Xue Ying

Xue Ying
Xue Ying
薛瑩
Regular Mounted Attendant (散騎常侍)
	In office; 280–282
Monarch	Emperor Wu of Jin
Minister of the Household (光祿勳)
	In office; ?–280
Monarch	Sun Hao
Left State Historian (左國史)
	In office; ?–?
Monarch	Sun Hao
Commandant of the Left District of Wuchang (武昌左部督)
	In office; 273 or before – ?
Monarch	Sun Hao
Junior Tutor of the Crown Prince (太子少傅)
	In office; 269–?
Monarch	Sun Hao
Master of Writing in the Selection Bureau (選曹尚書)
	In office; 264?–?
Monarch	Sun Hao
Left Upholder of the Law (左執法)
	In office; 264?–?
Monarch	Sun Hao
Personal details
Born	Unknown
Died	282
Relations	Xue Xu (brother)
Children	Xue Jian
Parent	Xue Zong (father);
Occupation	Historian, poet, politician
Courtesy name	Daoyan (道言)

Xue Ying (died 282^[1]), courtesy name Daoyan, was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of China. After the fall of Wu, he continued serving under the Jin dynasty (266–420). His ancestral home was in Zhuyi County (竹邑縣), Pei Commandery (沛郡), which is around present-day Suzhou, Anhui. He was the second son of Xue Zong, a notable official and scholar of Eastern Wu.

Service under Wu

Service under Sun Xiu

After Sun Xiu ascended the throne, he appointed Yu Si, He Shao, Wang Fan and Xue Ying as Central Regular Mounted Attendants (散騎中常侍).^[2] After a few years, Xue Ying resigned his positions due to illness.^[3]

Service under Sun Hao

Early in Sun Hao's reign, he assigned Xue Ying as Left Upholder of the Law (左執法). After an unknown period of time, Xue Ying's position was changed to Master of Writing in the Selection Bureau (選曹尚書). After Sun Hao instated his son Sun Jin as crown prince in February or March 269, Xue Ying was made Junior Tutor of the Crown Prince (太子少傅), a position he held in addition to Master of Writing in the Selection Bureau.^[4]^[5]

When Sun Hao surrendered to the Jin army in 280, Xue Ying helped Sun Hao to draft the surrender documents.^[6]

Service under Jin

After Sun Hao's surrender, Xue Ying went to Luoyang. In an audience with Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), the emperor calmly asked Xue Ying, "Why did Sun Hao lose his kingdom?" Xue Ying replied, "When ruling Wu, Sun Hao was close to xiaoren and added punishments indiscriminately. He had no trusted officials or generals and everyone lived in fear. That is how he lost his kingdom." Sima Yan then continued asking about the abilities of the Wu officials who survived the invasion; Xue Ying was able to answer truthfully.^[7]

References

^ While Xue Ying's birth year was not recorded, his father Xue Zong died in 243. Thus, Xue Ying's birth year should be in or before 243.
^ (孙休即位，与贺邵、薛莹、虞汜俱为散骑中常侍...) Sanguozhi vol. 65. This account was found in Wang Fan's biography and thus his name was not mentioned.
^ (数年，以病去官。) Sanguozhi, vol.53
^ (孙皓初，为左执法，迁选曹尚书，及立太子，又领少傅。) Sanguozhi, vol.53
^ According to Sun Hao's biography in Sanguozhi, he ascended the throne on the same day as Sun Xiu's death, which is the guiwei day of the 7th month of the 7th year of the Yongan era of Sun Xiu's reign. This corresponds to 3 September 264 in the Gregorian calendar. Also in his biography, it was recorded that Sun Jin was made crown prince in the 1st month of the 1st year of the Jianheng era of his reign. (建衡元年春正月，立子瑾为太子...) Sanguozhi, vol.48. This corresponds to 19 Feb to 19 Mar 269 on the Julian calendar.
^ (天纪四年，督军征皓，皓奉书司马由、王浑、王浚请降，其文，莹所造也。) Sanguozhi, vol.53
^ (武帝从容问莹曰：“孙皓之所以亡者何也？”莹对曰：“归命侯臣皓之君吴也，昵近小人，刑罚妄加，大臣大将，无所亲信，人人忧恐，各不自保，危亡之衅，实由于此。”帝遂问吴士存亡者之贤愚，莹各以状对.) Jin Ji (by Gan Bao) annotation in Sanguozhi, vol.53