曲城 Ch'ü-ch'êng in Chihli who was left an orphan at an early age and devoted himself with such zeal to literature that he soon took a foremost place among the scholars of his day. Joining the fortunes of Li Yüan, he greatly distinguished himself as a general; and when the former mounted the throne as first Emperor of the T'ang dynasty, Wei Ch'êng became his trusted counsellor. On the abdication of the father he continued in the service of the son, who accepted his reproofs with marvellous equanimity. He seemed to possess the art of making censure seem palatable, and the Emperor declared that his very remonstrances savoured of flattery. In 626 he joined the Council of State. He was appointed President of the Commission for drawing up the History of the Sui Dynasty, and in addition to this he was a poet of no mean order. He was ennobled as Duke, and his portrait was one of the twenty-four in the 凌烟閣 gallery founded by the second Emperor of the T'ang dynasty. At his death his widow declined a public funeral as contrary to his known views, and he was buried simply. The Emperor said, "You may use copper as a mirror for the person; you may use the past as a mirror for politics; and you may use man as a mirror to guide one's judgment in ordinary affairs. These three mirrors I have always carefully cherished; but now that Wei Chêng is gone, I have lost one of them." Canonised as 文貞.
2265 Wei Chieh 衛玠 (T. 叔寶)- A.D. 286-312. Son of Wei Huan , and popularly known as 璧人 The Jewel. At the age of five he was so beautiful that when he went to market in a goat-carriage the people all thought he was a supernatural being. After many times refusing to take office he at length joined the establishment of the Heir Apparent, but during the political troubles which ensued (see Seŭ-ma Chih) he fled with his family to Nanking. The populace, who had heard of his great beauty, crowded round him in such numbers that he was positively "seen to death."
