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Kuang Heng
Western Han classicist renowned for expounding the Odes who became chancellor and Marquis of Le'an; famed for boring through the wall.
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 Zhigui · Marquis of Le'an · Kuang Zhi Gui
- Roles
- Chief Ministers
Kuang Heng, courtesy name Zhigui, came from Cheng in Donghai. Born poor, he worked as a hired labourer to pay for his studies and became the leading expert on the Book of Odes, as a popular saying of the time attests. Under Emperor Yuan he rose from palace gentleman to academician and, in 36 BCE, succeeded Wei Xuancheng as chancellor with the title Marquis of Le'an. Early in Emperor Cheng's reign he was stripped of office for seizing land beyond his fief and died at home as a commoner. The Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital tells how as a boy he bored through the wall to read by a neighbour's candlelight.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; chancellor 36–30 BCE