Pei Wei (Jin dynasty)

Pei Wei (267 – 7 May 300 ), courtesy name Yimin, was a Chinese essayist, philosopher, physician, and politician of the Western Jin dynasty. He was the cousin of Jia Nanfeng and rose to prominence during the reign of her husband, the Emperor Hui of Jin. Pei Wei was seen by traditional historian as one of Empress Jia's exemplary supporters along with Zhang Hua and Jia Mo. He pushed for a number of significant reforms during his tenure which met with mixed success before his execution by the Prince of Zhao, Sima Lun, in 300 following Sima Lun's coup.

Pei Wei placed great importance in conventional Confucianist teachings, and was taken aback by the growing popularity of Xuanxue in the court during the 290s. His essay, the Chongyoulun (崇有論), was a response to the works of He Yan and Wang Bi, particularly on their idea that the universe emerged from the concept of "non-being" (wu, 無).

Early life and career
Pei Wei was born into the famous Pei clan of Hedong Commandery as the son of the Cao Wei and later Jin minister, Pei Xiu. Through his mother, Pei Wei was also the nephew of Jia Chong's spouse, Guo Huai, thus making him a relative of Chong and his immediate family. He was very popular even at a young age for his insightfulness and personality. After Pei Xiu died in 271, Pei Wei was ordered to succeed his father's peerage, the Duke of Julu Commandery. Pei Wei politely declined, but the court insisted that he accepted it.

In 281, he was appointed the zhongshuzi to the Crown Prince and Cavalier In Regular Attendance. He also married Wang Rong's daughter around this time. Emperor Wu of Jin died in 290 and was succeeded by his developmentally disabled son, Emperor Hui. That year, Pei Wei was made Principal of the Imperial University and General of the Army of the Right.

During Empress Jia's regency
Emperor Hui's wife was Jia Chong's daughter, Jia Nanfeng. In 291, she launched a coup against her husband's regent, Yang Jun. Yang Jun and his partisans were caught by surprise and were disarrayed. One of his partisans, Liu Yu (劉豫) was coming to Yang Jun's aid when he encountered Pei Wei. Liu Yu asked Pei if he had seen Yang Jun, to which Pei lied to him and said, "I saw his carriage pass out through the Xiye Gate (西掖門), so I sent two men to follow him west." Liu Yu further asked him what he should do next, and Pei Wei told him to meet the Minister of Justice. After Liu Yu left, an edict was made giving Pei Wei Liu Yu's positions, and he later camped himself at Wanchun Gate. After a series of events, Yang Jun was arrested and executed by Empress Jia.

That same year, Empress Jia betrayed her ally, the Prince of Chu, Sima Wei and had him executed as well. As Empress Jia consolidated her control over the government, she and her nephew Jia Mi wondered if they should get rid of the minister, Zhang Hua as well. While they acknowledged that he posed no threat and was very talented, they were still undecided, so they consulted Pei Wei's advice. Empress Jia decided to leave Zhang Hua alone after Pei Wei agreed with their assessment. After this, Pei Wei was appointed a Palace Attendant.

During Pei Wei's time in office, he presented an edict calling for the strengthening of scholarly education and for Confucian Classics to be engraved on stone slabs. The Crown Prince, Sima Yu, was also lectured on how to properly carry out offerings for Confucius and rites for different events. In 293, Pei Wei ordered the son of Xun Xu (who died in 289), Xun Fan, to complete his father's task of restoring the bells and sounding-stones to be used in suburban temples and during court meetings in order to complete the institutional order of rites and music. Pei Wei also attempted to reform the Chinese measuring system, more particularly in the medical field, although his proposal for this was rejected.

Pei Wei knew of Empress Jia's disdain for Sima Yu, who was not the Empress's biological son. To protect him, Pei Wei presented a petition asking to raise the title of Sima Yu's biological mother, Consort Xie Jiu (謝玖). He also asked to have the guards in the Eastern Palace to be increased to 10,000 strong. Pei Wei was transferred to the Masters of Writing, retaining his position as Palace Attendant. He was also appointed as Household Counsellor. Whenever Pei Wei was given a new position, he would always decline, sometimes having to submit more than ten memorials to explain himself in order to prevent offending anyone.

Although Pei Wei was on good terms with Empress Jia, he was increasingly concerned with her deteriorating behaviour. Both Jia Mo and Zhang Hua felt the same as well, and the three men collaborated to deal with the problem. Zhang Hua and Jia Mo were worried that if the Empress remained in power, disaster was bound to happen to them and the court. Pei Wei suggest that they wait for a pretext, as many officials in the palace were comfortable with how the regime was doing. In the end, Zhang Hua suggested that Jia Mo and Pei Wei, being the close to the Empress, attempt to inform the Empress and the others to be wary. Pei Wei did his part by convincing Empress Jia's mother, Guo Huai to advise her daughter to treat Sima Yu kindly, while Jia Mo personally warned Empress Jia. However, the plan failed, as Empress Jia refused to listen to either Guo Huai or Jia Mo, and Jia Mo would die in 299.

In August 299, Pei Wei was made Supervisor of the Masters of Writing. Although Pei Wei often refused new positions, he was also afraid of losing the ones that he had. Due to the death of Jia Mo, Pei Wei was assigned to handle affairs below the gates. Pei Wei tried to refuse this by submitting a petition expressing concern that appointing another family member in place of Jia Mo would appear selfish. However, his petition was rejected. Even so, under his new office, Pei Wei pushed for penal reforms together with Liu Song.

Sima Yu affair and death
On February 6, 300, Sima Yu was falsely accused of plotting to go against his father after he was tricked into writing a threatening edict. Both Zhang Hua and Pei Wei were in disbelief when they heard of this. Pei Wei in particular asked for the edict to be verified thoroughly, so Empress Jia presented Sima Yu's letters for the court ministers to compare with. Even after close inspection, many were too afraid to point out the differences in writing (Sima Yu had written the edict in a drunken state, so Empress Jia had to edit some unfinished words). Sima Yu was demoted to a commoner, but on April 27, Empress Jia, at the advice of the Prince of Zhao, Sima Lun, had the former Crown Prince assassinated.

Empress Jia and her partisans did not know that Sima Lun was actually in a plot to overthrow them. On May 7, Sima Lun launched his coup and had the Empress deposed. Sima Lun and his advisor, Sun Xiu had always hated Pei Wei and Zhang Hua after they refused to give their titles to Lun and Sun in 296. Because of this, Pei Wei and Zhang Hua were among the many ministers that the duo rounded up to be executed. Pei Wei was 34 years old at the time of his death. Following the fall of Sima Lun in 301, Pei Wei was posthumously restored to his positions. He was given the posthumous name of "Cheng (成)".

Philosophy
Pei Wei was well-versed in philosophy, having studied Tao Te Ching, I Ching and other works. He was a staunch Confucianist and was alarmed by the growth of Xuanxue philosophy among the court ministers. Xuanxue was a movement popularized during the Zhengshi era of Cao Wei by the likes of He Yan and Wang Bi. It advocated for a reinterpretation of Confucianist social and moral understanding so that it would be more compatible with Taoist philosophy. Xuanxue grew in the 290s thanks to influential qingtan leaders such as Wang Yan and Yue Guang. In Pei Wei's view, Xuanxue was causing ministers to become unrestrained in their behaviour and abandon Confucianist values.

Pei Wei was especially critical about He Yan and Wang Bi's concept of "non-being" being the root of all phenomenon, and that "being" (you, 有) is a product of said "non-being". He saw this veneration of "non-being" as the cause for Wang Yan and his follower's negligence over government affair, as He Yan and Wang Bi's teachings dissuade taking too much premeditated interference in daily affairs as the best way will naturally take its course. In response, Pei Wei wrote an essay titled the Chongyoulun. In it, he rejects the idea that "non-being" can create "being", and believed that only "being" is capable of creating itself. He also believed that in the beginning, there already existed a myriad of matters, albeit mixed together, and the universe emerged through self-generation as the matters began to separate and differentiate from one another. (頠深患時俗放蕩，不尊儒術，何晏、阮籍素有高名於世，口談浮虛，不遵禮法，屍祿耽寵，仕不事事；至王衍之徒，聲譽太盛，位高勢重，不以物務自嬰，遂相放效，風教陵遲，乃著崇有之論以釋其蔽曰：夫總混群本，宗極之道也. 方以族異，庶類之品也. 形象著分，有生之體也. 化感錯綜，理跡之原也. 夫品而為族，則所稟者偏，偏無自足，故憑乎外資. 是以生而可尋，所謂理也. 理之所體，所謂有也. 有之所須，所謂資也. 資有攸合，所謂宜也. 擇乎厥宜，所謂情也. 識智既授，雖出處異業，默語殊塗，所以寶生存宜，其情一也. 眾理並而無害，故貴賤形焉. 失得由乎所接，故吉凶兆焉. 是以賢人君子，知欲不可絕，而交物有會. 觀乎往復，稽中定務. 惟夫用天之道，分地之利，躬其力任，勞而後饗. 居以仁順，守以恭儉，率以忠信，行以敬讓，志無盈求，事無過用，乃可濟乎！故大建厥極，綏理群生，訓物垂範，於是乎在，斯則聖人為政之由也. 若乃淫抗陵肆，則危害萌矣. 故欲衍則速患，情佚則怨博，擅恣則興攻，專利則延寇，可謂以厚生而失生者也. 悠悠之徒，駭乎若茲之釁，而尋艱爭所緣. 察夫偏質有弊，而睹簡損之善，遂闡貴無之議，而建賤有之論. 賤有則必外形，外形則必遺制，遺制則必忽防，忽防則必忘禮. 禮制弗存，則無以為政矣. 眾之從上，猶水之居器也. 故兆庶之情，信于所習；習則心服其業，業服則謂之理然. 是以君人必慎所教，班其政刑一切之務，分宅百姓，各授四職，能令稟命之者不肅而安，忽然忘異，莫有遷志. 況於據在三之尊，懷所隆之情，敦以為訓者哉！斯乃昏明所階，不可不審. 夫盈欲可損而未可絕有也，過用可節而未可謂無貴也. 蓋有講言之具者，深列有形之故，盛稱空無之美. 形器之故有征，空無之義難檢，辯巧之文可悅，似象之言足惑，眾聽眩焉，溺其成說. 雖頗有異此心者，辭不獲濟，屈於所狎，因謂虛無之理，誠不可蓋. 唱而有和，多往弗反，遂薄綜世之務，賤功烈之用，高浮游之業，埤經實之賢. 人情所殉，篤夫名利. 於是文者衍其辭，訥者贊其旨，染其眾也. 是以立言藉於虛無，謂之玄妙；處官不親所司，謂之雅遠；奉身散其廉操，謂之曠達. 故砥礪之風，彌以陵遲. 放者因斯，或悖吉凶之禮，而忽容止之表，瀆棄長幼之序，混漫貴賤之級. 其甚者至於裸裎，言笑忘宜，以不惜為弘，士行又虧矣. 老子既著五千之文，表摭穢雜之弊，甄舉靜一之義，有以令人釋然自夷，合于《易》之《損》、《謙》、《艮》、《節》之旨. 而靜一守本，無虛無之謂也；《損》《艮》之屬，蓋君子之一道，非《易》之所以為體守本無也. 觀老子之書雖博有所經，而云「有生於無」，以虛為主，偏立一家之辭，豈有以而然哉！人之既生，以保生為全，全之所階，以順感為務. 若味近以虧業，則沈溺之釁興；懷末以忘本，則天理之真滅. 故動之所交，存亡之會也. 夫有非有，於無非無；于無非無，於有非有. 是以申縱播之累，而著貴無之文. 將以絕所非之盈謬，存大善之中節，收流遁於既過，反澄正於胸懷. 宜其以無為辭，而旨在全有，故其辭曰「以為文不足」. 若斯，則是所寄之塗，一方之言也. 若謂至理信以無為宗，則偏而害當矣. 先賢達識，以非所滯，示之深論. 惟班固著難，未足折其情. 孫卿、楊雄大體抑之，猶偏有所許. 而虛無之言，日以廣衍，眾家扇起，各列其說. 上及造化，下被萬事，莫不貴無，所存僉同. 情以眾固，乃號凡有之理皆義之埤者，薄而鄙焉. 辯論人倫及經明之業，遂易門肆. 頠用矍然，申其所懷，而攻者盈集. 或以為一時口言. 有客幸過，咸見命著文，擿列虛無不允之征. 若未能每事釋正，則無家之義弗可奪也. 頠退而思之，雖君子宅情，無求於顯，及其立言，在乎達旨而已. 然去聖久遠，異同紛糾，苟少有仿佛，可以崇濟先典，扶明大業，有益於時，則惟患言之不能，焉得靜默，及未舉一隅，略示所存而已哉！夫至無者無以能生，故始生者自生也. 自生而必體有，則有遺而生虧矣. 生以有為已分，則虛無是有之所謂遺者也. 故養既化之有，非無用之所能全也；理既有之眾，非無為之所能循也. 心非事也，而制事必由於心，然不可以制事以非事，謂心為無也. 匠非器也，而制器必須於匠，然不可以制器以非器，謂匠非有也. 是以欲收重泉之鱗，非偃息之所能獲也；隕高墉之禽，非靜拱之所能捷也；審投弦餌之用，非無知之所能覽也. 由此而觀，濟有者皆有也，虛無奚益於已有之群生哉！) Book of Jin, Volume 35

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