei, Xuantong 617 births 689 deaths Chancellors under Emperor Gaozong of Tang Chancellors under Emperor Ruizong of Tang Chancellors under Emperor Zhongzong of Tang