Pei Xingben (裴è¡Âæ¬) was a Chinese politician of Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, serving briefly as chancellor.
Despite Pei's high status, little is firmly established about his background or career except for the time that he served as chancellorâÂÂas, unusual for a chancellor, he did not have a biography in either the Old Book of Tang or the New Book of Tang. It is known that his grandfather Pei Xian (裴ç») served as a provincial governor during Tang dynasty's predecessor dynasty Sui dynasty and carried the title of Duke of Linfen, but nothing is known about his father Pei Yishan (裴義山) except the name.
As of 691, Pei Xingben was serving as the deputy minister of public works (å¬å®Âä¾ÂéÂÂ, Donguan Shilang), when Wu Zetian gave him the designation Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi (Ã¥ÂÂé³³é£é¸Âèº平章äºÂ), making him a chancellor de facto. In 692, he, along with fellow chancellors Ren Zhigu and Di Renjie and other officials Cui Xuanli (å´Â宣禮), Lu Xian (ç§ç»), Wei Yuanzhong, and Li Sizhen (æÂÂå£çÂÂ), were accused of treason by Wu Zetian's secret police official Lai Junchen. Eventually, they escaped death when Di was able to hide a secret petition inside clothes that his family members took back home and was able to persuade Wu Zetian that they were not plotting treason. However, they were still exiledâÂÂin Pei's case, stripped of official status and exiled to the Lingnan region. There was no further reference in history about him, and it is not known when he died. (Lai tried to specifically argue that Pei's alleged crimes were particularly severe and if the other six were not to be executed, at least Pei should, but Wu Zetian, following the recommendation of Xu Yougong (å¾ÂæÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ), did not kill Pei.)