生平

祖父杜皎是北周為遂州刺史，父親杜徽為河內郡太守。杜淹年幼時，聰辯多才藝，有美名，與同鄉韋福嗣是情投意合的朋友，開皇年間，他們互相謀劃說：「皇上喜歡任用合乎正道的退隱人士，蘇威以隱士被徵召，被提拔到位高權重的職務，何不各自效仿他。」于是韋福嗣與杜淹一起進入太白山，對外宣揚要隱遁，實際想要企求時人的稱譽。隋文帝楊堅聽說後討厭他們，將兩人流放到江南。大赦天下後，杜淹回京。雍州司馬高孝基上表推薦，朝廷授他承奉郎。大業末年，官至御史中丞。

618年，隋朝滅亡，次年王世充在洛陽廢皇泰主楊侗自立為鄭國皇帝。以杜淹為吏部尚書，很是信任。杜如晦的大哥和弟弟杜楚客密謀在洛陽起事，事情洩露，哥哥被殺，杜楚客被關押。621年，李世民平定洛陽，差點杜淹作為鄭國高官被殺，是杜楚客說服哥哥杜如晦營救。

杜淹起初想投靠唐朝的太子李建成。負責選官的封德彞告訴了房玄齡，房玄齡怕太子得到會陰謀的杜淹對李世民不利，便推薦杜淹為天策府兵曹參軍、文學館學士。

624年，慶州總管楊文幹私運東宮鎧甲，事發，唐高祖大怒，囚禁了李建成。楊文幹害怕舉兵謀反，被李世民平定。事後，齊王李元吉的勸說下，唐高祖釋放了李建成，而歸罪于杜淹和東宮的屬官韋挺將他流放到巂州。李世民知淹無罪，贈以黃金三百兩。

626年，玄武門之變後，李世民即位為唐太宗。召回了杜淹，拜御史大夫，封安吉郡公，賜實封四百戶。因為杜淹通曉古代典章，特詔東宮儀式簿領，由他主管。627年，杜淹判吏部尚書，參議朝政，成為宰相之一。前後推薦四十餘人，後來多為知名官員。

杜淹曾推薦刑部員外郎郅懷道，太宗問杜淹：「郅懷道才行怎麼樣？」杜淹回答：「懷道在隋朝作吏部主事，有清廉謹慎之名。隋煬帝三下江都時，行計已決，公卿都違心贊同巡遊，郅懷道官位極卑，獨稱不可。臣親眼所見。」太宗問：「卿當是對下江都怎麼說的？」杜淹回答：「臣從行計。」太宗問：「事君之義，有犯無隱。卿稱懷道為是，為什麼自不正諫？」杜淹回答：「臣當時不居重任，又知就是進諫也必定不從，徒死無益。」太宗問：「孔子稱從父之命，未為孝子。故父有爭子，國有爭臣。若以君主之無道，為什麼還做他的官？既食其祿，為什麼不匡正他的過失？」

太宗又召杜淹笑著問：「卿在隋朝，可以說官位小而不言；仕王世充，為何不極諫？」杜淹回答：「亦有諫，但王世充不從。」太宗說：「王世充若修德從善，當不滅亡；既然他無道拒諫，卿怎麼能免禍？」杜淹啞口無言。太宗又問：「卿在今日，為宰相之一，會陳辭極諫嗎？」杜淹回答：「臣在今日，必盡死無隱。當年，百里奚在虞國時，虞國亡；在秦國時，秦國霸，臣竊自比之。」太宗笑。當時，杜淹兼二職，而無清廉之譽，又素與長孫無忌關係不好，被當時輿論批評。有病的時候，太宗親自到他家慰問，賜帛三百匹。貞觀二年（628年）杜淹去世，贈尚書右僕射，謚號襄。子杜敬同襲爵，官至鴻臚少卿。杜敬同子杜從則，唐中宗時為蒲州刺史。

家庭

父母

• 杜徽，隋朝懷州長史、豐鄉縣侯

• 郭素絜，本州大中正郭褒之女，杜徽繼室夫人，封豐鄉縣夫人

兄弟

• 杜吒，隋朝昌州長史

• 杜銳，隋朝親衛校尉

子女

• 杜氏，嫁唐朝吉陽縣縣令鄭世基

• 杜氏，嫁唐朝司稼正卿韋思齊

注釋

During Sui Dynasty

It is not known when Du Yan was born, but it is known that he was from Sui Dynasty's capital commandery Jingzhao (京兆, i.e., Chang'an). His grandfather Du Ye (杜業) was a provincial governor for Sui's predecessor state Northern Zhou, and his father Du Zheng (杜徵) was a commandery governor for Northern Zhou. In his youth, Du Yan had a good reputation for being talented in rhetoric, and he and a friend from the same commandery, Wei Fusi (韋福嗣), conversed between themselves and concluded that Emperor Wen of Sui favored people who had been hermits. They therefore went into Mount Taibai (太白山, part of the Qinling Mountains), to try to gain reputations as hermits in order to benefit themselves later on in their careers. When Emperor Wen heard this, however, he became angry at them, and he exiled them to the south of the Yangtze River.

Later, probably after a general pardon, Du Yan was able to return to Chang'an. Gao Xiaoji (高孝基), an official of the capital province Yong Province (雍州) submitted a recommendation for him, and he was made a low level imperial official. By the end of the reign of Emperor Wen's son Emperor Yang, he was the deputy imperial censor.

Service under Wang Shichong

In 619, with the Sui state collapsing in light of rebellions around the empire before and after Emperor Yang's death in a coup in 618, the general Wang Shichong, in control of the eastern capital Luoyang, deposed the last Sui emperor, Emperor Yang's grandson Yang Tong and declared himself emperor of a new state of Zheng. Wang made Du Yan the minister of civil service affairs and trusted him greatly. Meanwhile, Du Yan's nephew Du Ruhui had become an important advisor to Li Shimin, a son of rival Tang Dynasty's Emperor Gaozu and a major Tang general. Du Ruhui's older brother (whose name is lost to history) and younger brother Du Chuke (杜楚客) were at Luoyang at that time, under Zheng rule. Du Yan had poor relations with his nephews, and he decided to act against them. He falsely accused them before Wang, and Wang executed Du Ruhui's older brother and imprisoned Du Chuke. Du Chuke almost starved to death but survived the imprisonment.

In 621, Li Shimin put Luoyang under siege and, after defeating Wang's ally Dou Jiande the Prince of Xia, forced Wang to surrender. Li Shimin spared Wang, but executed a number of his high-level officials. Du Yan was initially set to be executed. Du Chuke asked Du Ruhui to intercede on Du Yan's behalf, and Du Ruhui initially refused. Du Chuke, however, pointed out that while Du Yan was responsible for their older brother's death, he was an uncle. Du Ruhui relented and pleaded with Li Shimin on Du Yan's behalf, and Du Yan was spared.

During Emperor Gaozus reign

Du Yan apparently became a minor official in the imperial administration, but was not promoted. Eventually, he considered resigning and joining the staff of Li Shimin's older brother Li Jiancheng the Crown Prince—with whom Li Shimin was then having an intense rivalry. The official in charge of civil service affairs at that time, Feng Deyi, informed Li Shimin's chief strategist Fang Xuanling of this, and Fang, knowing that Du was intelligent and full of strategies, feared that Du, if he joined Li Jiancheng's staff, would cause detriment to Li Shimin, and therefore persuaded Li Shimin to invite Du to join his staff. Du accepted the invitation.

In 624, there was an incident where Li Jiancheng was discovered to have, against regulations, recruited additional soldiers for his guard corps. Emperor Gaozu was angry and put Li Jiancheng under house arrest for a time. He also considered creating Li Shimin crown prince instead to replace Li Jiancheng. Li Jiancheng's guard commander, Yang Wen'gan, in fear, rose in rebellion. Li Shimin and the other generals quickly defeated and killed Yang. However, with the intercession of another son -- Li Yuanji the Prince of Qi, Feng, and his concubines (who were on much better relations with Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji than with Li Shimin), Emperor Gaozu changed his mind and did not depose Li Jiancheng. Instead, he blamed Li Jiancheng's staff member Wang Gui and two of Li Shimin's staff members—Du and Wei Ting (韋挺) -- of inciting the brothers to struggle against each other. He exiled Wang, Du, and Wei to Xi Prefecture (巂州, roughly modern Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan). Before Du departed, Li Shimin, believing that Du was unfairly blamed, gave him a substantial gift of gold.

During Emperor Taizongs reign

In 626, Li Shimin ambushed Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji at Xuanwu Gate and killed them. He then effectively forced Emperor Gaozu to first create him crown prince and then yield the throne to him (as Emperor Taizong). Emperor Taizong recalled Du Yan from exile, made him the imperial censor, and created him the Duke of Anji. Emperor Taizong made Du in charge of the creation ceremony for his son and crown prince Li Chengqian, and in 627 made him the minister of civil service affairs. He also bestowed Du with the additional designation of Canyu Chaozheng (參豫朝政) -- a de facto chancellor designation. It was said that in these capacities, Du recommended more than 40 people to be imperial officials, and many of them were later known for good service.

There was a famous exchange between Emperor Taizong and Du involving Du's recommendation of a minor imperial official, Di Daohuai (邸道懷). As the Old Book of Tang recorded, this was the conversation:

:Emperor Taizong asked Du, "How are Di's abilities?" Du responded, "During Sui days, Di served as an assistant official at the ministry of civil service affairs, and he was known for his integrity. When Emperor Yang was going to visit Jiangdu in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), where Emperor Yang eventually died and made up his mind, the high-level officials were all obedient to Emperor Yang, but Di, despite his low position, was insistent against it. I personally saw that myself. Emperor Taizong asked, "What did you advise Emperor Yang?" Du responded, "I told him to go." Emperor Taizong said, "Part of your responsibility in serving the emperor was to be honest without hiding anything. You praise Di, so why did you not make the same insistent advice?" Du responded, "At that time, I was not in an important post. I also knew that such advice would not be accepted, and it would not be of benefit for me to die." Emperor Taizong responded, "Confucius said that a son who always obeyed his father was not actually a filially pious son. Therefore a father needs to have a son who would give adverse advice, and a state needs to have officials who would give adverse advice. If you believe that Emperor Yang was a tyrant, why continue to serve him? If you accepted his salary, you had the responsibility to give good advice to him." ... He then smiled and said to Du, "When you, Lord, were serving under Sui, you were at a low post and maybe you had justification not to speak up. You were highly honored in Wang Shichong's administration. Why did you not speak up then?" Du responded, "I did. It was just that he did not listen to me." Emperor Taizong responded, "If Wang was virtuous and did what was good, then he would not have been destroyed. If he was a tyrant and resisted adverse advice, how could you have avoided disaster?" Du could not respond. Emperor Taizong then said, "Now you are highly honored. Are you willing to speak up?" Du responded, "I am willing to die. Further, when Baili Xi was at Yu, Yu was destroyed, but when he was at Qin, Qin became a major power. That is whom I secretly compare myself to." Emperor Taizong laughed.

At that time, Du was in multiple posts, but was not known for being honest. He was also discordant with Zhangsun Wuji, and his reputation suffered. When he later became ill, Emperor Taizong personally visited him and bestowed a gift of silk on him. He died in 628.

Notes and references

• Old Book of Tang, vol. 66.https://web.archive.org/web/20080210041809/http://ef.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/ccw/02/tan08.htm

• New Book of Tang, vol. 96.https://web.archive.org/web/20080210053058/http://ef.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/ccw/02/ntan14.htm

• Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 187, 191, 192, 193.