Xue Ying 薛瑩

Xue Ying was the son of Xue Zong and the younger brother of Xue Xu, who had served as General Who Overawes the South; his courtesy name was Daoyan. He first became Gentleman of the Secretariat in the Imperial Archives. According to the Biography of Wei Yao, when Sun Liang took the throne and Zhuge Ke assisted in the government, Wei Yao became Prefect Grand Historian and compiled the Book of Wu, and Hua He, Xue Ying and others all took part. Records, Wu 8 §49 · 51Records, Wu 20 §39

When Sun Xiu took the throne, he became Palace Cavalier Regular Attendant. According to the Biography of Wang Fan, he became Palace Cavalier Regular Attendant at this time together with Wang Fan, He Shao and Yu Si, all of whom were also given the title of Commandant-Escort, and opinion at the time held them to be men of integrity. After some years he left office because of illness. At the beginning of Sun Hao's reign he became Law Enforcer of the Left, was promoted to Master of Writing of the Selection Bureau, and when the Crown Prince was established he also served as Junior Tutor. In the 1st year of Jianheng (269), Lu Kai, who had fallen ill, named Xue Ying in his parting words to Sun Hao, together with Lou Xuan, He Shao and others, as pillars of the state and fine aides of the realm. Records, Wu 8 §51Records, Wu 20 §2Records, Wu 16 §28

In the 3rd year of Jianheng (271), when Sun Hao, recalling with admiration the writings left by Xue Ying's father Xue Zong, commanded Xue Ying to continue them, Xue Ying presented a poem. In it he praised how his father had fled the disorders and come to the southeast, been summoned by the Great Emperor (Sun Quan), served as Administrator of Hepu and risen to a pivotal post at court, and become Junior Tutor when Emperor Wen (Sun He) was made heir. He went on to say that his elder brother Xue Xu had received a command to campaign in the south, while he himself had been entrusted with the key post of judging men and with tutoring the Eastern Palace, though his talent did not match his late father's, and he vowed to repay in death by tying the grass and in life by giving his own body. Records, Wu 8 §51–55

That year, when He Ding proposed cutting through Shengxi to connect the Yangtze and the Huai, Sun Hao had Xue Ying go to supervise ten thousand men. But because of the many boulders the work was hard to carry out, so he abandoned it and returned, and was sent out as Left Area Commander of Wuchang. Later, when He Ding was executed, Sun Hao brought up the Shengxi affair after the fact, threw Xue Ying into prison and exiled him to Guang Province. According to the Biography of Lu Kang, on hearing that the Left Area Commander of Wuchang Xue Ying had been recalled and imprisoned, Lu Kang submitted a memorial. He pleaded for a pardon, saying that Xue Ying's father Xue Zong had offered counsel to the late emperor and assisted Emperor Wen, and that Xue Ying too, after inheriting the family calling, had cultivated his name and conduct at court, so the offense he now faced could be forgiven. Records, Wu 8 §56Records, Wu 13 §77–79

The Historian of the Right Hua He submitted a memorial saying that at the end of the Great Emperor's reign Ding Fu and Xiang Jun first compiled the Book of Wu but it was not worth recording, and that under the Young Emperor five men, Wei Yao, Zhou Zhao, Xue Ying, Liang Guang and Hua He himself, had compiled it with full beginnings and ends. But Zhou Zhao and Liang Guang had died first, Wei Yao had committed an offense, and Xue Ying had gone out as a general and then been exiled for a fault, so the book had been left neglected. Hua He said that Xue Ying was widely read in learning and his writing especially subtle, foremost among his colleagues, and that few had a talent for narrative writing equal to Xue Ying's, and he lamented his loss for the sake of the state. Records, Wu 8 §56–58

Sun Hao at last recalled Xue Ying and made him Historian of the Left. Soon afterward, Miao Yi, Master of Writing of the Selection Bureau and a man of the same commandery, incurred the hatred of petty men, was demoted to Administrator of Hengyang and was further taken to task; on his way to apologize he called on Xue Ying, and was then accused of gathering at Xue Ying's residence with many retainers. Miao Yi was exiled to Guiyang and Xue Ying was sent back to Guang Province, but before he arrived he was recalled again and restored to office. At this time laws and government were often misguided and measures were vexatious and harsh, and Xue Ying repeatedly submitted proposals urging that punishments be eased and labor service reduced to relieve the people, some of which were put into effect. He was promoted to Superintendent of the Imperial Household. Records, Wu 8 §59–60

In the 4th year of Tianji (280), when the Jin armies attacked Sun Hao, Sun Hao adopted the plan of the Superintendent of the Imperial Household Xue Ying, the Prefect of the Palace Writers Hu Chong and others, and sent envoys separately to Wang Jun, Sima Zhou and Wang Hun to present letters asking to surrender; the letter was composed by Xue Ying. On reaching Luoyang Xue Ying was given special priority in appointment and became Cavalier Regular Attendant, and his answers to questions and his handling of affairs were all well ordered. He died in the 3rd year of Taikang (282). He wrote a work in eight chapters titled New Discussions. Records, Wu 8 §61Records, Wu 3 §83

In assessing the biographies of Wang Fan, Lou Xuan, He Shao and Wei Yao, Chen Shou first quoted Xue Ying's words. Xue Ying judged that Wang Fan was generous and outstanding in capacity, Lou Xuan pure and principled, He Shao lofty in his disciplined resolve, and Wei Yao devoted to learning and fond of antiquity, with a talent for recording and narrating. Records, Wu 20 §84

In his assessment Chen Shou said that Xue Zong became a fine minister of Wu through his learning and remonstrance, and wrote that Xue Ying, in following in his father's footsteps, truly had the spirit of his forebears, but that repeatedly rising to high rank at a cruel and oppressive court was something a gentleman would have regarded as perilous. Records, Wu 8 §63