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Wen Zhong
Grandee of Yue who bought King Goujian a truce at Kuaiji and helped him rebuild and destroy Wu, only to be ordered to kill himself once the war was won
Mural of the event “Goujian Conquering Wu”, which this person took part in.
In the late Spring and Autumn, King Fuchai of Wu defeated Yue, forcing King Goujian to submit as Wu's vassal. Goujian, harboring the will to revive his lost state, began over twenty years of patient self-discipline.
Also known as Zhong
Wen Zhong, called Grandee Zhong in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), was a minister of King Goujian of Yue at the end of the Spring and Autumn period. When Goujian was trapped on Mount Kuaiji by the Wu army, Wen Zhong went to Wu to sue for peace, and bribed the Wu chancellor Bo Pi until King Fuchai agreed. He then ran Yue's internal affairs and, with Fan Li, helped Goujian rebuild the state until it destroyed Wu. The Shiji says Fan Li, after leaving Yue, wrote urging him to go too, warning that when the birds are gone the good bow is put away and when the hare is dead the hound is cooked; Wen Zhong stopped attending court on grounds of illness. Accused of plotting rebellion, he was sent a sword by Goujian, who remarked that three of his seven methods had sufficed to destroy Wu. Wen Zhong then killed himself. Fan Li's warning became a stock image for rulers discarding loyal servants.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; Yue minister, late Spring and Autumn period
- 494 BCEGoujian Endures Hardship
- 473 BCEGoujian Conquering WuTook part