Linghu Defen (令狐德棻)

Overview

Linghu Defen was an official.

PeriodSui and Tang

IdentityHistorical · Male

Roles

Found in

Life and dates

Attested activity

AD 622 唐武德五年
Directly stated · Book of Sui 86, passage 3
AD 626 to AD 649 初
Dated from the passage context · New Book of Tang 20, passage 89
AD 602 劉方擒佛子送于京師
Dated from the passage context · Book of Sui 56, passages 111-112
AD 626 to AD 649 太宗
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 38
AD 627 to AD 649 貞觀
Dated from the passage context · Old Book of Tang 27, passage 2

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Child of Linghu Xi (令狐熙)
youngest son 少子 · paternal line
Directly stated · Book of Sui 56, passage 112

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Attendant Diarist 起居舍人
Held
Directly stated · Book of Sui 86, passage 3
Vice Minister of Rites 禮部侍郎
Held
Directly stated · Old Book of Tang 27, passage 2; New Book of Tang 20, passage 89
Granted
AD 602 劉方擒佛子送于京師 · Permitted to enter office
Directly stated · Book of Sui 56, passages 111-112

Places and affiliations

Polity Sui 隋 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · Book of Sui 56, passage 111
Polity Tang 唐 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Old Book of Tang 27, passage 2; Book of Sui 86, passage 3; New Book of Tang 20, passage 89; New Book of Tang 95, passage 38

Works and attributed material

Memorial · Author · With Taizong (太宗)
Directly stated · Old Book of Tang 27, passage 2
Memorial · Author · Mode quotation Speaker Linghu Defen (令狐德棻)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 20, passages 89-95
Memorial · Author
Directly stated · Book of Sui 86, passage 3

Events and relationships

Records of Clans 氏族志
AD 626 to AD 649 太宗 · Scholarly · Compiler · Commissioned to compile
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 95, passage 38
Debated mourning dress reform
Scholarly · Discussant · With Wei Zheng (魏徵)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 20, passages 89-95
Requested compilation
Political · Memorialist · Object histories of the Five Dynasties 五代史
Directly stated · Book of Sui 86, passage 3

Assessments and attributes

Assessment most renowned among the sons · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Sui 56, passage 112

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 20, passage 89; New Book of Tang 95, passage 38

References in the histories

Book of Sui, Chapter 56Volume 56 Biographies 21: Lu Kai, Ling Huxi, Xue Zhou, Yu Wenbi, Zhang Heng, Yang Wang · 1 passage

Open chapter

少子德棻，最知名。 The youngest son, Defen, was the most renowned.

Book of Sui, Chapter 86Volume 86: the Second Year of the Tian Sheng Reign Publication Mark · 1 passage

Open chapter

唐武德五年，起居舍人令狐德棻奏請修五代史。 In the fifth year of Wude, Attendant Diarist Linghu Defen submitted a memorial asking that the histories of the Five Dynasties be compiled.

New Book of Tang, Chapter 20Volume 20 Treatises 10: Rites and Music 10 · 1 passage

Open chapter

初，太宗嘗以同爨緦而嫂叔乃無服，舅與從母親等而異服，詔侍中魏徵、禮部侍郎令狐德棻等議：「舅為母族，姨乃外戚它姓，舅固為重，而服止一時，姨喪乃五月，古人未達者也。 Early on Taizong observed that kin eating from one pot wore finest hemp, yet elder brother's wife and husband's younger brother had no mourning; maternal uncle and aunt were equally close yet dressed differently. He ordered Wei Zheng, Linghu Defen, and others to debate: "The uncle is mother's clan; the aunt is outer kin of another surname—the uncle weighs heavier, yet mourning lasts one season while the aunt's is five months: the ancients missed this.

New Book of Tang, Chapter 95Volume 95 Biographies 20: Gao Jian and Fifth Generation Descendents: Gao Zhong, Dou Weizhi, Douzhi, Dou Gui, Dou Cong, Dou Kang, Dou Jing, Dou Dan, Dou Zhi, Dou Congsun: Dou Dexuan · 1 passage

Open chapter

由是詔士廉與韋挺、岑文本、令狐德棻責天下譜諜，參考史傳，檢正真偽，進忠賢，退悖惡，先宗室，後外戚，退新門，進舊望，右膏粱，左寒畯，合二百九十三姓，千六百五十一家，為九等，號曰《氏族志》，而崔幹仍居第一。 He therefore charged Shilian, Wei Ting, Cen Wenti, and Linghu Defen to compile the empire's genealogies, cross-check them against history, promote the worthy and demote the corrupt, rank the imperial clan before affinal kin, favor old houses over parvenus, and place the wellborn above the humble. The result listed 293 surnames in 1,651 households across nine grades, published as Records of Clans — yet Cui Gan still headed the list.