Wei Siqian (韋思謙) (611–89), formal name Wei Renyue (韋仁約) but went by the
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 ...
of Siqian, formally Baron of Bochang (博昌男), was an official of 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 ...
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 ...
, serving as
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 ...
during the first reign of
Emperor Ruizong. His sons
Wei Chengqing Wei Chengqing (韋承慶; 640?–706?Wei Chengqing's biographies in the ''Old Book of Tang'' and ''New Book of Tang'' imply, but do not state for certain, that he died in 706 and did not give a birth date or death age for him. See ''Old Book of ...
and
Wei Sili
Wei Sili (韋嗣立; 654–719), courtesy name Yan'gou (延構), formally Duke Xiao of Xiaoyao (逍遙孝公), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian, her so ...
later served as chancellors as well.
Background
Wei Siqian was born in 611, and it was known that his family was from Zheng Prefecture (鄭州, roughly modern
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National ...
,
Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
). At some point, he passed the
imperial examination
The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...
and thereafter was made the magistrate of Yingcheng County (應城, in modern
Xiaogan
Xiaogan () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Hubei province, People's Republic of China, some northwest of the provincial capital of Wuhan. According to the 2020 census, its population totaled 4,270,371, of whom 988,479 lived in the built ...
,
Hubei
Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
). After serving for more than a year, he was up for performance review to be considered for a higher position. The reviews, conducted by the ministry of civil service affairs, were initially not positive, as Wei was said to have allowed some of his official business to be delayed and was unfamiliar with old regulations. The minister of civil service affairs,
Gao Jifu
Gao Feng (596 – January 16, 654), courtesy name Jifu, better known as Gao Jifu, posthumously known as Duke Xian of Tiao, was a Chinese official who served as a chancellor during the reigns of the emperors Taizong and Gaozong in the Tang dynasty. ...
, however, commented, "Since I took over the ministry, I have only met this one man who is truly talented. How can I abandon his great virtues on account of small faults?"
[As Gao Jifu served as minister of civil service affairs from 648 to 651, Wei's performance review must have been during that period. See ''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 7]
and ''New Book of Tang'', vol. 10
/ref> He promoted Wei to be a censor, and Wei became known after this selection. While serving as censor, he once commented, "If a censor leaves the capital i.e., to investigate cases) he would be amiss in his duties if he did not shake the mountains and shock the prefectures and counties."
During Emperor Gaozong's reign
In 650, Wei Siqian accused the powerful 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 ...
Chu Suiliang
Chu Suiliang (596–658), courtesy name Dengshan, formally the Duke of Henan, was a Chinese calligrapher, historian, and politician who served as a chancellor during the reigns of the emperors Taizong and Gaozong in the Tang dynasty. He became i ...
of forcing a government interpreter to sell his land to Chu. Initially, the deputy chief judge of the supreme court, Zhang Ruice (), ruled that Chu had broken no laws because he had paid compensation to the interpreter, but Wei pointed out to Emperor Gaozong that Chu had paid just the amount of compensation equal to government condemnation of the property, not fair market value, and Emperor Gaozong demoted Chu to the post of prefect of Tong Prefecture (同州, roughly modern Weinan
Weinan () is a prefecture-level city in the east central Shaanxi province, China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provincial capital Xi'an, and borders the provinces of Shan ...
, Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
). However, Emperor Gaozong respected Chu and recalled him to be a chancellor again in 652, after which Wei could not be promoted and was at one point demoted to the post of magistrate of Qingshui County (清水, in modern Tianshui
Tianshui is the second-largest cities in Gansu, city in Gansu list of Chinese provinces, Province, China. The city is located in the southeast of the province, along the upper reaches of the Wei River and at the boundary of the Loess Plateau and ...
, Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
). Despite this, however, he commented:
At one point, the official Huangfu Gongyi () became the secretary general for Emperor Gaozong's son Li Xian the Prince of Pei, and he invited Wei to serve as Li Xian's treasurer. He stated to Wei, "You, sir, are not just a small fish in the pond, but I would like to ask you to serve for a few years to watch out for the foundation of this princely mansion." Eventually, he was promoted to be a secretary at the executive bureau of government (尚書省, ''Shangshu Sheng'').
Early in Emperor Gaozong's ''Yongchun'' era (682-683), Wei served as ''Shangshu Zuo Cheng'' (), one of the two secretaries general of the executive bureau, and then as imperial censor. At that time, the general Tian Renhui () had a dispute with Wei's subordinate Zhang Renyi () and falsely accused Zhang of crimes. Emperor Gaozong personally interrogated Zhang, and Zhang, fearful of the emperor, was unable to respond coherently. Wei instead spoke:
Wei's subsequent defense of Zhang was eloquent, and Emperor Gaozong was impressed. While he served as censor, he would not bow to princes or dukes, and when some people pointed out that this might bring him trouble, he stated: "Eagles often used as a symbol of censors to show that their functions are to look out for illegalities)are not friends of all birds. Why should I bow to them to ingratiate them? Further, officials who serve as ears and eyes of the emperor should be independent of others."
During Empress Dowager Wu's regency
Emperor Gaozong died in 683 and was succeeded by his son Li Zhe the Crown Prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...
(as Emperor Zhongzong), but power was in the hands of Emperor Gaozong's wife Empress Wu
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
(later known as Wu Zetian), as 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 ...
. In 684, when Emperor Zhongzong showed signs of independence, she deposed him and replaced him with his brother Li Dan the Prince of Yu (as Emperor Ruizong), but thereafter held onto power even more firmly. Early in her regency, Wei Siqian was made the minister of imperial clan affairs, and later in 684, when she divided the imperial censor's office into two—one in charge of reviewing central government affairs and one in charge of reviewing local government affairs—Wei was made the imperial censor in charge of reviewing local government affairs. Based on tradition, the imperial censors and their assistant censors would accept each other's greetings, as equals, but after Wei's commission, he stopped greeting his subordinates as equals, and when asked why, he stated, "The imperial government has its proper structure, and I am their superior. Why should I follow tradition just because it is tradition?" In 685, he was created the Baron of Bochang, and he was also given the designation ''Tong Fengge Luantai Sanpin'' (), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. In 686, he became ''Nayan'' () -- the head of the examination bureau of government and a post considered one for a chancellor—taking over for Su Liangsi Su Liangsi () (606 – February 24, 690), noble title Duke of Wen (溫國公), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian.
Background
Su Liangsi was born in 606, during the reign of Emperor Ya ...
. In 687, he requested retirement on account of old age. Empress Dowager Wu agreed and allowed him to retire, bestowing on him the honorific title ''Taizhong Daifu'' (). He died at his home in 689.
Sons
Besides the two sons who would become chancellors in future, Wei had a third son named Wei Shu (), who served as Military Governor of An ().
Notes and references
* ''Old Book of Tang
The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...
'', vol. 8
* ''New Book of Tang
The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...
'', vol. 11
* ''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 ...
'', vols. 199, 203, 204.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wei Siqian
Chancellors under Emperor Ruizong of Tang
611 births
689 deaths
Politicians from Xinxiang
Tang dynasty politicians from Henan
Wei clan of Jingzhao