Early life

Born Xi Zuan (郤纂) in Yanshi, Henan, Xi Zheng's family moved west from Luoyang into Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing) when he was very young. When Xi Zheng was still a boy, his father Xi Yi (郤揖) died. He was gifted in language and mostly self-educated in the fields of history and government, borrowing books and essays from literati all over Yi Province. He entered government service as a clerk of the palace library, eventually rising to the rank of director over the course of 30 years.

Fall of Shu Han

As director of the imperial library, Xi Zheng was a fairly high-ranking official in the Shu government. The powerful eunuch Huang Hao was ambivalent towards him, so Xi Zheng was able to avoid the factionalism that Huang Hao's rise to power engendered.

Xi Zheng's foremost contribution to history was his composition of Liu Shan's surrender document to the Wei general Deng Ai, which survives in the Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi). Xi Zheng remained extremely loyal to Liu Shan, and was one of two former high-ranking Shu officials who abandoned their families and travelled with Liu Shan to Luoyang during Zhong Hui's Rebellion in 264. He was one of five former Shu officials to be enfeoffed as marquises by the Wei government.

In Luoyang, Liu Shan relied on Xi Zheng in matters of deportment and propriety. According to the Han Jin Chunqiu, the Wei regent Sima Zhao once asked Liu Shan if he thought much about Shu, to which Liu Shan famously responded that he was too happy to think of Shu. Xi Zheng sought out Liu Shan and advised him that were he asked this again, the appropriate response was to lament how far he had been removed from his family tombs.

In 273, Xi Zheng was appointed as the Administrator of Baxi Commandery (巴西郡), in present-day eastern Sichuan and northern Chongqing. This would have allowed him to return west in his old age. Of his works, only Liu Shan's surrender document to Deng Ai and one other essay survive, both carried in the base text of the Sanguozhi.

生平

郤正年少時父親郤揖隨孟達降曹魏，不久後死去，母親改嫁，郤正則留在益州。雖然孤苦無依，但安貧好學，博覽群書，後來當秘書吏，又轉職秘書令史，遷任秘書郎，最後官至秘書令。性格淡薄榮利，醉心於閱讀古書及作文之中，益州當時有的書籍，他幾乎都已看過。由於常居內職，與宦官黃皓作比鄰三十年，黃皓身分由卑微至顯貴，在朝中玩弄權勢；郤正不為黃皓所喜愛，亦不為其所憎惡，仕途只停留在六百石秩等的官職，也免於官場的困擾。

景耀六年（263年），鄧艾兵臨成都，蜀漢後主劉禪聽從光祿大夫譙周投降的建議，由郤正撰寫降書，遣使向鄧艾投降。翌年正月，鍾會叛亂，當時成都一片混亂，劉禪東遷洛陽，眾多宮員只有郤正（史載他捨妻子隨劉禪）和殿中督張通隨行。劉禪有賴於郤正的指導，到洛陽後行事舉止皆無誤，劉禪於是感慨嘆惜，後悔太遲認識郤正。後賜爵關內侯。

西晉武帝泰始年間，出任安陽令，又於泰始八年（273年）遷任巴西太守，並下詔：「（郤）正昔在成都，顛沛守義，不違忠節，及見受用，盡心幹事，有治理之績，其（郤）正為巴西太守。」對其甚為讚賞。咸寧四年（278年）逝世。留下數百篇文學作品。

樂不思蜀

蜀漢亡後，劉禪移居魏國都城洛陽，封為安樂縣公。某日司馬昭設宴款待劉禪，囑咐演奏蜀樂曲，並以歌舞助興時，蜀漢舊臣們想起亡國之痛，個個掩面或低頭流淚。獨劉禪怡然自若，不為悲傷。司馬昭見到，便問劉禪：「安樂公是否思念蜀？」劉禪答道：「此間樂，不思蜀也。」他的舊臣郤正聞此言，趁上廁所時對他說：「陛下，下次如司馬昭若再問同一件事，您就先注視著宮殿的上方，接著閉上眼睛一陣子，最後張開雙眼，很認真地說：『先人墳墓，遠在蜀地，我沒有一天不想念啊！』這樣，司馬昭就能讓陛下回蜀了。」劉禪聽後，牢記在心。酒至半酣，司馬昭又問同樣的問題，劉禪趕忙把郤正教他的學了一遍。司馬昭聽了，即回以：「咦，這話怎麼像是郤正說的？」劉禪大感驚奇道：「你怎麼知道呀！」司馬昭及左右大臣哈哈大笑。司馬昭見劉禪如此老實忠懇，從此再也不懷疑他。劉禪就這樣在洛陽安樂地度過餘生。而這就是樂不思蜀一典故的來歷。

家族

父族

• 郤儉：祖父，東漢末年益州刺史。

• 郤揖：父，早亡。