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Wen Yanbo
Northern Song statesman who served four emperors, twice as chief minister, and was enfeoffed Duke of Lu; three of his letters survive as a handscroll
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 Kuanfu · Duke of Lu
Wen Yanbo, courtesy name Kuanfu, came from Jiexiu in Fenzhou, modern Shanxi, and passed the jinshi examination in 1027. He was twice chief minister under Emperor Renzong and head of the Bureau of Military Affairs under Yingzong and Shenzong, and opposed Wang Anshi's New Policies. Retiring to Luoyang as Grand Preceptor, he formed the Luoyang Society of Venerable Elders with Fu Bi, Sima Guang and others. Recalled early in the Yuanyou era as joint manager of affairs of state, he was enfeoffed Duke of Lu. He died in 1097 at ninety-one (ninety-two by Chinese reckoning) and was canonised Zhonglie. He was also a calligrapher, and three of his letters mounted as a handscroll are in the Palace Museum, Beijing.
Life and times
Dates 1006 CE–1097 CE