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Shangguan Wan'er

Tang poet and palace official, granddaughter of the chief minister Shangguan Yi, who entered the palace as a child after her grandfather's fall, drafted edicts for Wu Zetian, and as Brilliant Consort under Emperor Zhongzong urged the expansion of the Academy for Literary Refinement and judged court poetry; she was killed by Li Longji in the 710 coup.

Also known as Shangguanzhaorong · Shangguanzhaoyi · Zhaorong

Shangguan Wan'er, also called Shangguan Zhaorong, was a Tang poet and palace official. When her grandfather, the chief minister Shangguan Yi, was executed, she and her mother entered the palace as servants. Gifted in letters from childhood, she won Wu Zetian's favour and drafted palace edicts for many years. Under Emperor Zhongzong she was made Brilliant Consort (zhaorong), urged the expansion of the Academy for Literary Refinement with more scholars, presided over court poetry gatherings and judged the courtiers' verse, influencing early Tang poetry. She was killed in Li Longji's coup of 710. Her biographies are among the consorts in both Tang histories.

Life and times

  1. 664 CEBornTang
  2. 677Zhaorong Drafts Imperial EdictsTook partage 13Summoned by Wu Zetian at fourteen, Shangguan Wan'er came to draft palace edicts; as Zhaorong under Emperor Zhongzong she urged him to enlarge the Xiuwen Hall academy, and she judged the courtiers' poems at Kunming Pool.
    1. Shangguan Wan'er Drafting Imperial DecreesSummoned by Wu Zetian at fourteen, Shangguan Wan'er composed as if she had prepared in advance, and from the Tongtian era she drafted edicts in the palace.
    2. Shangguan Wan'er and Xiuwen Hall Poets705age 41Shangguan Wan'er urged Emperor Zhongzong to enlarge the Xiuwen Hall academy and add scholars, and ranked the officials' poems at court gatherings.
    3. Shangguan Wan'er's Edicts and Collected Works709age 45Under Zhongzong Shangguan Wan'er held sole charge of edicts; she was killed in Li Longji's coup of 710, and after he became Emperor Xuanzong he had her writings collected in twenty juan.
  3. 710 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Sayings2
    1. Leaves Falling on Lake DongtingTangFamous line from Shangguan Wan'er's Lament in a Coloured Letter: autumn leaves stir longing
    2. Moonset Over an Empty Brocade ScreenTangLine from Shangguan Wan'er's Lament of the Coloured Letter: a lonely room after moonset
  2. Literature · Poetry1
    1. Lament on Colored SilkTangShangguan Wan'er's regulated verse of a woman writing to a husband posted far to the north

Family tree

  1. Direct kin
    Shangguan Wan'er
    Grandfather
    Shangguan Yi

Connections

  1. Shared events3
    1. Zhang Shuo667 CE–731 CE
    2. Shen Quanqic. 656 CE–c. 715 …
    3. Song Zhiwenc. 656 CE–712 CE
  2. Interactions1
    1. Li LongjiPolitical: Executed in the Tanglong coup · 685 CE–762 CEShangguan Wan'er's Edicts and Collected Works
  3. Rulers and officials2
    1. Wu Zetian (Empress Wu)Sovereign · 624 CE–705 CE
    2. Li XianSovereign · 656 CE–710 CE