Royals › Monarch / Emperor
Wang Yanzheng
Last ruler of Min, who set up the rival state of Yin at Jianzhou in 943, briefly reunited Min, and surrendered to the Southern Tang in 945
In a side chamber of a palace, a yellow ceremonial robe embroidered with a dragon hangs on a wooden stand, its hem worked with waves and rocks, before a carved folding screen, while a black lacquer chest sits on a low table by a lattice window and no person is in view.
Also known as Jian Zhou Fu Sha Wang · Min Mozhu
- Roles
- Monarch / Emperor
Wang Yanzheng was a son of Wang Shenzhi, founder of Min, and governed Jianzhou while his elder brother Wang Yanxi ruled at Fuzhou. His repeated criticisms turned the brothers against each other, and they fought for years; in 941 Wang Yanxi tried to placate him with the title Prince of Fusha. In early 943 he proclaimed himself emperor at Jianzhou, naming his state Yin with the era name Tiande, which split Min in two. After Zhu Wenjin and Lian Zhongyu murdered Wang Yanxi in 944, officers at Fuzhou killed the two usurpers the next year and acknowledged Wang Yanzheng, who restored the name Min but stayed at Jianzhou. When Southern Tang troops took Jianzhou in 945 he surrendered and was taken to Jinling, where he was later made Prince of Poyang; he died in 951 with the posthumous name Gongyi.
Life and times
Dates Birth unknown–951 CE