RNo direct record — estimated from his officesWei 4 §85
NProposed burying the surrendered Wu troops alive, urged the abdication and enforced it sword in handCh. 112 §21Ch. 119 §37Ch. 119 §43
Pei Xiu 裴秀
| Occupation | ROfficial · Supervisor of the Imperial Secretariat NOfficial · Cavalier Chief Clerk | Faction | Wei |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | RN | Biography in | |
| Born | R224 Unverified | Native place | Hedong Commandery Wenxi County Unverified |
| Died | R271 Unverified | Place of death | |
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R9 |
Profile
Pei Xiu was the son of Pei Qian, who served as Director of the Imperial Secretariat of Wei. When Pei Qian died in the 5th year of Zhengshi (244), Pei Xiu succeeded him. Chen Shou's main text does not separately record Pei Xiu's courtesy name or place of origin; his father Pei Qian was a man of Wenxi County in Hedong Commandery. Records, Wei 23 §66 · 72
When Zhuge Dan rebelled in the 2nd year of Ganlu (257), Pei Xiu, as Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary, accompanied the campaign of the General-in-Chief Sima Zhao by imperial edict, together with Zhong Hui, Gentleman of the Yellow Gate in Attendance. In the Xianxi era (264–265) he became Supervisor of the Imperial Secretariat. These are the only deeds of his that Chen Shou's main text records. Records, Wei 4 §82 · 85Records, Wei 28 §37Records, Wei 23 §73
Chen Shou's assessment does not deal with Pei Xiu. In the Romance he first appears in Chapter 112 as Cavalier Chief Clerk and appears in 2 of its 120 chapters; his name is in no chapter title. In Chapter 112 he proposes burying the surrendered Wu soldiers alive but is blocked by Zhong Hui's objection, and in Chapter 119, together with Jia Chong, he urges Sima Yan to accept the abdication of Wei. Records, Wei 23 §75Romance, Ch. 112 §1 · 21–22Romance, Ch. 119 §37
In the Records
Pei Xiu's father Pei Qian was a man of Wenxi County in Hedong Commandery. Under Taizu he served as Administrator of Dai Commandery, Inspector of Yan Province and in other posts, and when Emperor Ming took the throne he entered the court as Master of Writing. After serving as Intendant of Henan, Military Adviser to the Grand Commandant and Grand Minister of Agriculture, he was enfeoffed as Marquis of Qingyang Village; he became Director of the Imperial Secretariat, left office on the death of his father, and was then appointed Grandee of Splendid Happiness. Records, Wei 23 §66 · 68 · 71–72
When Pei Qian died in the 5th year of Zhengshi (244), he was posthumously granted the title of Minister of Ceremonies and given the posthumous name Marquis Zhen, and his son Pei Xiu succeeded him. In his testament Pei Qian directed that he be buried frugally, so that in the tomb there was placed only a single seat and a few pieces of earthenware, and nothing else at all. Records, Wei 23 §72
In the 5th month of the 2nd year of Ganlu (257), the Minister of Works Zhuge Dan refused a summons, raised troops in rebellion and killed Yue Chen, Inspector of Yang Province. In the 6th month the imperial carriage set out east on campaign and reached Xiang, and the General-in-Chief Sima Zhao, leading 260,000 troops of the capital and the provinces, advanced to the Huai River to attack Zhuge Dan. Records, Wei 4 §80 · 82Records, Wei 28 §37
On the jiazi day an edict was issued, saying that in the past, when the Chancellor of State and the Grand Marshal went on campaign, they had always been accompanied by the Masters of Writing, and that this time too the old practice should be followed. Accordingly the Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary Pei Xiu and the Gentleman of the Yellow Gate in Attendance Zhong Hui both went with the General-in-Chief. The campaign ended in the 2nd month of the 3rd year of Ganlu (258), when the General-in-Chief Sima Zhao took the city of Shouchun and beheaded Zhuge Dan, but Chen Shou's main text does not record what Pei Xiu did on this expedition. Records, Wei 4 §85 · 88
In the Xianxi era (264–265) Pei Xiu became Supervisor of the Imperial Secretariat. Chen Shou's main text does not record his courtesy name, his later offices or the year of his death. Records, Wei 23 §73
In his assessment in Records of Wei 23, Chen Shou called Pei Qian fair, constant, upright and capable, and counted him with five others as fine gentlemen of their age, but he said nothing separately about Pei Xiu. Records, Wei 23 §75
In the Romance
In Chapter 112 of the Romance, Sima Zhao, hearing that Zhuge Dan has joined forces with the Wu troops and is coming to fight a decisive battle, summons the Cavalier Chief Clerk Pei Xiu and the Gentleman of the Yellow Gate Zhong Hui to discuss a plan to defeat the enemy. When Zhong Hui says that the Wu troops have come for gain and should be lured with gain, Sima Zhao follows his advice, places Shi Bao and Zhou Tai (州泰) in ambush at the city of Shitou, and gathers oxen, horses, donkeys and mules laden with goods for rewarding the troops in the camp as bait. Zhuge Dan's troops are heavily defeated and flee to Shouchun. Romance, Ch. 112 §1–3
In the same chapter, when most of the Wu troops have surrendered, Pei Xiu tells Sima Zhao that the old and young of the Wu soldiers' families are all in the southeast, in the lands of the Yangtze and the Huai, and that if these men are kept they will surely rise in revolt before long, so they should be buried alive. Zhong Hui counters that those who commanded troops in ancient times held preserving the state intact to be the highest aim and killed only the chief culprits, and that the men should be sent back south of the Yangtze to display the magnanimity of the Central Realm. Sima Zhao calls Zhong Hui's words an excellent argument and sends all the Wu troops home. Romance, Ch. 112 §21–22
In Chapter 119, when Sima Zhao, now King of Jin, wishes to make his second son Sima You his heir, Shan Tao remonstrates that setting aside the eldest to install a younger son is contrary to propriety. Jia Chong, He Zeng and Pei Xiu also remonstrate that the eldest son Sima Yan is intelligent and divinely martial and does not have the look of a man who will be another's subject, and when Wang Xiang and Xun Yi remonstrate as well, Sima Zhao makes Sima Yan his heir. Romance, Ch. 119 §31–33
After Sima Zhao dies and Sima Yan succeeds as King of Jin, once the funeral is over Sima Yan summons Jia Chong and Pei Xiu to the palace and asks whether it is true that Cao Cao once said, 'If the Mandate of Heaven rests with me, I shall be King Wen of Zhou.' After hearing Jia Chong's answer, Sima Yan says that even Cao Pi carried on the line of Han, so why should he himself not carry on the line of Wei; Jia Chong and Pei Xiu both bow twice and advise him to follow the precedent of Cao Pi's succession to Han, build an Altar of Accepting Abdication and ascend the great throne. Romance, Ch. 119 §35–37
After Sima Yan has the Gentleman of the Yellow Gate Zhang Jie beaten to death and leaves, Cao Huan, the ruler of Wei, asks Jia Chong and Pei Xiu what he should do now that matters have become urgent, and Jia Chong answers that he should abdicate following the precedent of Emperor Xian of Han. At the abdication ceremony on the jiazi day of the 12th month, Jia Chong and Pei Xiu stand on either side gripping swords and make Cao Huan bow twice and prostrate himself to hear his orders, and Jia Chong enfeoffs Cao Huan as Prince of Chenliu and sends him out to the city of Jinyong. Romance, Ch. 119 §40–41 · 43–44
Where the Romance differs
Office on the campaign: In Chapter 112 of the Romance, Pei Xiu appears as Cavalier Chief Clerk. In the edict in the Annals of the Three Young Emperors in the Records, the Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary Pei Xiu accompanied the General-in-Chief together with the Gentleman of the Yellow Gate in Attendance Zhong Hui. Romance, Ch. 112 §1Records, Wei 4 §85
His role at Shouchun: In Chapter 112 of the Romance, Sima Zhao summons Pei Xiu and Zhong Hui to discuss a plan, and it is Zhong Hui who devises the stratagem of luring the enemy with bait. The Records state only that Pei Xiu went along in keeping with the old practice of the Masters of Writing accompanying campaigns, and do not record what he did. Romance, Ch. 112 §1Records, Wei 4 §85
The proposal to bury the Wu troops: In Chapter 112 of the Romance, Pei Xiu proposes burying the surrendered Wu soldiers alive and Zhong Hui objects. In the Records' biography of Zhuge Dan, those who said that the Wu soldiers' families were south of the Yangtze and that they should all be buried alive are recorded only as 'those who debated', and it was the judgment of the General-in-Chief Sima Zhao that in ancient warfare preserving the state intact was the highest aim and only the chief culprits were killed, so that not a single man was put to death. Romance, Ch. 112 §21–22Records, Wei 28 §37 · 44
The question of the heir: In Chapter 119 of the Romance, Pei Xiu, together with Jia Chong and He Zeng, remonstrates that Sima Yan should be made heir. This does not appear in Chen Shou's main-text record of Pei Xiu. Romance, Ch. 119 §32Records, Wei 23 §72–73Records, Wei 4 §85
The abdication: In Chapter 119 of the Romance, Pei Xiu, together with Jia Chong, urges Sima Yan to build an Altar of Accepting Abdication and ascend the great throne, and at the abdication ceremony he stands at one side gripping a sword. The Annals of the Three Young Emperors in the Records state only that on the renxu day of the 12th month of the 2nd year of Xianxi (265), by edict, an altar was set up in the southern suburb and envoys were sent bearing the imperial seal, ribbon and patent to cede the throne to the heir-king of Jin; Pei Xiu does not appear. Romance, Ch. 119 §37 · 43Records, Wei 4 §150
His final office: In the Romance, the only office given for Pei Xiu is Cavalier Chief Clerk in Chapter 112. The Records state that in the Xianxi era he became Supervisor of the Imperial Secretariat. Romance, Ch. 112 §1Records, Wei 23 §73
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
Abilities
The Records score (Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, main text) is the baseline. Each ability compares how the Romance redrew the same person, and the evidence from both sources explains the difference.
Records total409 / 1000Rank 551 of 996 · Top 56%Romance total406 / 1000Rank 482 of 1,113 · Top 44%
Romance adaptation index−3Romance total − Records total
- LEA3535±0
- STR3131±0
- INT4542−3
- POL4842−6
- CHA4038−2
- VIR4020−20
- ADP4560+15
- SCH4540−5
- DIP4048+8
- DIS4050+10
Abilities shaped by the Romance — where it differs from the Records Differences of 10 or more
RNo direct record — estimated from his officesWei 4 §85
NBacked Sima Yan as heir and urged him to accept the abdication, siding with the new dynastyCh. 119 §32Ch. 119 §37
RNo direct record — estimated from his officesWei 4 §85
NJudged that Sima Yan did not have the look of a man who would be another's subjectCh. 119 §32
7 similar abilities — show evidence
RNo direct record — estimated from his record of accompanying a campaignWei 4 §85
NNo direct record — estimated from his being an adviserCh. 112 §1
RNo direct record — estimated from his being a civil officialWei 4 §85
NNo direct record — estimated from his being a civil officialCh. 112 §1
RNo direct record — estimated from his serving as an adviser accompanying the General-in-ChiefWei 4 §85
NNo direct record — estimated from his being an adviser summoned to discuss plansCh. 112 §1
RNo direct record — estimated from his joining the campaign as Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary in place of the Masters of WritingWei 4 §85
NNo direct record — estimated from his being a close ministerCh. 119 §35
RNo direct record — estimated from his officesWei 4 §85
NNo direct record — estimated from his deedsCh. 119 §35
RNo direct record — estimated from his being Cavalier Attendant-in-OrdinaryWei 4 §85
NNo direct record — estimated from his officesCh. 119 §35
RNo direct record — estimated from his officesWei 4 §85
NRemonstrated with Sima Zhao to make his eldest son heirCh. 119 §32
Records Romance Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.
Romance chapters (2)
AppearsNot present Chapter list →
Allegiance history
- Wei · Records · Records vol. 23 「大將軍曹爽辟」
Family
| Parents | Pei Qian(裴潛) Records |
|---|
Based on Wikidata items for the historical and Romance figures. Relations without the Unverified badge were also confirmed in the Records.