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Pei Xingjian
Tang general and personnel official who tricked the Western Turk leader Ashina Duzhi into capture, beat the Eastern Turks at Heishan, and ran official selection for a decade
At dusk on a hilltop, a large tent stands open with a table holding a map marked with small stones inside, a saddled horse tethered outside, and fire stands burning; campfires dot the river plain below, and one tiny sentry stands on the slope.
Also known as Zi Shouyue · Wenxi Xiangong · Xian
Pei Xingjian, courtesy name Shouyue, came from Wenxi in Jiangzhou; his father, the Sui general Pei Renji, had been killed by Wang Shichong. He passed the classics examination under Taizong and learned the art of war from Su Dingfang. As magistrate of Chang'an he was demoted to the far west for objecting to Wu Zhao's elevation as empress, rising to protector-general of Anxi in 665. As vice minister of personnel he and Li Jingxuan ran official selection for over ten years, introducing posted rolls of candidates that became standard practice. In 679, escorting a Persian prince home, he lured the Western Turk leader Ashina Duzhi into a trap, then crushed the Eastern Turks at Heishan, and in 681 received Ashina Funian's surrender, only for Pei Yan to claim the credit for others and have Funian and fifty-three followers executed, which Pei Xingjian feared would deter future surrenders. He died in 682, a skilled cursive calligrapher, with the posthumous name Xian.
Life and times
Dates 619 CE–682 CE