Ministers › Chief Ministers
Wang Zeng
Northern Song chief minister who took first place in all three examinations of 1002 and in 1022 exposed Ding Wei to the regent empress, opening the way for his own long tenure at court
In a council hall, a long table holds an unrolled map scroll, a brass-cornered chest and a brush pot, with tall-backed chairs around it and a bronze lamp at the left; a figure stands with their back turned on the balcony at the right, with palace roofs beyond.
Also known as Zi Xiaoxian · Duke of Yi · Shi Wenzheng
- Roles
- Chief Ministers
Wang Zeng, courtesy name Xiaoxian, came from Yidu in Qingzhou, in present-day Shandong, and was raised by an uncle after his father died. In 1002 he placed first in the prefectural, departmental and palace examinations, a rare triple first. He became an assisting councillor under Emperor Zhenzong. When Zhenzong died in 1022 the chief minister Ding Wei and the eunuch Lei Yungong moved the site of the imperial tomb on their own authority; Wang Zeng reported this privately to the regent Empress Dowager Liu, Ding Wei was exiled to Yazhou on Hainan, and Wang took his place as chief minister. He resigned in 1029 after the Yuqing Zhaoying palace burned down. Returning to high office in the Jingyou years, he clashed with Lu Yijian, and both were dismissed in 1037. He died in 1038 as prefect of Yunzhou, holding the title Duke of Yi and receiving the posthumous name Wenzheng; his notes survive as the Wang Wenzheng gong bilu.
Life and times
Dates 978 CE–1038 CE