Xu Ci 許慈

Xu Ci, courtesy name Rendu, was a man of Nanyang Commandery. He took Liu Xi as his teacher and excelled in the learning of the Zheng school (Zheng Xuan), and he studied the Book of Changes, the Book of Documents, the Three Rites, the Mao Odes and the Analects. During the Jian'an era he came from Jiao Province into Shu together with Xu Jing and others. Records, Shu 12 §26

At that time there was also in Shu Hu Qian of Wei Commandery, courtesy name Gongxing; it is not known how he came to be in Yi Province. Although Hu Qian's learning was not broad, his memory was outstandingly strong, and on the institutions and rites of the ancestral line and the five grades of mourning dress he could point things out as if on the palm of his hand or sketch them on the ground, picking out any detail with a raise of his hand. Records, Shu 12 §26

When Liu Bei pacified Shu, learning had declined and fallen into neglect after years of turmoil, so classical texts were gathered and the various schools of learning sifted. Xu Ci and Hu Qian both became Erudites and, together with Meng Guang, Lai Min and others, took charge of the old texts. The Biography of Meng Guang likewise records that when Liu Bei pacified Yi Province, Meng Guang became a Gentleman Consultant and took charge of institutions together with Xu Ci and others. Records, Shu 12 §27 · 31

As everything was then being newly established, questions and disputes arose at every turn, and Xu Ci and Hu Qian attacked and disparaged each other by turns, slandering and quarreling in anger so that it showed in their voices and faces. They would not lend each other the books one had and the other lacked, and at times they even resorted to beatings to intimidate each other. Chen Shou wrote that their self-conceit and jealousy of each other went this far. Records, Shu 12 §27

Liu Bei, pained to see them like this, had entertainers at a grand assembly of all his officials dress up as the two men and imitate their quarrels. When the wine was flowing and the music playing, this was staged as an amusement: at first the pair argued with words and reasoning, and in the end they forced each other into submission with swords and staves, and in this way he moved the two to shame. Records, Shu 12 §28

In the 26th year of Jian'an (221), the Grand Tutor Xu Jing, the General Who Pacifies the Han Mi Zhu, the Military Adviser General Zhuge Liang and others, in a memorial asking Liu Bei to ascend the imperial throne, said, 'We will respectfully, together with the Erudite Xu Ci and the Gentleman Consultant Meng Guang, establish the rites and ceremonies, choose an auspicious day, and present the honoured title.' In the 4th month of that year Liu Bei took the imperial throne south of Wudan in Chengdu. Records, Shu 2 §60 · 64–65

Hu Qian died first, and Xu Ci, under the Later Sovereign, Liu Shan, was gradually promoted until he reached the post of Grand Prolonger, and then died. His son Xu Xun inherited his learning and in turn became an Erudite. Chen Shou's text does not record the years of Xu Ci's birth or death. Records, Shu 12 §28

In his assessment at the end of Records of Shu 12, Chen Shou said that Xu Ci, Meng Guang, Lai Min and Li Zhuan were widely read and had heard much, and that Yin Mo was versed in the Zuo Commentary; although they were not praised for virtuous conduct or achievement, they were truly all scholars of their age. Records, Shu 12 §102