Pi Guangye

Pi Guangye (; 877 – March 16, 943 ), courtesy name Wentong , was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Wuyue, serving as a chancellor during the reign of its second king Qian Yuanguan.

Background Pi Guangye was born in 877, during the reign of Emperor Xizong of Tang. His family was said to have been at Jingling, Xiangyang for generations. His father Pi Rixiu was a prominent late-Tang poet. At one point, Pi Rixiu served as the assistant to the prefect of Su Prefecture (蘇州, in modern Suzhou, Jiangsu) in military matters, and he settled his family there. Pi Guangye was born at Su Prefecture. It was said that when he was nine, he was already capable of writing. He also gave Pi the honorary title of Mishu Lang , and also gave him the designation Jinshi Jidi — i.e., someone who had passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class, even though Pi did not appear to have ever submitted himself for such examinations. Qian Yuanguan put Pi Guangye in charge of Zhendong Circuit. Pi became responsible for drafting much of the law and the ceremonial regulations of the state. He died in 943 and was given the posthumous name Zhenjing (貞敬, "honest and alert"). He left a 13-volume work about the sights that he had seen.

Notes and references

Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms, vol. 86. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 269, 281.