Wang Lian (died 223),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Wenyi, was an official of the state of

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

period of China.

Life

Wang Lian was from

Nanyang Commandery Nanyang Commandery ( zh, 南陽郡) was a Chinese commandery that existed from the Warring States period to Tang dynasty. It was centered in present-day Nanyang, Henan. History Nanyang Commandery was established by Qin in the 35th year of King Zh ...

(), which is around present-day

Nanyang, Henan Nanyang is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Henan province, China. The city with the largest administrative area in Henan, Nanyang borders Xinyang to the southeast, Zhumadian to the east, Pingdingshan to the northeast, Luoyang to the n ...

. He entered

Yi Province Yizhou (益州), Yi Province or Yi Prefecture, was a '' zhou'' (province) of ancient China. Its capital city was Chengdu.de Crespigny, p. 256. During the Han dynasty, it included the commanderies Hanzhong, Ba, Guanghan, Shu, Wenshan, Jianwei, ...

(covering present-day

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

and

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

) sometime between 194 and 214 in the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

, when Liu Zhang was the Governor of Yi Province. He served as the Prefect () of

Zitong County Zitong County () is a county in the northeast of Sichuan Province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Mianyang. It has an area of , and a population of in 2002. Its seat is from Chengdu, and from Mianyang. It ...

under Liu Zhang during this time. Between 212 and 214,''Zizhi Tongjian'' vols. 66–67. the warlord

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the H ...

engaged Liu Zhang in

a war ''A War'' () is a 2015 Danish War film, war drama film written and directed by Tobias Lindholm, and starring Pilou Asbæk and Søren Malling. It tells the story of a Danish military company in Afghanistan that is fighting the Taliban while trying ...

for control of Yi Province. When Liu Bei's forces attacked Zitong County, Wang Lian ordered his troops to hide behind the city walls and close the gates, and refused to surrender to Liu Bei. Liu Bei admired Wang Lian for his loyalty towards Liu Zhang, so he called off the attack on Zitong County. In 214, after Liu Bei successfully conquered Yi Province, he recruited most, if not all, of Liu Zhang's former subordinates to serve in his administration. During this time, he appointed Wang Lian as the Prefect of Shifang County and later reassigned him to be the Prefect of Guangdu County (廣都縣; northeast of present-day

Shuangliu District Shuangliu District () is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, Southwest China. The district covers an area of , and has a population of approximately 1,396,400 as of 2019. It is the h ...

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

). Wang Lian performed well in office and was later promoted to Colonel of the Salt Office () to oversee and regulate the production and trade of salt and iron. Under Wang Lian's leadership, the Salt Office gained a lot of revenue for Liu Bei's administration through profits and taxes. At the same time, Wang Lian also identified some of his subordinates with great potential, such as Lü Yi, Du Qi () and Liu Gan (), and promoted them or recommended them to serve in higher positions. He was later given additional appointments as the Administrator () of Shu Commandery (蜀郡; centred around present-day Chengdu, Sichuan) and General of Revival (). In 223, after

Liu Shan Liu Shan () (207–271), courtesy name Gongsi, was the second and last emperor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. As he ascended the throne at the age of 16, Liu Shan was entrusted to the care of the Chancellor Zhuge Lia ...

became the emperor of the

Shu Han Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <

Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang ( zh, t=諸葛亮 / 诸葛亮) (181 – September 234), courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman and military strategist. He was chancellor and later regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He is r ...

, the Imperial Chancellor (). He was also enfeoffed as the Marquis of Pingyang Village (). Sometime between 223 and 224, when rebellions broke out in the

Nanzhong Nanzhong () is the ancient name for a region in southwest China that covers parts of present-day Yunnan, Guizhou and southern Sichuan provinces. During the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of China, the Nanzhong region was part of the territory ...

region of southern Shu, Zhuge Liang wanted to personally lead the Shu army on a campaign to quell the revolts and pacify the region. Wang Lian strongly objected and said that Zhuge Liang, given his important status, should not undertake the risk of going into the dangerous Nanzhong region. As Zhuge Liang was worried that none of the Shu generals was sufficiently competent for this task, he insisted on personally leading the campaign. However, Wang Lian's sincerity did make Zhuge Liang reconsider many times before he finalised his decision to go on the campaign in early 225. Wang Lian died not long later, probably around 223. After his death, his son, Wang Shan (), inherited his marquis title and marquisate. Like his father, Wang Shan served as an official in Shu and the highest appointment he held was Administrator of Jiangyang Commandery (江陽郡; around present-day

Neijiang Neijiang (; Sichuanese Pinyin: Nui4jiang1; Sichuanese pronunciation: ; ) is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Sichuan province, People's Republic of China. It is located on the Tuo River, midway between the two major cities of Chengdu ...

).(會連卒。子山嗣，官至江陽太守。) ''Sanguozhi'' vol. 41.

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220– ...

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Pei, Songzhi (5th century). ''

Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms () by Pei Songzhi (372-451) is an annotation completed in the 5th century of the 3rd century historical text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', compiled by Chen Shou. After leaving his native land, Pei ...

'' (''Sanguozhi zhu''). * Sima, Guang (1084). ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Lian Year of birth unknown 223 deaths Shu Han politicians Officials under Liu Bei Politicians from Nanyang, Henan Han dynasty politicians from Henan Liu Zhang and associates

Life

See also

References