Pei Guangting (Chinese: 裴光庭; pinyin: Péi Guāngtíng; 676 - March 27, 733[1]), courtesy name Liancheng (連城), formally Baron Zhongxian of Zhengping (正平忠獻男),[2] was a Chinese diplomat, politician, and writer during the Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong.
During the reign of Emperor Gaozong's wife Wu Zetian (r. 690–705), she summoned Pei Guangting's mother Lady Kudi into the palace and made her a senior lady in waiting; as a result, Pei Guangting was promoted, eventually to be the Taichang Cheng (太常丞), the secretary general at the ministry of worship.
Early in the Kaiyuan era (713–741) of Emperor Ruizong's son Emperor Xuanzong, Pei Guangting was recalled, initially to be an officer in the imperial guards, and subsequently as a low-level official (郎中, Langzhong) at the ministry of justice (刑部, Xingbu) and then at the ministry of defense (兵部, Bingbu).
After Emperor Xuanzong returned from Mount Tai, Pei was made the deputy minister of defense (兵部侍郎, Bingbu Shilang).
A few months later on 2 May,[9] he was also given the additional post as the minister of civil service affairs (吏部尚書, Libu Shangshu), in charge of selecting officials.
He thereafter submitted two works Yaoshan Wangze (瑤山往則) and Weicheng Qiangui (維城前軌) as advice to Emperor Xuanzong.
However, when Pei proposed a more ambitious work—a series of biographies in the tradition of the Zuo Zhuan, to be written by a team of scholars selected by him, including Li Rong (李融), Zhang Qi (張琪), and Sima Libin (司馬利賓), the project did not make progress and was eventually abandoned.
In 732, Pei attended Emperor Xuanzong's sacrifices to earth, and was given the honorific title of Guanglu Daifu (光祿大夫) and created the Baron of Zhengping.