Xu Miao 徐邈

Xu Miao, courtesy name Jingshan, was a man of Ji County in the state of Yan. When Cao Cao pacified the region north of the Yellow River, Xu Miao was summoned and made Clerk for Military Planning to the Chancellor; he served on trial as acting Prefect of Fenggao, then entered the court as a Clerk of the Eastern Bureau. When the state of Wei was first established, he became Gentleman of the Masters of Writing. Records, Wei 27 §2

At that time drinking was forbidden by law, but Xu Miao drank in secret until he was thoroughly drunk. When the inspector Zhao Da asked him about the affairs of his bureau, Xu Miao said, 'I have been struck by the sage,' and when Zhao Da reported this, Cao Cao was furious. Xianyu Fu, General Who Crosses the Liao, said that drinkers commonly called clear wine 'the sage' and cloudy wine 'the worthy,' and that Xu Miao was by nature a careful and prudent man who had merely spoken while happening to be drunk; so Xu Miao was found guilty but escaped punishment. Records, Wei 27 §2–3

Later he served concurrently as Administrator of Longxi and was transferred to Nan'an. When Emperor Wen (Cao Pi) took the throne, Xu Miao served in turn as Chancellor of the state of Qiao, Administrator of Pingyang and of Anping, and Agricultural General of the Household of Yingchuan; he won renown wherever he went and was therefore granted the rank of Marquis Within the Passes. Records, Wei 27 §3

When Emperor Wen's carriage visited Xuchang, the emperor asked, 'Are you still often struck by the sage these days?' Xu Miao answered that of old Zifan had died because of Guyang and Yushu had been punished for drinking, that his own fondness for wine was like that of these two men so that he could not restrain himself, and that he was still struck from time to time; and he added, 'Suliu became famous for her ugliness, and I have become known for my drunkenness.' The emperor laughed loudly, looked round at his attendants and said, 'A reputation is not established for nothing.' Xu Miao was transferred to Military Adviser to the General-in-Chief Who Pacifies the Army. Records, Wei 27 §3–4

Emperor Ming (Cao Rui), considering that Liang Province was remote and bordered the Shu enemy to the south, made Xu Miao Inspector of Liang Province and, as Commissioner Bearing Credentials, Colonel Protector of the Qiang. When he arrived, Zhuge Liang had just come out to Mount Qi and the three commanderies of Longyou had rebelled; Xu Miao at once sent his Army Adviser and the Administrator of Jincheng, among others, to attack the rebels of Nan'an, and they defeated them. Records, Wei 27 §5

West of the Yellow River there was little rain and grain was always short. Xu Miao memorialized to restore the salt pools of Wuwei and Jiuquan so as to collect grain from the barbarians, and widely opened paddy fields, recruiting poor people to farm them, so that every household had plenty and the granaries overflowed. With what was left over from the province's military expenses he bought gold, silk, dogs and horses to help supply the needs of the Central States, and he gradually collected the weapons privately held among the people and stored them in the government arsenals. Records, Wei 27 §5–6

After that he guided the people with benevolence and righteousness, founding schools to make teaching clear, forbidding lavish burials, stopping improper sacrifices, promoting the good and dismissing the wicked, so that moral transformation spread widely and the people gave him their hearts. That communication with the Western Regions was opened and the distant Rong came to offer tribute was all Xu Miao's achievement. For his merit in suppressing the rebel Qiang leader Kewu, he was enfeoffed as Marquis of a Chief Village (duting hou) with a fief of 300 households, and the title General Who Establishes Might was added. Records, Wei 27 §6

In dealing with the Qiang and Hu, Xu Miao did not pursue small faults. When someone committed a grave crime, he first informed the chief of that tribe, then beheaded the one who deserved death and displayed him to all, so the tribes trusted and submitted to him and feared his authority. The rewards and gifts he received he distributed entirely to his officers and soldiers and brought none of them home, so that his wife and children did not have enough clothing and food; when the Son of Heaven heard of this he commended him and from time to time provided for his family. He impeached the wicked and corrected the crooked, so that the province became orderly and clean. Records, Wei 27 §7

In the 1st year of Zhengshi (240) he returned to court as Minister of Agriculture, and when he was transferred to Colonel-Director of Retainers, all the officials respected and feared him. He left office over an official matter and later became Grandee of Splendid Happiness. When he was appointed Minister of Works in the 4th month of the 9th year of Zhengshi (248), Xu Miao said, 'The Three Excellencies are officials who discuss the Way; if there is no suitable man, the post is left vacant. How could I disgrace it with my old and sick body?' and he firmly declined and did not accept. Records, Wei 27 §8Records, Wei 4 §27

In the 1st year of Jiaping (249) he died at home at the age of seventy-eight, with the status of a Grandee. He was buried with the rites of an Excellency and given the posthumous name Marquis Mu, and his son Xu Wu succeeded him. In the 6th year of Jiaping (254) the court issued an edict honoring the memory of men of pure integrity, saying that the late Minister of Works Xu Miao, Hu Zhi, General Who Conquers the East, and Tian Yu, Commandant of the Guards, had served four rulers, had been loyal and clean in public office and had not increased their property, so that after their deaths their households had no wealth left; it granted each of their families 2,000 hu of grain and 300,000 cash. Records, Wei 27 §8–9Records, Wei 26 §42

Lu Qin praised him in a book he wrote, saying, 'Lord Xu was lofty in aim and pure in conduct, broad in talent and resolute in spirit,' and 'what the sages found difficult was purity, yet for Lord Xu it was easy.' When someone asked why Xu Miao, who had been called broad-minded in the time of Emperor Wu, was called aloof after he went to Liang Province, Lu Qin answered that formerly, when Mao Xiaoxian (Mao Jie), Cui Jigui (Cui Yan) and others held power and prized men of pure simplicity, everyone changed their carriages and clothing to seek fame, but Lord Xu stayed as he always was; and that recently, when the realm had become extravagant, Lord Xu had kept to his usual loftiness; so it was the people of the world who were inconstant, while Lord Xu was constant. Records, Wei 27 §10–11

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that Xu Miao was pure, lofty, broad and perceptive, and that he, together with Hu Zhi, Wang Chang and Wang Ji, had all held the charge of governing a region, leaving a good name and making their achievements known, so that they could be called good ministers of the state and outstanding men of their age. In the assessment of the Biographies of Han, Cui, Gao, Sun and Wang, he wrote that Han Ji, who entered court service when over eighty, and Gao Rou, who kept his office for twenty years and died in that post, fell short when compared with Xu Miao and Chang Lin. Records, Wei 27 §76Records, Wei 24 §81