Wang Yu () (died July 6, 768) was a Chinese politician during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, who became trusted by Emperor Suzong due to his studies in witchcraft and the employment of such witchcraft on Emperor Suzong's behalf, such that Emperor Suzong eventually made him

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Background

It is not known when Wang Yu was born. He was a fifth-generation descendant of

Wang Fangqing Wang Fangqing (王方慶; died June 702), formal name Wang Lin (王綝) but went by the courtesy name of Fangqing,''New Book of Tang'', vol. 72, part 2. formally Duke Zhen of Shiquan (石泉貞公), was a Chinese politician during the Tang dynasty ...

, who served as a

during the reign of

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was List of rulers of China#Tang dynasty, Empress of China from 660 to 705, ruling first through others and later in her own right. She ruled as queen consort , empress consort th ...

. His intervening ancestors' names were recorded as Wang Jiao (), Wang Chong (), Wang Zhonglian (), and Wang Shao (), none of whom was recorded to have carried any official titles except for Wang Jiao who served as prefect of Lu Prefecture and Wang Zhonglian who served as a secretarial officer at Yang Prefecture (揚州, roughly modern

Yangzhou Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou, Jiangsu, ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

). Wang Yu himself was said to be well-studied in the worshipping of gods and spirits and particularly paid attention to the proper times to offer sacrifices.

During Emperor Xuanzong's reign

Toward the end of the ''Kaiyuan'' era (713-742) of Wu Zetian's grandson Emperor Xuanzong, Emperor Xuanzong was paying great attention to Taoist doctrines and ceremonies. Wang Yu made a submission to Emperor Xuanzong requesting that an altar, to be called the Spring Altar (春壇, ''Chun Tan''), be built to the east of the capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

and dedicated to the Blue Emperor (青帝, ''Qing Di''). Emperor Xuanzong agreed, and he made Wang an official-scholar at the ministry of worship (太常寺, ''Taichang Si'') and an imperial censor (侍御史, ''Shiyushi''), as well as a special emissary of worship (祠祭使, ''Ciji Shi''). It was said that Wang drew favors from the emperor due to his dedication to worshipping gods on Emperor Xuanzong's behalf. It was further said that while previously, the common populace already had a custom of sacrificing

joss paper Joss paper, also known as incense papers, are papercrafts or sheets of paper made into burnt offerings common in Chinese ancestral worship (such as the veneration of the deceased family members and relatives on holidays and special occasions). ...

to the spirits, it was Wang who brought this custom into official ceremonies.

During Emperor Suzong's and Emperor Daizong's reigns

After Emperor Xuanzong's son Emperor Suzong became emperor in 756, Wang Yu was promoted to be the minister of worship (太常卿, ''Taichang Qing''). Because his worship of the gods pleased Emperor Suzong, Emperor Suzong often gave him rewards. In 758, when Emperor Suzong removed the chancellors Cui Yuan and Li Lin from their posts, he made Wang ''Zhongshu Shilang'' () -- the deputy head of the legislative bureau of government (中書省, ''Zhongshu Sheng'') and gave him the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. It was said that even before this, Wang did not have a good reputation among the people, and after he was made chancellor, his reputation grew worse due to his incompetence. At Wang's suggestion, Emperor Suzong built an altar dedicated to the god ''Taiyi'' (太一 or 太乙) to the south of Chang'an. Around this time, Emperor Suzong was ill, and the fortunetellers told him that he was being cursed by a god of a mountain or a river. Wang thus suggested that a group of

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

es and

eunuchs A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

be commissioned to go to various mountains and rivers of the empire to pray for Emperor Suzong. The witches that Wang selected used this opportunity to extort bribes from the local officials. One of them, who was sent to Huang Prefecture (黃州, in modern

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

), took an entourage of several tens of young hoodlums with her and stayed at the station for imperial messengers with them. When the prefect of Huang Prefecture, Zuo Zhen (), visited in the morning, he found the station door locked. He became angry, and he ordered that his police officers break into the station and that the witch be dragged out to be decapitated. He also killed the hoodlums that she was with, and then confiscated the bribes that they were carrying. He submitted the funds to Emperor Suzong and requested that the funds be used to pay the taxes that the people of Huang Prefecture would otherwise be responsible for. Emperor Suzong accepted the funds but did not punish Wang. In 759, indeed, pursuant to Wang's suggestions, he personally offered sacrifices to the gods of the nine palaces (九宮神, ''Jiugong Shen''). Later that year, however, he made Wang the minister of justice (刑部尚書, ''Xingbu Shangshu'') and removed him from the chancellor position. In 760, Wang was made the prefect of Pu Prefecture (蒲州, roughly modern

Yuncheng, Shanxi Yuncheng () is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Linfen and Jincheng municipalities to the north and east, and Henan (Luoyang and Jiyuan to the east, Sanmenxia to the south) a ...

), as well as the military governor (''

jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (, Old Turkic: Tarduş) or jiedu, was a regional military governor in China; the title was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissi ...

'') of the surrounding prefectures. In 761, Wang was made the secretary general at Yang Prefecture as well as the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, i.e., the region between the

Huai River The Huai River, formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in East China, about long with a drainage area of . It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...

and

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

). After an occasion after Emperor Suzong offered sacrifices, he made Wang the governor of Yue Prefecture (越州, roughly modern

Shaoxing Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou, Zhejiang, Taizhou to the south ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

) as well as the military governor of Zhedong Circuit (浙東, i.e., the region east of the

Qiantang River The Qiantang River (), formerly known as the Hangchow River Postal Map Romanization, or Tsientang River, is a rivers of China, river in East China. An important commercial artery, it runs for through Zhejiang, passing through the provincial c ...

). Sometime thereafter, he was recalled to serve as ''Taizi Shaobao'' () and then ''Taizi Shaoshi'' () -- both positions advisorial positions to the

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

.However, as the historical accounts did not give the timing for these movements -- or, for that matter, even under which emperor these movements occurred, it is not known whether Wang thus served as an advisor to Emperor Suzong's crown prince Li Yu (the later Emperor Daizong) or Emperor Daizong's crown prince Li Kuo. Wang died in 768, during the reign of Emperor Suzong's son

Emperor Daizong Emperor Daizong of Tang (11 November 726According to Daizong's biography in the ''Old Book of Tang'', he was born on the 13th day in the 12th month of the 14th year of the Kaiyuan era of Tang Xuanzong's reign. This date corresponds to 11 Nov 72 ...

. He was buried with honors and given the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

''Jianhuai'' (簡懷, meaning "undiscriminating and just"). His great-grandson

Wang Tuan Wang Tuan (王摶) (died July 12, 900''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 262.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), courtesy name Zhaoyi (昭逸), formally the Duke of Lu (魯公), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, who served as a ...

later served as a chancellor near the end of the Tang dynasty, under Emperor Zhaozong.

Notes and references

* ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

''
vol. 130
. * ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

''
vol. 109
* ''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

'', vols.

220 __NOTOC__ Year 220 (Roman numerals, CCXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antonius and Eutychianus (or, less frequently, year 973 ''Ab urbe condita''). The ...

221 __NOTOC__ Year 221 ( CCXXI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gratus and Vitellius (or, less frequently, year 974 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 221 ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Yu 768 deaths Chancellors under Emperor Suzong of Tang Tang dynasty jiedushi of Hezhong Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Huainan Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Zhenhai Circuit Tang dynasty Taoists Witchcraft in China Year of birth unknown