Xue Zong 薛綜

Xue Zong, courtesy name Jingwen, was a man of Zhuyi County in Pei Commandery. In his youth he followed his clansmen to take refuge in Jiao Province and studied under Liu Xi. After Shi Xie submitted to Sun Quan, Sun Quan summoned Xue Zong, made him Gentleman of the Five Offices and appointed him Administrator of Hepu and Jiaozhi. At that time the land of Jiao Province had only just been opened up, and when the Inspector Lü Dai led troops on a punitive campaign, Xue Zong went with him, crossing the sea on the southern expedition as far as Jiuzhen. When the campaign was over he returned to the capital and served as acting Supervisor of the Internuncios. Records, Wu 8 §30–31

Zhang Feng, an envoy from the west, mocked the Master of Writing Kan Ze in Sun Quan's presence by breaking down the characters of his name, and Kan Ze could not answer. Xue Zong came down to pour the wine and, as he offered a cup, teased Zhang Feng by breaking down the character for 'Shu', saying that with 'dog' (犬) beside it, it becomes 'alone' (獨), without the dog it is 'Shu', and a 'worm' (虫) has got into its belly. When Zhang Feng said that in that case he should break down his own 'Wu' as well, Xue Zong replied at once, explaining the character for 'Wu' as meaning the capital of the Son of Heaven, who reigns over all nations. Everyone present laughed with delight, and Zhang Feng had nothing to say in reply. Chen Shou wrote that his quick wit was always like this. Records, Wu 8 §31–32

When Lü Dai was recalled from Jiao Province, Xue Zong, fearing that Lü Dai's successor would not be the right man, submitted a memorial. In it he set out in order the history of the region since Emperor Wu of Han opened nine commanderies and established the Inspector of Jiaozhi, the customs he had seen when he first went there as a sojourner, how earlier inspectors and senior officials had been either self-indulgent or lacking in authority so that rebellions were frequent, how Bu Zhi was recalled just as he had barely set the order right, and how Lü Dai came and put down the upheaval of the Shi clan. He then stated that Gaoliang still harboured long-standing bandits and that the borders of the four commanderies of Nanhai, Cangwu, Yulin and Zhuguan were not yet pacified, so a meticulous man with strategy and wisdom should be chosen as the new inspector and lent authority and favour, for the security of the state depended on whom it appointed. Records, Wu 8 §32–41

In the 3rd year of Huanglong (231), when Sun Lü, Marquis of Jianchang, became General-in-Chief Who Guards the Army and was stationed at Banzhou, Xue Zong was made his Chief Clerk, managing his affairs outside and teaching him the books within. When Sun Lü died in the 1st month of the 1st year of Jiahe (232), Xue Zong entered the court as acting Master of Writing of the Bureau of Banditry and was transferred to Deputy Director of the Imperial Secretariat. Records, Wu 8 §42Records, Wu 2 §72

In the 2nd year of Jiahe (233), when Gongsun Yuan beheaded Sun Quan's envoy Zhang Mi and others and sent their heads to Wei, Sun Quan was enraged and wanted to march against him in person. Xue Zong submitted a memorial saying that an emperor or king is the head of all nations and should not cross the perils of water and fire, and he listed three reasons against it: Liaodong was cold and barren and its people moved about on horseback, so even if the empty land were taken there would be no benefit in holding it; on the sea route it was hard to avoid wind and waves; and under thick fog and the vapour of salt water, sores and swellings spread, so that few who travelled by sea escaped this affliction. He also said that once the Central Plains were pacified Liaodong would collapse of its own accord, so one need only fold one's hands and wait. At this time many ministers remonstrated, and Sun Quan in the end did not go; the Biography of the Lord of Wu records that he stopped when the Deputy Director of the Imperial Secretariat Xue Zong and others earnestly remonstrated. Records, Wu 2 §73 · 75–76Records, Wu 8 §42–47

When Zhuge Ke pacified the Shanyue and took in their people, Sun Quan, commending his achievement, sent the Deputy Director of the Imperial Secretariat Xue Zong to reward the troops. Xue Zong first sent a dispatch to Zhuge Ke and the others in praise: the Shanyue had relied on their rugged terrain and refused to submit for generations, yet without staining their blades with blood they had swept the mountains and marshes and offered up 100,000 soldiers, a feat with which neither Fang Shu and Shao Hu of Zhou nor Wei Qing and Huo Qubing of Han could compare. Records, Wu 19 §10–12

On the day yiwei of the 1st month, Sun Quan told Xue Zong not to use the customary text in the prayer to the ancestors. Xue Zong, receiving the edict, composed one on the spot, and its language was brilliant; when Sun Quan told him to write two more to make three, the language of the prayers he composed again was entirely fresh, and everyone praised them. Records, Wu 8 §48

In the 3rd year of Chiwu (240) he was transferred to Master of Writing for Selection. According to Gu Tan's biography, when Xue Zong became Master of Writing for Selection he firmly tried to yield the post to Gu Tan, saying that Gu Tan was precise of mind and meticulous in conduct, not a man whom a foolish subject like himself could presume to precede, and later Gu Tan did in fact replace Xue Zong. In the 5th year of Chiwu (242), when Sun He was made Crown Prince, Kan Ze became his Grand Tutor and Xue Zong his Junior Tutor, and Xue Zong continued to hold the duties of selecting officials as before. He died in the spring of the 6th year of Chiwu (243). The poems, rhapsodies, disputations and essays he wrote came to tens of thousands of words in all and were titled Sizai (Private Records); he also compiled the Wuzong tushu and the Erjing jie, all of which were handed down in the world. Records, Wu 8 §48Records, Wu 7 §41Records, Wu 14 §22

His son Xue Xu rose to the rank of General Who Overawes the South and died of illness on the road back from a campaign against Jiaozhi. Xue Xu's younger brother Xue Ying became Master of Writing for Selection under Sun Hao and also served as Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince; in the 3rd year of Jianheng (271), when Sun Hao, recalling with admiration the writings left by Xue Zong, ordered Xue Ying to continue them, Xue Ying presented a poem. The poem told how his father Xue Zong, meeting with times of turmoil, turned to the southeast for refuge and endured hardship on the southern frontier, then was summoned and made Administrator of Hepu, entered the capital and rose to the pivot of government, but passed from the world without having repaid the great favour he had received. Later, in a memorial to Sun Hao, Lu Kai said that because the late emperor had kept Hu Zong and Xue Zong close at court, his many achievements shone. Records, Wu 8 §49 · 51–53Records, Wu 16 §40

In his assessment Chen Shou said that through his learning and remonstrance Xue Zong became a fine minister of Wu. He added that his son Xue Ying, following in his father's footsteps, had the manner of his forebear, but that a gentleman would have regarded as perilous his repeated rise to high rank at a cruel and violent court. Records, Wu 8 §63