ABSTRACT
Zhao Ying was a scholar who lived and died in a turbulent era. He served in various posts in different states, and when he was Grand Councillor in the Later Jin, the state appointed him to the position of General Editor of the Old Tang Records. Upon completion of the project, he lost his position as Grand Councillor, and the title of General Editor also went to his successor Liu Xu, who, as it turned out, was recorded by tradition as the person responsible for the compilation. Liu Xu died of an illness a year after the State of Later Jin fell, and several years later Zhao Ying also died a captive in Khitan. Xue Huaiyi was a commoner who became a monk. Later he demonstrated his ability to Empress Wu by organizing a sutra translation (the Dayun Sutra) which featured a female monarch, and he became very influential.
