Wang Hongyi

Wang Hongyi () (died 694) was a secret police official during the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

dynasty

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

and

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...

's Zhou Dynasty. It is not known when Wang Hongyi was born, but it is known that he was from Hengshui. He was known as a hoodlum in his youth, and on one occasion, when he begged for melons from a farmer but the farmer refused, he falsely reported to the county magistrate that there was a white rabbit—then considered a sign of good virtue for the emperor—in the melon field; the magistrate sent soldiers into the field to hunt try to find the white rabbit, and the melon field was destroyed. On another occasion, when he went through the region of Zhao (趙州, part of modern

Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

) and Bei (貝州, roughly modern Xingtai,

), he happened to see the country people putting on a vegetarian feast for Buddhist monks, and he falsely reported that they were plotting a rebellion. More than 200 people were killed. As of 690, Wu Zetian, then

empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother) () is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor in the Chinese cultural sphere. The title was also g ...

and

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

over her son Emperor Ruizong, was poised to take the throne herself, and by that point, she had given Wang a general title, and then made him an assistant censor. On one occasion, when Wang Anren () the commandant at Sheng Prefecture (勝州, in modern

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the capital of Inner Mongolia in the north of the People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrative, economic and cultural center.''The Ne ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

) was accused of treason, Empress Dowager Wu sent Wang Hongyi to investigate. Wang Anren put himself in

stocks Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing ...

to try to show his loyalty, but Wang Hongyi was not persuaded, and had Wang Anren beheaded even as he was in the stocks; he also beheaded Wang Anren's son. As he was returning to the eastern capital

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

, he went through Fen Prefecture (汾州, roughly modern Lüliang,

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

), where the military advisor to the prefect, a man named Mao, held a feast for him. For reasons unknown, however, during the feast, he ordered Mao to leave the table and beheaded Mao. He put Mao's head on a spear and entered Luoyang with it, and everyone who saw the sight shivered. At that time, the prison for political prisoners were inside the Lijing Gate (), and as political prisoners entering that gate would thus rarely be able to leave alive, Wang jokingly referred to the Lijing Gate with two different characters, 例竟, also pronounced Lijing but meaning "the end." In 692, Wang falsely implicated the

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Li Youdao Li Youdao (李游道) was an official of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, briefly serving as chancellor. Despite Li's high status, little is firmly established about his career except for the time that he served as chancellor—as, unusual for a chancello ...

Wang Xuan Wang Xuan (; February 5, 1937 – February 13, 2006), born in Wuxi, Jiangsu, was a Chinese computer scientist. He was a computer application specialist and innovator of the Chinese printing industry, as well as an academician at both the Chinese ...

Yuan Zhihong Yuan Zhihong (袁智弘) was an official of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, briefly serving as chancellor. Despite Yuan high status, little is firmly established about his background or career except for the time that he served as chancellor—as, unusu ...

Cui Shenji Cui Shenji (崔神基), formally the Duke of Qingqiu (清丘公), was a Chinese official of the Tang dynasty and the Wu Zhou dynasty, briefly serving as chancellor during Wu Zetian's reign. It is not known when Cui was born, but it is known that hi ...

, and

Li Yuansu Li Yuansu (李元素) (died October 26, 696) was an official of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving twice as chancellor. Li Yuansu was the younger brother of Li Jingxuan, who served as chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian's husband Emperor Gaozo ...

, and other officials Kong Siyuan () and Ren Linghui (), and all of them were removed from their posts and exiled to the

Lingnan Lingnan (; Vietnamese: Lĩnh Nam) is a geographic area referring to the lands in the south of the Nanling Mountains. The region covers the modern Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as modern northe ...

region. In 694, Wang was accused of corruption and exiled to Qiong Prefecture. He pretended to receive an edict from Wu Zetian recalling him to Luoyang, but as he reached the north bank of the Han River, he encountered the censor Hu Yuanli (). Hu interrogated him and found out that he falsely claimed to be recalled by edict. Unable to defend himself, Wang pleaded with Hu, stating, "I am but similar to you, sir." Hu responded, "When you, sir, were a censor, I was the sheriff of Luoyang. I am now a censor and you are now a prisoner. Where is the similarity?" He had Wang caned to death. He had had brother Wang i have no idea killed. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Hongyi Tang dynasty politicians from Hebei 694 deaths Politicians from Hengshui Year of birth unknown Tang dynasty generals from Hebei