Ministers › Statesman / Official
Wang Ji, Magistrate of Linqiong
Western Han magistrate of Linqiong and old friend of Sima Xiangru who brought him to Zhuo Wangsun's banquet; not the official Wang Ji (courtesy name Ziyang).
In the courtyard of a district government hall, a line of petitioners waits before a raised bench with a long table and document boxes; a blue umbrella stands beside it, a large drum stands at the gate where a few people wait, and a lake with sailboats lies beyond.
Also known as Wang Ji (magistrate of Linqiong)
- Roles
- Statesman / Official
Wang Ji was magistrate of Linqiong in the Western Han commandery of Shu. According to the Shiji biography of Sima Xiangru, when Xiangru returned to Shu impoverished after the death of King Xiao of Liang, Wang Ji, an old friend, invited him to Linqiong, lodged him in the county guesthouse and called on him daily with exaggerated respect. The rich men Zhuo Wangsun and Cheng Zheng therefore gave a banquet for the magistrate and invited Xiangru, whom Wang Ji fetched in person; at the feast Xiangru courted Zhuo Wenjun with the qin. He is known only from this biography and is not the remonstrance official Wang Ji, courtesy name Ziyang, of the reigns of Emperors Xuan and Yuan.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active c. 144–140 BCE