Wei Zheng

Wei Zheng (580–643), courtesy name Xuancheng, was a statesman and historian of the early Tang dynasty. He rose to the offices of Shizhong and Taizi Taishi, was enfeoffed as Duke of Zheng, received the posthumous title Wenzhen, and was numbered among the twenty-four founding heroes of Lingyan Pavilion. Through blunt and forthright remonstrance he assisted Emperor Taizong and helped bring about the Zhenguan era of good governance. He presided over the compilation of the Sui Shu and the other four early Tang histories, and edited the Qunshu Zhiyao. His surviving works span historical writing, Eastern philosophy, and ancient verse; they show both a historian's rigorous pursuit of fact and the dignified tone of court ceremonial poetry. Readers may turn to his histories for the early Tang's reflection on the preceding dynasty, to the Qunshu Zhiyao for his ideas on statecraft, and to his suburban and ancestral temple songs for the ritual music of the early Tang.