Sui and Tang · Official and Statesman

Wei Zheng 魏徵

Attested AD 626 - AD 649

Passages
21
Chapters
9
Histories
8

Overview

The translated histories identify Wei Zheng as an aristocrat, commentator, courtier, and family member. This record brings together 21 passages from 9 chapters across 8 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

TypeEnglishChinesePinyin
Personal Wei Zheng 魏徵 Wei Zheng
Title Attendant-in-Ordinary 侍中 Shìzhōng
Title Duke of Zheng 鄭國公
Title Duke of Zheng 鄭國公 Zhèng guó gōng
Posthumous name Duke of Zhengwen 鄭文貞公
Title Palace Attendant 侍中
Title Palace Attendant 侍中 Shìzhōng
Surname Wei 魏 Wei
Surname Wei 魏 Wèi
Personal name Wei Zheng 魏徵 Wei Zheng
Personal Wei Zheng 魏征
Personal name Wei Zheng 魏徵 Wèi Zhēng
Personal name Wei Zheng 魏征 Wei Zheng
Given Zheng 徵 Zheng
Given Zheng 徵 Zhēng
Surname Zheng 征 Zheng
Given name Zheng 徵 Zhēng

Identity

Historicity
Historical
Identification
Named
Sex
Male

Roles

  • Aristocrat
  • Commentator
  • Courtier
  • Family Member
  • Historian
  • Official
  • Statesman
  • Writer

Life and dates

Attested activity

  • Source Date: Text: 貞觀十年正月壬子 · Regnal Year: 10 · Western Year: AD 636
    Explicit · suishu:086:s0011, suishu:086:s0016
  • Source Date: Text: 貞觀三年 · Regnal Year: 3 · Western Year: AD 629
    Explicit · suishu:086:s0006
  • Source Date: Text: 貞觀七年 · Regnal Year: 7 · Western Year: AD 633
    Explicit · suishu:086:s0016
  • Source Date: Text: 初 · Western Interval: Start: AD 626 · End: AD 649
    Explicit event contextual date · xintangshu:020:s0089
  • Western Year: AD 636 · Source Date: Text: 史臣侍中、鄭國公魏徵曰
    Explicit · liangshu:006:s0139
  • Source Date: Text: 昔唐太宗謂魏征 · Western Year: AD 627
    Explicit · songshi:359:s0149
  • Source Date: Text: 貞觀 · Western Interval: Start: AD 627 · End: AD 649
    Explicit event contextual date · jiutangshu:027:s0002
  • Source Date: Text: 貞觀中 · Western Year: AD 645
    Explicit event contextual date · xintangshu:045:s0112, xintangshu:045:s0118
  • Source Date: Text: 貞觀修禮 · Western Interval: Start: AD 627 · End: AD 649
    Explicit event contextual date · jiutangshu:027:s0127
  • Source Date: Text: 貞觀年間 · Western Interval: Start: AD 627 · End: AD 649
    Explicit event contextual date · yuanshi:179:s0087
  • Source Date: Text: 長興二年 · Western Year: AD 931
    Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:042:s0098
  • Source Date: Text: 魏徵考覽 · Western Year: AD 636
    Explicit · chenshu:007:s0147

Family

  • Ancestor of Shao (韶)
    Kinship Term: eighth-generation descendant / 八代孫 · Generation Distance: 8 · Subject Role: ancestor · Object Role: descendant · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 長興二年 · Western Year: AD 931
    Kinship Term: eighth-generation descendant / 八代孫 · Generation Distance: 8 · Subject Role: descendant · Object Role: ancestor · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 長興二年 · Western Year: AD 931

Career and standing

  • Label: historiographer / 史臣
    Explicit · liangshu:006:s0139
  • Label: Palace Attendant / 侍中 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 貞觀七年 · Western Year: AD 633
    Explicit · suishu:086:s0016
  • Label: Specially Advanced / 特進 · Action: appointed
    Explicit · suishu:086:s0017, suishu:086:s0018
  • Label: Director of the Imperial Library / 秘書監 · Action: held · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 貞觀三年 · Western Year: AD 629
    Explicit · suishu:086:s0006
  • Label: Attendant-in-Ordinary / 侍中 · Action: held
    Explicit · liangshu:006:s0139
  • Label: Palace Attendant / 侍中 · Action: held
    Explicit · jiutangshu:027:s0002, xintangshu:020:s0089
  • Label: Grand Master of Splendid Happiness / 光祿大夫 · Action: promoted · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 貞觀十年 · Western Year: AD 636
    Explicit · suishu:086:s0016
  • Title: Duke of Zheng / 鄭國公 · Action: enfeoffed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 貞觀十年 · Western Year: AD 636
    Explicit · suishu:086:s0016
  • Title: Duke of Zheng / 鄭國公 · Action: enfeoffed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 貞觀十年 · Western Year: AD 636
    Explicit · suishu:086:s0016
  • Title: Duke of Zheng / 鄭國公 · Action: held
    Explicit · liangshu:006:s0139
  • Status: resignation-requested · Action: requested
    Explicit · suishu:086:s0017

Places and affiliations

Works and attributed material

Events and relationships

Assessments and attributes

Source notes

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Book of Chen, Chapter 7Volume 7: Empresses and Consorts · 2 passages
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史臣侍中鄭國公魏徵考覽記書，參詳故老，云後主初即位，以始興王叔陵之亂，被傷臥于承香閣下，時諸姬嵭不得進，唯張貴妃侍焉。 The historiographer, palace attendant and Duke of Zheng, Wei Zheng, examined the records and consulted elders and wrote: When the Last Emperor first succeeded, he was wounded in the disorder of Prince of Shixing Shuling and lay ill below the Hall of Accepting Fragrance; none of the palace women could enter—only Noble Consort Zhang attended him.
Old Book of Tang, Chapter 27Volume 23 Treatises 3: Rites 3 · 3 passages
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太宗因修禮官奏事之次，言及喪服，太宗曰：「又舅之與姨，親疏相似，而服紀有殊，理未為得。宜集學者詳議。餘有親重而服輕者，亦附奏聞。」於是侍中魏徵、禮部侍郎令狐德棻等奏議曰：臣聞禮所以決嫌疑，定猶豫，別同異，明是非者也。非從天降，非從地出，人情而已矣。夫親族有九，服術有六，隨恩以薄厚，稱情以立文。然舅之與姨，雖為同氣，論情度義，先後實殊。何則？舅為母之本族，姨乃外戚他族，求之母族，姨不在焉，考之經典，舅誠為重。故周王念齊，每稱舅甥之國；秦伯懷晉，實切《渭陽》之詩。在舅服止一時，為姨居喪五月，循名喪實，逐末棄本。蓋古人之情，或有未達，所宜損益，實在茲乎！《記》曰：「兄弟之子，猶子也。蓋引而進之也；嫂叔之不服，蓋推而遠之也。」禮：繼父同居，則為之期；未嘗同居，則不為服。從母之夫，舅之妻，二夫人相為服。或曰，同爨緦。然則繼父之徒，並非骨肉，服重由乎同爨，恩輕在乎異居。故知制服雖繫於名；亦緣恩之厚薄者也。或有長年之嫂，遇孩童之叔，劬勞鞠養，情若新生，分飢共寒，契闊偕老。譬同居之繼父，方他人之同爨，情義之深淺，寧可同日而言哉！在其生也，愛之同於骨肉；及其死也，則曰推而遠之。求之本原，深所未諭。若推而遠之為是，則不可生而共居；生而共居之為是，則不可死同行路。重其生而輕其死，厚其始而薄其終，稱情立文，其義安在？且事嫂見稱，載籍非一。鄭仲虞則恩禮甚篤，顏弘都則竭誠致感，馬援則見之必冠，孔伋則哭之為位。此並躬踐教義，仁深孝友，察其所尚之旨，豈非先覺者歟？但於其時，上無哲王，禮非下之所議，遂使深情郁乎千載，至理藏於萬古，其來久矣，豈不惜哉！今屬欽明在辰，聖人有作，五禮詳洽，一物無遺。猶且永念慎終，凝神遐想。以為尊卑之敘，雖煥乎大備；喪紀之制，或情理未周。爰命秩宗，更詳考正。臣等奏遵明旨，觸類旁求，採摭群經，討論傳記。或引兼名實，無文之禮咸秩，惇睦之情畢舉，變薄俗於既往，垂篤義於將來，信六籍所不能談，超百王而獨得者也。諸儒所守，互有異同，詳求厥中，申明聖旨。謹按曾祖父母舊服齊衰三月，請加為齊衰五月。嫡子婦舊服大功，請加為期。眾子婦小功，今請與兄弟子婦同為大功九月。嫂叔舊無服，今請服小功五月報。其弟妻及夫兄，亦小功五月。舅服緦麻，請與從母同服小功。 While Taizong was hearing the ritual-revision officers report on business, the subject reached mourning dress. Taizong said: "Also, maternal uncles and maternal aunts are similar in closeness, yet the mourning regulations differ for them; in principle this does not seem right. Scholars should be assembled to deliberate on it in detail. Other cases where kinship is heavy but mourning is light should also be appended and reported." Thereupon Palace Attendant Wei Zheng, Vice Minister of Rites Linghu Defen, and others memorialized in deliberation: Your servants have heard that ritual is what resolves doubts and suspicions, settles hesitations, distinguishes sameness and difference, and clarifies right and wrong. It does not descend from Heaven or emerge from earth; it is simply human feeling. Kin have nine degrees and mourning techniques have six, thinning or thickening according to affection and establishing the text according to feeling. Yet although maternal uncle and maternal aunt are of the same breath, when feeling is discussed and obligation measured, the former and latter are truly different. Why? The maternal uncle belongs to the mother's root clan, while the maternal aunt is an external relative of another clan. Seeking within the mother's clan, the maternal aunt is not there; examining the classics, the maternal uncle is truly weighty. Therefore when the Zhou king remembered Qi, he always called it the state of uncle and nephew; when the Earl of Qin cherished Jin, it was truly close to the poem Weiyang. For a maternal uncle, mourning stops at one season; for a maternal aunt, one mourns five months. This follows the name and loses the substance, pursuing the branch and abandoning the root. The feeling of the ancients perhaps had something not yet fully reached, and what should be reduced or increased truly lies here. The Record says: "The sons of brothers are like sons; this draws them in and advances them. That elder-brother's wife and younger-brother-in-law do not mourn each other pushes them away." In ritual, for a stepfather who has lived with one, one wears one-year mourning; if he has never lived with one, one wears no mourning. A mother's sister's husband and a maternal uncle's wife, these two spouses mourn one another. Some say that those who share the cooking hearth wear fine hemp. Thus stepfathers and such are not flesh and blood, yet mourning is heavy because of sharing the hearth, and affection is light because of living apart. Therefore we know that although mourning dress depends on names, it also follows the thickness or thinness of affection. Sometimes there is an elder sister-in-law of advanced years with a younger brother-in-law who was a child; she toiled to raise him, with feeling as if newly giving birth, sharing hunger and cold, and staying with him through hardship into old age. Compared with a stepfather who shared the household or with another person sharing the cooking hearth, how could the depth or shallowness of feeling and obligation be discussed on the same day? While she lives, he loves her as flesh and blood; when she dies, one says she is pushed away. Seeking the root of this, we deeply fail to understand it. If pushing away is right, then they should not live together while alive. If living together while alive is right, then they cannot be treated as people on the road when dead. To value the living and slight the dead, to thicken the beginning and thin the end: where is the meaning of matching feeling and establishing text? Moreover, serving a sister-in-law is praised in more than one written record. Zheng Zhongyu's grace and ritual were very deep; Yan Hongdu exhausted sincerity and produced a response; Ma Yuan always put on his cap when seeing his sister-in-law; Kong Ji cried for his sister-in-law with a set position. These all personally practiced teaching and obligation, with benevolence deep in filial and fraternal feeling. Examining the purpose of what they honored, were they not those who awakened first? Only in their time there was no wise king above, and ritual was not for those below to debate; thus deep feeling was suppressed for a thousand years, and perfect principle was hidden for ten thousand ages. This has been so for a long time; is it not regrettable? Now we meet a time when reverent brightness is present and a sage has arisen. The five rites are detailed and complete, with not one thing omitted. Still Your Majesty forever thinks on careful endings and concentrates spirit in distant reflection, considering that although the sequence of honored and lowly is bright and fully prepared, the regulations of mourning may not yet be complete in feeling and principle. Therefore you ordered the Minister of Rites to examine and correct them in more detail. Your servants, in memorializing, follow the bright command, seek sideways by analogy, gather from the many classics, and discuss commentaries and records. Some cases draw on both name and substance; rites without written text are all ordered, and the feeling of generous harmony is fully raised, changing thin customs from the past and transmitting deep obligation to the future. This is truly what the six classics could not discuss and what surpasses the hundred kings as Your Majesty's sole attainment. The various scholars hold to different views. We have sought the center in detail and extend and clarify the sage command. Respectfully, the old mourning for great-grandparents was three months of trimmed mourning; we request increasing it to five months of trimmed mourning. The old mourning for the principal son's wife was great-work mourning; we request increasing it to one year. The mourning for wives of other sons was small-work mourning; we now request making it the same as for brothers' sons' wives, great-work mourning for nine months. Elder-brother's wife and younger-brother-in-law formerly had no mourning; we now request reciprocal small-work mourning for five months. The younger brother's wife and her husband's elder brother should also have small-work mourning for five months. Mourning for a maternal uncle was fine hemp; we request making it the same as for a mother's sister, small-work mourning.
Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 42Volume 42 Book of Later Tang 18: Mingzong Annals 8 · 1 passage
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Book of Liang, Chapter 6Volume 6: Emperor Jing · 1 passage
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History of Song, Chapter 359Volume 359 Biographies 118: Li Gang 2 · 2 passages
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Book of Sui, Chapter 86Volume 86: the Second Year of the Tian Sheng Reign Publication Mark · 8 passages
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New Book of Tang, Chapter 20Volume 20 Treatises 10: Rites and Music 10 · 1 passage
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初，太宗嘗以同爨緦而嫂叔乃無服，舅與從母親等而異服，詔侍中魏徵、禮部侍郎令狐德棻等議：「舅為母族，姨乃外戚它姓，舅固為重，而服止一時，姨喪乃五月，古人未達者也。 Early on Taizong observed that kin eating from one pot wore finest hemp, yet elder brother's wife and husband's younger brother had no mourning; maternal uncle and aunt were equally close yet dressed differently. He ordered Wei Zheng, Linghu Defen, and others to debate: "The uncle is mother's clan; the aunt is outer kin of another surname—the uncle weighs heavier, yet mourning lasts one season while the aunt's is five months: the ancients missed this.
New Book of Tang, Chapter 45Volume 45 Treatises 40: Selecting and Appointing Officials 2 · 1 passage
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History of Yuan, Chapter 179Volume 179 Biographies 66: He Sheng, Yang Duoerzhi, Xiao Baizhu · 2 passages
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