1
○苗晉卿裴冕裴遵慶子向向子寅寅子樞=苗晉卿=苗晉卿，上黨壺關人。 世以儒素稱。 祖夔，高道不仕，追贈禮部尚書。 父殆庶，官至絳州龍門縣丞，早卒，以晉卿贈太子少保。
This section covers Miao Jinqing, Pei Mian, and Pei Zunqing, together with Pei Xiang, Xiang's son Yin, and Yin's grandson Shu. Miao Jinqing was from Huguan in Shangdang. His lineage was known for upright Confucian learning and modest living. His grandfather Kui, a man of exalted principle who never held office, was posthumously enfeoffed as Minister of Rites. His father Dai-shu rose only to assistant magistrate of Longmen in Jiang prefecture and died young; on account of Jinqing's eminence he was posthumously granted the title Junior Tutor to the Heir Apparent.
2
晉卿幼好學，善屬文，進士擢第。 初授懷州修武縣尉，歷奉先縣尉，坐累貶徐州司戶參軍。 秩滿隨調，判入高等，授萬年縣尉。 遷侍御史，歷度支、兵、吏部三員外郎。 開元二十三年，遷吏部郎中。 二十四年，與吏部郎中孫逖並拜中書舍人。 二十七年，以本官權知吏部選事。 晉卿性謙柔，選人有訴訟索好官者，雖至數千言，或聲色甚厲者，晉卿必含容之，略無慍色。 二十九年，拜吏部侍郎。 前後典選五年，政既寬弛，胥吏多因緣為奸，賄賂大行。 時天下承平，每年赴選常萬余人。 李林甫為尚書，專任廟堂，銓事唯委晉卿及同列侍郎宋遙主之。 選人既多，每年兼命他官有識者同考定書判，務求其實。 天寶二年春，御史中丞張倚男奭參選，晉卿與遙以倚初承恩，欲悅附之，考選人判等凡六十四人，分甲乙丙科，奭在其首。 眾知奭不讀書，論議紛然。 有蘇孝慍者，嘗為范陽薊令，事安祿山，具其事告之。 祿山恩寵特異，謁見不常，因而奏之。 玄宗大集登科人，禦花萼樓親試，登第者十無一二； 而奭手持試紙，竟日不下一字，時謂之「曳白」。 上怒，晉卿貶為安康郡太守，遙為武當郡太守，張倚為淮陽太守。 敕曰：「門庭之間，不能訓子； 選調之際，仍以托人。」 時士子皆以為戲笑。
Jinqing had loved study from childhood, wrote well, and passed the jinshi civil examination. He was first made magistrate's assistant at Xiuwu in Huai, then served at Fengxian, but was demoted to registrar at Xu prefecture after being implicated in an affair. At the end of his term he entered the routine reassignment pool, scored in the top tier on his evaluation, and received appointment as assistant magistrate of Wannian. He rose to attending censor and then held vice-director posts in the revenue, war, and personnel ministries in turn. In Kaiyuan 23 (735), he was made a director in the Ministry of Personnel. The next year he and Sun Ti of the personnel ministry were both promoted to drafter in the Secretariat. In Kaiyuan 27 he was given his existing rank but charged with directing the ministry's selection examinations. Jinqing was modest and even-tempered: when examinees petitioned or quarreled for better appointments, sometimes at great length or with angry outbursts, he always listened patiently and never showed annoyance. In Kaiyuan 29 he was made vice minister of personnel. He oversaw the examinations for five years in all; his rule was lenient and slack, so clerks seized every opening for graft and bribes became rampant. Peace reigned under heaven, and more than ten thousand candidates presented themselves each year. Li Linfu held the ministerial post but kept his grip on court power, leaving the actual running of selections to Jinqing and his fellow vice minister Song Yao alone. With so many candidates, each year other capable officials were also assigned to grade the written examinations, so that the results might reflect real merit. In the spring of Tianbao 2 (743), Zhang Yi's son Shi entered the examinations. Jinqing and Yao, eager to curry favor with the newly favored Zhang Yi, ranked sixty-four candidates in three tiers and placed Shi at the top. Everyone knew Shi was unlettered, and protest swirled through the capital. A former magistrate of Ji in Fanyang named Su Xiaoyin, now in An Lushan's service, reported the whole affair to him in detail. Lushan enjoyed unusual imperial favor and did not often attend court, so he used this occasion to lay the matter before the throne. Xuanzong convened all the newly accredited candidates and personally examined them at the Hua'e Tower; fewer than one or two in ten of those already listed as passed could meet the test. Shi held his examination slip and wrote not a single character all day long, and contemporaries dubbed him "the dragged blank." The emperor's rage sent Jinqing to Ankang as prefect, Yao to Wudang, and Zhang Yi to Huaiyang. The edict read: "In his own household he could not discipline his son; and at the time of civil selection he still had to plead on his son's behalf. Scholars of the day repeated it as a bitter joke.
3
天寶三載閏二月，轉魏郡太守，充河北采訪處置使，居職三年，政化洽聞。 會入計，因上表請歸鄉里。 既至壺關，望縣門而步。 小吏進曰：「太守位高德重，不宜自輕。」 晉卿曰：「《禮》：『下公門，式路馬。』 況父母之邦，所宜尊敬。 汝何言哉！」 大會鄉黨，歡飲累日而去。 又俸錢三萬為鄉學本，以教授子弟。 尋改河東太守、河東采訪使，入為尚書、東京留守，征為憲部尚書。 屬祿山叛逆，楊國忠以晉卿有時望，將抑之，乃奏云：「宜以大臣鎮東道。」 遂出為陜州刺史、陜虢兩州防禦使。 及入對，固辭老病，由是忤旨，改憲部尚書致仕。 及朝廷失守，衣冠流離道路，多為逆黨所脅，自陳希烈、張均已下數十人盡赴洛陽，晉卿潛遁山谷，南投金州。 會肅宗至鳳翔，手詔追晉卿赴行在，即日拜為左相，軍國大務悉以咨之。 既收兩京，以功封韓國公，食實封五百戶，改為侍中。 後以賊寇漸除，屢乞骸骨，優詔許之，罷知政事，為太子太傅。 明年，帝思舊臣，復拜為侍中。
In the intercalary second month of Tianbao 3 he became prefect of Wei and Hebei investigating commissioner; after three years his administration was celebrated throughout the region. When he traveled to court for the annual account, he memorialized asking leave to revisit his home. On reaching Huguan he dismounted and walked at the sight of the county gate. A junior clerk protested: "Your rank and standing are too exalted to show such humility. Jinqing replied: "The Rites say: 'When you leave a nobleman's gate, you bow to the horses on the road. How much more ought one to show reverence in the land of one's parents. What nonsense is that!" He gave a great feast for his kinsmen and neighbors and drank in celebration for days before leaving. He also endowed the local school with thirty thousand cash from his salary to teach the young men of the district. Soon after he was made prefect and investigating commissioner of Hedong, then minister and eastern capital guardian in the capital, and finally summoned as minister of justice. When Lushan rose in rebellion, Yang Guozhong, wishing to curb Jinqing's standing at court, memorialized that a senior minister should be posted to guard the eastern route. He was therefore posted out as governor of Shaan and defense commissioner for Shaan and Guo. At audience he pleaded old age and illness and thereby offended the emperor, who stripped him of active duty and let him retire as titular minister of justice. When the capital fell, officials fled along the highways and many were forced into the rebels' ranks; dozens from Chen Xilie and Zhang Jun down went to Luoyang, but Jinqing hid in the hills and fled south to Jin prefecture. When Suzong reached Fengxiang he sent a personal summons for Jinqing to join the mobile court and that same day named him left chancellor, consulting him on every major civil and military matter. After the two capitals were retaken he was enfeoffed Duke of Han with five hundred taxable households and promoted to palace attendant. As the rebels waned he repeatedly asked to retire; the throne graciously agreed, relieved him of government, and made him grand tutor to the heir apparent. The following year the emperor recalled his veteran counselor and again appointed him palace attendant.
4
晉卿寬厚廉謹，為政舉大綱，不問小過，所到有惠化。 魏人思之，為立碑頌德。 及秉鈞衡，小心畏慎，未嘗忤人意。 性聰敏，達練事體，百司文簿，經目必曉，而修身守位，以智自全，議者比漢之胡廣。
Jinqing was generous, upright, and discreet; in office he kept to broad principles and overlooked petty faults, and wherever he served he left a record of benevolent rule. The people of Wei cherished his memory and raised a stele in praise of his virtue. Once he held the scales of power he was cautious and never gave offense. He was quick-witted and thoroughly versed in affairs; once he had glanced at any document from the ministries he understood it, yet he cultivated himself and guarded his post, preserving himself by tact; critics compared him to Hu Guang of the Han.
5
玄宗崩，肅宗詔晉卿攝冢宰。 上表固辭曰：「臣聞古者殷高宗在諒闇之中，百官聽於冢宰，更無事跡，但存文字。 且一時之事，禮不相沿。 今殘寇猶虞，日殷萬務，皆緣兵馬屯守討襲，善算良謀，立勝擒敵。 陛下若行古之道，居喪不言，蒼生何依，百事皆廢。 伏讀國家起居註，亦於禮部檢見舊敕，恭惟太宗、高宗、、大行皇帝在位之日，皆有國哀，視事不輟，以為君臨天下，難徇常情。 今遺詔有處分，皇帝宜三日而聽政。 陛下遵太宗故事，則無冢宰； 遵大行皇帝遺詔，便合聽朝。 萬姓颙颙，不勝大願。 伏惟陛下知理國之重，順人心之切，以義斷恩，從宜無改。 今朝臣一命已上，皆言臣心昏貌朽，加以疾病，事有急速，斷在須臾，凡聖不同，豈合受詔。 陛下發哀已五日矣，願準遺詔聽政，則四夷萬國，無任悲幸。」 肅宗時疾彌留，覽表殞絕，乃許。
When Xuanzong died, Suzong ordered Jinqing to serve as regent during the mourning. He memorialized a firm refusal: "I have heard that in antiquity, when King Gaozong of Yin mourned in seclusion, the hundred officials obeyed the regent—but we have no further record of actual governance from that time, only words on paper. Moreover, that was a single occasion; ritual precedent does not bind every age. Today remnant rebels still threaten us and ten thousand affairs press in daily—all hinge on troops in the field, on sound strategy and swift victory over the enemy. If Your Majesty followed the ancient way and held mourning silence, what would become of the people? Every affair of state would collapse. I have reverently read the court diary and old edicts in the Ministry of Rites: Taizong, Gaozong, and the late emperor, whenever the realm mourned, never ceased to govern, holding that a ruler of all under Heaven cannot indulge ordinary private feeling. The late emperor's testament already directs that the new emperor should take up government after three days. If Your Majesty follows Taizong's precedent, no regent is needed; if you follow the late emperor's testament, you should take the throne at once. The myriad people look up in hope with a longing that cannot be overstated. I trust Your Majesty knows how grave it is to govern the realm, how urgent the people's need is, and will set duty above private grief and do what the times require. Every minister of the first rank and above says my mind is dim, my body worn, and my illness grave; urgent affairs are decided in an instant—a common man is no sage; how could I accept such a charge? Your Majesty has mourned five days already; I pray you follow the testament and take up government—the four quarters and all nations will be overwhelmed with grief and relief alike. Suzong was then gravely ill; reading the memorial he fainted, then granted the request.
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數日，肅宗晏駕，代宗踐祚，又詔晉卿攝冢宰。 晉卿上表懇辭曰：「臣以昔者天子居喪之時，百官聽於冢宰者，蓋君幼小，禦極事殷，情理當然。 沿革不一，今古異同，而周武、漢文，合於通變，垂範作則，可舉而行。 又士或墨缞，時遇金革，豈非銜恤，謂義在斷恩。 且百善之至，無加於孝也，其有容瘁心絕，指景悼生，此匹夫守節之常情，殊王者嗣續之大計。 昨二十日，陛下於大行皇帝柩前即位，是承先帝遺顧之言，亦前代不易之典。 則知所略不為害，所存是適權，防威滅端，所利者大。 陛下因心純至，天地明察。 伏以報劬勞之恩，申罔極之思，終身之痛，豈計朝夕！ 但以一日之內，萬務在中，須達宸聰，始成國政。 百僚萬姓及僧道耆壽等，相顧聚言，以臣老且無能，愚豈測聖，況久無居攝，臣不敢奉詔。 特乞陛下遵遺命，三日而政。 臣博聽眾情，不勝懇願，伏望割痛抑哀，則天下悲幸。」 上號泣從之。 時晉卿年已衰暮，又患兩足，上特許肩輿至中書，入閣不趨，累日一視事。 歷三朝，皆以謹密見稱。
Within days Suzong died and Daizong ascended the throne; he again ordered Jinqing to serve as regent. Jinqing memorialized again in earnest refusal: "In former times, when the Son of Heaven mourned and officials obeyed a regent, it was because the ruler was a child and the throne's burdens were overwhelming—that was only natural. Custom has varied from age to age, yet King Wu of Zhou and Emperor Wen of Han adapted wisely to circumstance and left examples we may follow. A gentleman may wear mourning garb yet take up arms when the state is at war—he grieves inwardly but knows that duty must override private sorrow. Filial piety is the highest of virtues, yet to waste away in grief and mourn one's own life is the conduct of a private man—not the great duty of one who must carry on the royal line. Only yesterday, on the twentieth, Your Majesty took the throne before the late emperor's bier—fulfilling his final charge and following an immemorial precedent. What is set aside does no harm; what is preserved is timely expedience—cutting danger at the root brings the greater good. Your Majesty's heart is utterly sincere; Heaven and Earth discern it. To repay a parent's toil and express boundless grief is a lifelong sorrow—not a matter of days alone! Yet within a single day ten thousand affairs press in; only when they reach Your Majesty's ear can the state be governed. Officials, common people, monks, Daoists, and elders alike say I am old and incapable—how could a fool measure a sage? Regency has long been obsolete; I dare not accept the charge. I beg Your Majesty only to follow the testament and take up government after three days. Having heard the people's voice, I cannot state their wish strongly enough: I pray you set aside private grief, and the realm will be overwhelmed with sorrow and relief together. The emperor wept aloud and assented. Jinqing was then advanced in years and afflicted in both legs; the emperor specially allowed him a sedan chair to the Secretariat, exemption from hurrying into court, and attendance at affairs only every few days. Through three reigns he was praised for caution and discretion.
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廣德初，吐蕃寇長安。 晉卿時病臥於私第，蕃聞之，輿入逼脅，晉卿閉口不言，賊不敢害。 及上自陜至，冊為太保，罷知政事，又詔以太保致仕。 永泰元年四月薨。 輟朝三日，令京兆少尹一員護喪事，緣葬諸物並官給，賻絹布五百段、米粟五百石。 太常議謚曰「懿獻」。 初，晉卿東都留守，引用大理評事元載為推官。 至是載為中書侍郎、平章事，懷舊恩，諷有司改謚曰文貞。 大歷七年，令配享肅宗廟庭。
Early in the Guangde era the Tibetans attacked Chang'an. Jinqing lay ill at home; the Tibetans heard of him, came in a litter to coerce him, but he kept silent and they did not dare harm him. When the emperor returned from Shaan, Jinqing was made grand guardian, relieved of government, and again ordered to retire with that title. He died in the fourth month of Yongtai 1 (765). Court mourning lasted three days; a junior capital official was assigned to oversee the funeral; all burial expenses were paid by the state, with five hundred lengths of silk and cloth and five hundred piculs of grain as condolence gifts. The Court of Imperial Sacrifices proposed the posthumous name Yi-xian ("Reverent and Dedicated"). Earlier, when Jinqing was eastern capital guardian, he had appointed Yuan Zai, an assessor of the Court of Judicial Review, as his investigating officer. By then Yuan Zai was vice director of the Secretariat and chief minister; remembering old kindness, he prompted the authorities to change the posthumous name to Wen-zhen ("Cultured and Upright"). In Dali 7 (772) he was ordered to share sacrifices in Suzong's temple.
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=裴冕=裴冕，河東人也，為河東冠族。 天寶初，以門廕再遷渭南縣尉，以吏道聞。 御史中丞王鉷充京畿采訪使，表為判官。 遷監察御史，歷殿中侍御史。 冕雖無學術，守職通明，果於臨事，鉷甚委之。 及鉷得罪伏法，時宰臣李林甫方竊權柄，人鹹懼之，鉷賓佐數百，不敢窺鉷門。 冕獨收鉷屍，親自護喪，瘞於近郊，冕自是知名。 河西節度使哥舒翰表為行軍司馬，累遷員外郎中。
Pei Mian was from Hedong and belonged to that region's leading clan. Early in the Tianbao era he rose through hereditary privilege to magistrate's assistant of Weinan and won a reputation for administrative skill. Wang Hong, vice censor-in-chief and capital-region investigating commissioner, recommended him as his judicial aide. He rose to investigating censor and then served as palace attending censor. Though Mian lacked scholarly training, he was clear-minded in office and decisive in action, and Hong relied on him heavily. When Hong was executed, Li Linfu held power and everyone feared him; Hong's hundreds of retainers dared not even approach his gate. Mian alone recovered Hong's body, personally conducted the funeral, and buried him in the suburbs; from that day his name was known. Geshu Han, military governor of Hexi, recommended him as campaigning marshal, and he rose through several vice-director posts.
9
玄宗幸蜀，至益昌郡，遙詔太子充天下兵馬元帥，以冕為御史中丞兼左庶子，為之副。 是時，冕為河西行軍司馬，授御史中丞，詔赴朝廷。 遇太子於平涼，具陳事勢，勸之朔方，亟入靈武。 冕與杜鴻漸、崔漪等勸進曰：「主上厭勤大位，南幸蜀川，宗社神器，須有所歸，天意人事，不可固違。 若逡巡退讓，失億兆心，則大事去矣！ 臣等猶知之，況賢智乎！」 太子曰：「南平寇逆，奉迎鑾輿，退居儲貳，侍膳左右，豈不樂哉！ 公等何言之過也？」 冕與杜鴻漸又進曰：「殿下藉累聖之資，有天下之表。 元貞萬國，二十余年，殷憂啟聖，正在今日。 所從殿下六軍將士，皆關輔百姓，日夜思歸。 大軍一散，不可復集，不如因而撫之以從眾，臣等敢以死請。」 凡勸進五上，乃依。 肅宗即位，以定策功，遷中書侍郎、同中書門下平章事，倚以為政。
When Xuanzong fled to Shu and reached Yichang, he issued a distant edict making the heir apparent commander of all armies under heaven, with Mian as vice censor-in-chief and left subordinate of the heir as his deputy. Mian was then campaigning marshal in Hexi; he received appointment as vice censor-in-chief and was ordered to court. He met the heir apparent at Pingliang, laid out the situation in full, and urged him to go to Shuofang and enter Lingwu without delay. Mian, Du Hongjian, Cui Yi, and others urged him to take the throne: "The sovereign has wearied of rule and gone south to Shu; the altars of state and the imperial regalia must find a home—Heaven's will and men's needs cannot be defied. If you waver and stand aside, you will lose the hearts of countless people—and the throne will slip away forever. Even we know as much—how much more must the wise and talented among us! The heir apparent said: "To pacify the south and crush the rebels, welcome back the imperial carriage, step back to serve as heir, and attend the sovereign at table—what could be happier than that! Why do you gentlemen go so far in what you say?" Mian and Du Hongjian pressed again: "Your Highness inherits the accumulated virtue of successive sovereigns and carries the bearing of one destined to rule the realm. For more than twenty years the realm has endured deep trial; through that anguish Heaven has prepared a sage ruler—and today is the day. The officers and soldiers of the six armies who follow you are all common folk from the Guanzhong heartland, longing day and night to go home. Once this great army scatters it cannot be reassembled—better to seize the moment, reassure the men, and follow their will; we beg this of you even at the cost of our lives." They urged him to take the throne five times before he at last agreed. When Suzong took the throne, Mian was promoted to vice minister of the Secretariat and co-ordinating minister for his role in settling the succession, and the emperor relied on him in governing.
10
冕性忠勤，悉心奉公，稍得人心。 然不識大體，以聚人曰財，乃下令賣官鬻爵，度尼僧道士，以儲積為務。 人不願者，科令就之，其價益賤，事轉為弊。 肅宗移幸鳳翔，罷冕知政事，遷右僕射。 兩京平，以功封冀國公，食實封五百戶。 尋加御史大夫、成都尹，充劍南西川節度使。 又入為右僕射。 永泰元年，與裴遵慶等並集賢待制。 代宗求舊，拜冕兼御史大夫，充護山陵使。 冕以幸臣李輔國權盛，將附之，乃表輔國親昵術士中書舍人劉烜充山陵使判官。 烜坐法，冕坐貶施州刺史。 數月，移澧州刺史，復征為左僕射。 元載秉政。 載為新平縣尉，王鉷辟在巡內，冕常引之，載頗德冕。 會宰臣杜鴻漸卒，載遂舉冕代之。 冕時已衰瘵，載以其順己，引為同列。 受命之際，蹈舞絕倒，載趨而扶起，代為謝詞。 冕兼掌兵權留守之任，俸錢每月二千余貫。 性本侈靡，好尚車服及營珍饌，名馬在櫪，直數百金者常十數。 每會賓友，滋味品數，坐客有昧於名者。 自創巾子，其狀新奇，市肆因而效之，呼為「僕射樣」。 初代鴻漸，小吏以俸錢文簿白之，冕顧子弟，喜見於色，其嗜利若此。 拜職未盈月，卒，大歷四年十二月也。 上悼之，輟朝三日，贈太尉，賻制五百匹、粟五百石。
Mian was loyal and industrious by nature, gave himself wholly to public service, and gradually won people's trust. But he failed to see the larger picture. Taking the saying that gathering people is wealth as license to hoard revenue, he ordered the sale of offices and ranks and the licensing of nuns, monks, and Daoist priests, making stockpiling money his chief concern. Those who did not wish to buy were forced by regulation to do so; prices sank ever lower, and the policy became a growing abuse. When Suzong moved the court to Fengxiang, Mian was removed from active governance and made right vice director of the departments. After the two capitals were recovered, he was enfeoffed as Duke of Ji with a stipend of five hundred households for his service. He was soon made censor-in-chief and prefect of Chengdu, and appointed military governor of Jiannan West Circuit. He later returned to the capital as right vice director. In the first year of Yongtai he and Pei Zunqing and others were all appointed scholars awaiting edicts at the Jixian Academy. Daizong looked to men of long service and appointed Mian concurrently censor-in-chief and commissioner for guarding the imperial tombs. Because the favored minister Li Fuguo's power was great and Mian meant to attach himself to him, he memorialized that Fuguo's close associate, the diviner and drafting secretary Liu Xuan, serve as aide to the tomb-guard commissioner. Liu Xuan was punished for breaking the law, and Mian was demoted to prefect of Shi. Several months later he was transferred to prefect of Li, then recalled to serve again as left vice director. Yuan Zai held the reins of government. Zai had once been magistrate of Xinping County; Wang Hong recruited him within his inspection circuit, and Mian often recommended him—Zai felt deep gratitude toward Mian. When chief minister Du Hongjian died, Zai recommended Mian to replace him. Mian was by then broken with chronic illness; Zai, finding him compliant, brought him in as a fellow minister. At the moment of accepting the appointment he danced in obeisance and collapsed; Zai rushed forward to help him up and delivered the words of thanks in his place. Mian concurrently held military command and the duties of capital guardian, with a monthly salary of more than two thousand strings of cash. By nature he was extravagant, fond of fine carriages and dress and of preparing rare delicacies; in his stable were a dozen or so famed horses worth several hundred gold pieces apiece. Whenever he entertained guests, the dishes were so many in variety and number that some seated guests could not even name what they were eating. He designed his own headcloth, novel in shape; shops copied it and called it the "Vice Director style." When he first replaced Hongjian, a petty clerk reported on the salary ledger; Mian looked at his sons and nephews, delight plain on his face—such was his appetite for profit. Less than a full month after taking office he died, in the twelfth month of the fourth year of Dali. The emperor mourned him, halted court for three days, posthumously enfeoffed him as grand mentor, and granted five hundred bolts of funeral silk and five hundred shi of grain.
11
=裴遵慶=裴遵慶，絳州聞喜人也。 代襲冠冕，為河東著族。 遵慶志氣深厚，機鑒敏達，自幼強學，博涉載籍，謹身晦跡，不幹當世之務。 以門廕累授潞府司法參軍，時年已老，未為人所知。 隨調吏部，授大理寺丞，剖斷刑獄，舉正綱條，理行始著。 遷司門員外、吏部員外郎，專判南曹。 天寶中，海內無事，九流輻輳會府，每歲吏部選人，動盈萬數。 遵慶敏識強記，精核文簿，詳而不滯，時稱吏事第一，由是大知名。
= Pei Zunqing = Pei Zunqing was from Wenxi in Jiang prefecture. For generations they inherited high office and were a distinguished clan of Hedong. Zunqing had a deep and steady temperament and was quick and perceptive in judgment. From youth he applied himself rigorously to study and read widely in the classics, keeping his conduct restrained and his name obscure, and never meddling in the affairs of the day. Through hereditary privilege he was repeatedly appointed judicial aide in Lu prefecture; by then he was already old and still unknown to the world. On regular transfer to the Ministry of Personnel he was appointed aide in the Court of Judicial Review; in adjudicating criminal cases and upholding the law, his administrative merit first became evident. He was promoted to vice director of the Gate Office and vice director in the Ministry of Personnel, with exclusive charge of the southern bureau. During the Tianbao era the empire was at peace; men of every rank thronged the capital, and each year the Ministry of Personnel's candidates for office often exceeded ten thousand. Zunqing was quick of mind and strong of memory, rigorously checking documents and ledgers—thorough yet never sluggish. Of the time he was called first in personnel affairs, and from this his fame became great.
12
天寶末，楊國忠當國，出不附己者例為外官，遵慶亦出為郡守。 肅宗即位，征拜給事中、尚書右丞、吏部侍郎。 恭儉克己，遲重謹密，頗有時望。 上元中，蕭華輔政，素知遵慶，每奏見，累稱之，遷黃門侍郎、同中書門下平章事。 廣德初，仆固懷恩阻兵汾上，指中官為詞，上以遵慶忠純，特遣往汾州宣慰懷恩。 遵慶既見懷恩，具陳朝旨，懷恩引過聽命，將隨遵慶朝謁，為副將範誌誠以邪說惑之，懷恩遂以懼死為詞。 會蕃寇陷京師，乘輿幸陜，遵慶自汾州奔赴行在。 及乘輿還京，以遵慶為太子少傅。 永泰元年，與裴冕等並於集賢院待制，罷知政事。 尋改吏部尚書、右僕射，復知選事。 時選人天興縣尉陳琯於銓庭言詞不遜，淩突無禮，代宗詔付遵慶於省門鞭三十，貶為吉州員外司戶參軍。 遵慶敦守儒行，老而彌謹。 嘗為風狂族侄撾登聞鼓告以不順，上知遵度，不省，其見信如此。 大歷十年十月薨於位，年九十余。
At the end of Tianbao, when Yang Guozhong held power, those who did not support him were routinely sent to provincial posts; Zunqing too was sent out as prefect. When Suzong took the throne, Zunqing was summoned and appointed drafting secretary, right assistant in the Secretariat, and vice minister of personnel. Humble, frugal, and self-restrained, deliberate and careful in manner, he enjoyed considerable standing among his contemporaries. In the Shangyuan era Xiao Hua assisted in government and had long known Zunqing; whenever he had audience he repeatedly praised him, and Zunqing was promoted to vice minister of the Chancellery and co-ordinating minister. At the beginning of Guangde, Pugu Huai'en held his army on the Fen River and cited the eunuchs as his grievance; the emperor, knowing Zunqing's loyalty and integrity, specially dispatched him to Fenzhou to proclaim consolation to Huai'en. When Zunqing met Huai'en, he fully set forth the court's intent; Huai'en admitted fault and awaited orders and was about to follow Zunqing to audience at court—but vice general Fan Zhicheng deluded him with perverse talk, and Huai'en then pleaded fear of death. Just then barbarian raiders captured the capital; the imperial carriage proceeded to Shanzhou, and Zunqing raced from Fenzhou to the traveling court. When the imperial carriage returned to the capital, Zunqing was made junior tutor to the heir apparent. In the first year of Yongtai, together with Pei Mian and others he was made a scholar awaiting edicts at the Jixian Academy and removed from active governance. He was soon made minister of personnel and right vice director, again handling selection affairs. At that time the candidate Chen Guan, magistrate of Tianxing County, was insolent in speech at the selection hall, overbearing and without courtesy; Daizong ordered Zunqing to have him flogged thirty strokes at the ministry gate and demoted him to supplemental aide for household affairs in Ji prefecture. Zunqing staunchly upheld Confucian conduct and grew more careful in old age. Once a deranged clansman's nephew beat the Drum of Direct Appeal accusing him of disloyalty; the emperor knew Zunqing and paid no heed—such was the trust he enjoyed. In the tenth month of the tenth year of Dali he died in office at over ninety.
13
遵慶初登省郎，嘗著《王政記》，述今古禮體，識者覽之，知有公輔之量。 遵慶子向子向，字傃仁，少以門廕歷官至太子司議郎。 建中初，李紓為同州刺史，奏向為從事。 硃泚反，李懷光又叛河中，使其將趙貴先築壘於同州，紓來奔奉天，向領州務。 貴先因脅縣尉林寶役徒板築，不及期，將斬之，吏人百姓奔竄。 向即詣貴先軍壘，以逆順之理責之，貴先感悟，遂來降，故同州不陷。 向由是知名。 累為京兆府戶曹，轉櫟陽、渭南縣令，奏課皆第一，朝廷亟聞其理行，擢為戶部員外郎。
When Zunqing first rose to a provincial bureau officer, he authored Record of Royal Government, setting forth ancient and modern ritual forms; readers who saw it knew he had the capacity of a chief minister. Zunqing's son Xiang—Pei Xiang, styled Suren—through hereditary privilege in youth rose through offices to secretary for discussion of the heir apparent. At the beginning of Jianzhong, Li Shu was prefect of Tong prefecture and recommended Xiang as his aide. Zhu Ci rebelled; Li Huai'guang also rebelled in Hezhong, sending his general Zhao Guixian to build fortifications at Tong prefecture; Li Shu fled to Fengtian, and Xiang took charge of prefectural affairs. Guixian forced the county magistrate Lin Bao to press conscript laborers into rammed-earth construction; when the deadline was not met he was about to execute Lin, and officials and common people fled in panic. Xiang immediately went to Guixian's camp and rebuked him on the principles of loyalty and rebellion; Guixian came to his senses and submitted, and so Tong prefecture did not fall. From this Xiang became known. He served successively as clerical officer in the metropolitan prefecture, then magistrate of Liyang and Weinan—his merit reports were always rated first; the court quickly heard of his governance and promoted him to vice director in the Ministry of Revenue.
14
德宗季年，天下方鎮副倅多自選於朝，防一日有變，遂就而授之節制。 向已選為太原少尹，德宗召見喻旨，尋用為行軍司馬、兼御史中丞，改汾州刺史，轉鄭州。 又復為太原少尹，兼河東節度副使。 改晉州刺史，充本州防禦使，遷虢州刺史。 入為京兆少尹，拜同州刺史，充本州防禦使。 入為大理寺卿，出遷陜虢都防禦、觀察使。 三歲，拜左散騎常侍，自常侍復為大理。
In the late years of Dezong, many deputy officers of frontier military commissioners were chosen from the capital in advance, so that if trouble arose on a given day they could be sent at once and granted full command. Xiang had already been selected as vice prefect of Taiyuan; Dezong summoned him, explained his intent, and soon employed him as campaigning marshal and concurrent vice censor-in-chief, then changed him to prefect of Fen and transferred him to Zheng. He again became vice prefect of Taiyuan and concurrent deputy military governor of Hedong. He was changed to prefect of Jin, serving as defense commissioner of that prefecture, then transferred to prefect of Guo. He entered the capital as vice prefect of the metropolitan prefecture, was appointed prefect of Tong, and served as defense commissioner of that prefecture. He entered as director of the Court of Judicial Review and was transferred out as defense and observation commissioner of the Shan-Guo region. After three years he was appointed left regular attendant; from regular attendant he returned again to the Court of Judicial Review.
15
向本以名相子，以學行自飭，謹守其門風。 歷官仁智推愛，利及於人。 至是，以年過致政，朝廷優異，乃以吏部尚書致仕於新昌裏第。 內外支屬百余人，向所得俸祿，必同其費，及領外任，亦挈而隨之。 有孤煢疾苦不能自恤，向尤周給，至今稱其孝睦焉。 大和四年九月卒，年八十。 贈太子少保。 向子寅子寅，登進士第，累官至御史大夫卒。 寅子樞子樞，字紀聖，咸通十二年登進士第。 宰相杜審權出鎮河中，辟為從事，得秘書省校書郎，再遷藍田尉。 直弘文館。 大學士王鐸深知之，鐸罷相失職，樞亦久之不調。 從僖宗幸蜀，中丞李煥奏為殿中侍御史，遷起居郎。 中和初，王鐸復見用，以舊恩徙為鄭滑掌書記、檢校司封郎中，賜金紫，入朝歷兵、吏二員外郎。 龍紀初，擢拜給事中，改京兆尹。 宰相孔緯尤深獎遇。 大順中，緯以用兵無功貶官，樞坐累為右庶子，尋出為歙州刺史。 乾寧初，入為右散騎常侍，從昭宗幸華州，為汴州宣諭使。
Xiang was originally the son of a famed chief minister; he disciplined himself through learning and conduct and carefully preserved his family's tradition. In every post he showed benevolence and wisdom, extending care so that others benefited. By then, having passed the age for retirement, the court treated him with special favor and allowed him to retire as minister of personnel from his mansion in Xinchang Lane. More than a hundred kin inside and outside the clan—whatever salary Xiang received, he always shared the expenses equally; when he held outside posts he took them along as well. For those orphaned, alone, ill, or suffering who could not care for themselves, Xiang especially provided in full measure; to this day his filial piety and harmony are praised. In the ninth month of the fourth year of Dahe he died at age eighty. He was posthumously enfeoffed as junior mentor to the heir apparent. Xiang's son Yin—Pei Yin—passed the jinshi examination and rose through offices to censor-in-chief, at which rank he died. Yin's son Shu—Pei Shu, styled Jisheng—passed the jinshi examination in the twelfth year of Xiantong. When chief minister Du Shenquan went out to command Hezhong, he recruited Shu as aide; Shu received appointment as proofreader in the Secretariat and was twice promoted to magistrate of Lantian. He served on duty at the Hongwen Academy. Grand Academician Wang Duo thought highly of him; when Duo lost his chancellorship and his position, Shu also went long without reassignment. Following Xizong to Shu, vice censor Li Huan recommended him as palace attendant censor; he was promoted to court diarist. At the beginning of Zhonghe, Wang Duo was again employed; out of old kindness Shu was transferred to chief secretary of Zheng-Hua and acting director of the Department of Feudal Ranks, granted gold seal and purple robe; entering court he served successively as vice director in the ministries of War and Personnel. At the beginning of Longji he was promoted to drafting secretary and changed to prefect of the metropolitan prefecture. Chief minister Kong Wei especially favored and promoted him. In Dazhun, Wei was demoted for military failure without achievement; Shu was implicated and made right subordinate of the heir apparent, soon sent out as prefect of She. At the beginning of Qianning he entered as right regular attendant; following Zhaozong to Huazhou he served as envoy to proclaim the edicts at Bianzhou.
16
初，樞自歙州罷郡歸朝，路經大梁，時硃全忠兵威已振，樞以兄事之，全忠由是重之。 及樞傳詔，全忠皆稟朝旨，獻奉相繼，昭宗甚悅，遷兵部侍郎。 時崔胤專政，亦倚全忠，二人因是相結，改樞吏部侍郎。 未幾，換戶部侍郎、同平章事。 其年冬，昭宗幸華州，崔胤貶官，樞亦為工部尚書。 天子自岐下還宮，以樞檢校右僕射、同平章事，出為廣南節度使。 制出，硃全忠保薦之，言樞有經世才，不可棄之嶺表，尋復拜門下侍郎，監修國史，累兼吏部尚書，判度支。 崔胤誅，以全忠素厚，相位如故。 從昭宗遷洛陽，駐蹕陜州，進右僕射、弘文館大學士、太清宮使，充諸道鹽鐵轉運使。
Earlier, when Shu returned to court after leaving his prefecture at She, his route passed through Daliang; Zhu Quanzhong's military prestige was already rising, and Shu treated him as an elder brother—whereupon Quanzhong came to esteem him. When Shu transmitted the edicts, Quanzhong obeyed the court's intent in all things and sent tribute in succession; Zhaozong was greatly pleased and promoted Shu to vice minister of war. At the time Cui Yin monopolized power and also leaned on Quanzhong; the two therefore formed an alliance, and Shu was changed to vice minister of personnel. Before long he was switched to vice minister of revenue and co-ordinating minister. That winter Zhaozong went to Huazhou; Yin was demoted and Shu was made minister of works. When the Son of Heaven returned to the palace from below Qi, Shu was made acting right vice director and co-ordinating minister and sent out as military governor of Guangnan. The appointment was issued; Zhu Quanzhong petitioned in his support, saying Shu had talent to govern the age and must not be abandoned to the Lingnan frontier—soon Shu was again appointed vice minister of the Chancellery, commissioned to supervise compilation of the dynastic history, and repeatedly served concurrently as minister of personnel, administering the treasury. After Cui Yin's execution, Shu's ties to Quanzhong kept him in the chancellorship unchanged. Following Zhaozong's move to Luoyang, when the court halted at Shanzhou, Shu was promoted to right vice director, grand academician of the Hongwen Academy, commissioner of the Palace of Great Clarity, and commissioner for salt and iron transport across all circuits.
17
哀帝初嗣位，柳璨用事，全忠嘗奏用牙將張廷範為太常卿，諸相議，樞曰：「廷範勛臣，幸有方鎮節鉞之命，何藉樂卿？ 恐非元帥梁王之旨。」 乃持之不下。 俄而全忠聞樞言，謂賓佐曰：「吾常以裴十四器識真純，不入浮薄之伍，觀此議論，本態露矣。」 切齒含怒。 柳璨聞全忠言，尋希旨罷樞相位，和陵祔享，拜尚書左僕射。 五月，責授朝散大夫、登州刺史，尋再貶瀧州司戶。 六月十一日，行及滑州，全忠遣人殺之於白馬驛，投屍於河，時年六十五。
When Emperor Aidi first succeeded to the throne, Liu Can held power; Quanzhong once memorialized that his guard general Zhang Tingfan be made minister of ceremonies—the chancellors deliberated, and Shu said: "Tingfan is a meritorious minister; it would be fitting to grant him a frontier command with military insignia—why need he the post of master of music? I fear this is not the intent of Marshal, King of Liang. He therefore withheld the appointment and would not issue it. Soon Quanzhong heard what Shu had said and told his staff: "I always thought Pei the Fourteenth was genuinely upright and above the shallow crowd—but this remark shows his true colors. He ground his teeth in fury. Liu Can heard Quanzhong's words and soon, to please him, stripped Shu of the chancellorship; at the joint offering at He-ling, Shu was made left vice director of the Department of State Affairs. In the fifth month he was demoted to grand master of splendid happiness and governor of Deng; soon he was demoted again to registrar of Long prefecture. On the eleventh day of the sixth month, as he reached Hua prefecture, Quanzhong sent men to kill him at Baima post station and throw his body into the river; he was sixty-five.
18
=【贊】=史臣曰：晉卿謹身蒞事，足為純臣，避寇全忠，固彰大節。 然博達精審，豈不知寬猛之道哉！ 奉林甫之旨，順胥吏之意，悅附張倚，欺罔時君。 生為重臣，諂林甫之勢也； 歿改美謚，引元載之恩焉。 或言晉卿不為巧宦者，誠不信也。 冕力贊中興，名居大位，奉公抱義，可以致身； 賣官度僧，是何為政？ 及其老也，貪冒尤深。 遵慶學術貞明，為國忠所出； 恭儉謹密，遇蕭華素知。 位重行純，老而彌篤，彼二公固有慚德。 向克荷堂構，不墜門風。 樞因盜而振，盜憎而亡，宜哉！ 君子守道遠刑，蓋慮此也。
Appraisal: The historiographer writes: Jinqing conducted himself with care and served faithfully—he was truly a loyal minister; in fleeing the rebels he preserved his integrity, and that alone shows his great moral stature. Yet he was learned and discerning—how could he not have known the balance of lenience and severity! He followed Li Linfu's wishes, indulged the clerks, curried favor with Zhang Yi, and deceived his sovereign. In life he was a great minister who flattered Li Linfu's power; after death his posthumous name was improved through Yuan Zai's favor. Those who say Jinqing was no crafty courtier simply cannot be believed. Mian vigorously aided the restoration and rose to the highest rank; devoted to the public good and upright in principle, he might have made a name for himself— yet he sold offices and sold ordinations—what sort of government was that? In old age his greed grew worse still. Zunqing's learning was upright and clear, yet Yang Guozhong posted him out of the capital; respectful, frugal, and discreet—he won the long-standing regard of Xiao Hua. He held high office with pure conduct and grew more steadfast in old age—the other two men might well have felt shame beside him. Xiang upheld the family estate and did not let its reputation fall. Shu rose through the usurper, and when the usurper turned against him he died—as was fitting! The gentleman holds to the Way and keeps clear of punishment—perhaps he had this in mind.
19
贊曰：奧矣晉卿，貪哉裴冕。 遵慶父子，及之者鮮。
In sum: Jinqing was profound; Pei Mian was greedy. Zunqing and his line—few could equal them.