Pan Chengyou

Pan Chengyou was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period states Wu, Min (including Min's separatist branch state Yin), and Southern Tang, briefly serving as a chancellor during the reign of Yin's only emperor Wang Yanzheng (later Min's emperor).

Background and service under Wu It is not known when Pan Chengyou was born, but it is known that he was from Jin'an (晉安, in modern Fuzhou, Fujian). At one point, he served the state of Wu as the judicial officer at Guang Prefecture (光州, in modern Xinyang, Henan). At some point, there was a major legal case at the prefecture, but Pan's advice to the prefect was not heeded. He thereafter abandoned his commission and returned to his home territory, which was then ruled by the state of Min.

Service under Min and Yin After return to Min, Pan Chengyou served in its government, eventually becoming the deputy chief judge of its supreme court (大理少卿, Dali Shaoqing). Wang Yanzheng invited Pan to serve on his staff, making Pan his assistant in financial matters (度支判官, Duzhi Panguan).

Shortly later, Pan submitted a petition, pointing out 10 things that, in Pan's opinion, were problematic with Wang Yanzheng's rule of the Yin state: Cha treated Pan Chengyou with respect. Southern Tang's emperor Li Jing subsequently commissioned Pan as the deputy minister of military supplies (衛尉少卿, Weiwei Shaoqing), and then the minister of vassal relations (鴻臚卿, Honglu Qing). Li Jing also entrusted Pan with advising on the matters of what former Min officials could be incorporated into his own administration, as well as how to adjust the administrative divisions of the former Min territory. Among the former Min officials that he recommended who would later serve Southern Tang well included Chen Hui , Lin Renzhao (林仁肇, Lin Renhan's younger brother), Xu Wenzhen , Chen Decheng , and Zheng Yanhua . After he grew older and ill, he requested to retire, and was allowed to retire to a mountain west of Hong Prefecture (洪州, in modern Nanchang, Jiangxi), where he would die. His son Pan Shenxiu would later serve an official of the succeeding Song dynasty.

Notes and references

Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms, vol. 96. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 281, 282, 293.