Qin and Han · Official and Aristocrat

Wang Mang 王莽

Attested BC 8 - AD 23

Passages: 15
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Wang Mang was an official and Aristocrat.

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 7 前以大司馬奉送先帝大行
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 244
BC 1 哀帝崩
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 105, passages 246-247
AD 9 to AD 23 王莽時; 莽敗
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 267
BC 1 王莽聞之
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 105, passage 265
BC 8 莽遂代根為大司馬
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passages 138, 159

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Child of Mother of Wang Mang (莽母)
Mang's mother 莽母
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 144
Child of Elder brother of Wang Gen (根兄)
son of Gen's elder brother 根兄子
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 138

Career and standing

Grand Marshal 大司馬
BC 7 前以大司馬奉送先帝大行 · Held
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 244
grand marshal 大司馬
BC 8 莽遂代根為大司馬 · Succeeded to
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 159
Marquis of Xindu 新都侯
Held
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passages 138, 244

Places and affiliations

Polity Han 漢 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 244
Polity Wang Mang's regime 王莽 · Relation Ruled
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 267
Polity Western Han 西漢 · Relation Attested in
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 138

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · With Wang Gen (王根) · Direct quotation
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passages 139-140, 142

Events and relationships

Escorted Chengdi catafalque
BC 7 前以大司馬奉送先帝大行 · Ritual · Director · With Emperor Cheng (成帝)
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 244
Executed
Legal · Authority · With Zhu Xu (硃詡)
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 265
Fell
AD 23 莽敗 · Political · Ruler
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 267
Impeached and dismissed Dong Xian
Legal · Prosecutor · With Dong Xian (董賢)
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passages 247, 249
Killed Pu and exiled household
Legal · Executioner · With Chunyu Pu (酺)
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 161
Reported Chang to empress dowager
Political · Accuser · With Chunyu Chang (淳于長)
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 144

Show 4 more source-backed claims

Reported to the sovereign
Political · Accuser · With Chunyu Chang (淳于長)
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 147
Relation Prompted memorial from · Person Kong Guang (孔光)
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 254
Relation Rival of · Person Chunyu Chang (淳于長)
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 138
Relation Successor of · Person Wang Gen (王根)
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 159

Assessments and attributes

Assessment versed in funeral precedent · Mode quoted-speech Speaker Grand Empress Dowager (太皇太后)
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passage 244

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Book of Han 105, passages 138, 244

References in the histories

Search passages

History

15 passages

Book of Han, Chapter 105Volume 93: Flatterers · 15 passages

根兄子新都侯王莽心害長寵，私聞長取許靡，受長定宮賂遺。 Wang Mang of Xindu, Wang Gen's nephew, envied Chang's rise and quietly confirmed his affair with Xu Mi and the bribes from Changding.

莽侍曲陽侯疾，因言：「長見將軍久病，意喜，自以當代輔政，至對衣冠議語署置。」 At Wang Gen's sickbed Mang said, "Chang sees the general has been ill a long time. He's pleased at heart, thinks he'll replace you as regent, and is even discussing appointments with men in caps and robes in the yamen."

莽曰：「未知將軍意，故未敢言。」 "I was not sure where you stood," Mang replied.

莽求見太后，具言長驕佚，欲代曲陽侯，對莽母上車，私與長定貴人姊通，受取其衣物。 Mang told the empress dowager everything: Chang's arrogance, his designs on Wang Gen's post, his brazen familiarity with Mang's mother at the carriage step, his affair with the Changding noblewoman's sister, and the gifts he took from her.

莽白上，上乃免長官，遣就國。 Mang carried the word to Chengdi, who stripped Chang of his posts and ordered him to his fief.

莽遂代根為大司馬。 Wang Mang stepped into Wang Gen's place as grand marshal.

後酺有罪，莽復殺之，徙其家屬歸故郡。 When Pu offended the law, Mang had him executed and exiled the rest of the family again.

太后曰：「新都侯莽前以大司馬奉送先帝大行，曉習故事，吾令莽佐君。」 She said, "Wang Mang of Xindu once ran the late emperor's obsequies as grand marshal; he knows the rites. Let him help you."

太后遣使者召莽。 She sent for Wang Mang at once.

既至，以太后指使尚書劾賢帝病不親醫藥，禁止賢不得入出宮殿司馬中。 When Wang Mang arrived, at the empress dowager’s instruction he had the Masters of Writing impeach Dong Xian for failing to oversee the emperor’s medicines personally during his illness, and forbade Xian to enter or leave the palace compound.

莽使謁者以太后詔即闕下冊賢曰：「間者以來，陰陽不調，災害並臻，元元蒙辜。 Wang Mang had an usher intone a rescript at the foot of the wall: "Heaven and earth are out of joint; calamities pile up and the people bear the cost.

莽疑其詐死，有司奏請發賢棺，至獄診視。 Wang Mang suspected a ruse and had officials demand that the coffin be opened and the body examined in jail.

莽復風大司徒光奏：「賢質性巧佞，翼奸以獲封侯，父子專朝，兄弟並寵，多受賞賜，治第宅，造塚壙，放效無極，不異王制，費以萬萬計，國家為空虛。 Wang Mang also prompted Kong Guang, Grand Minister over the Masses, to memorialize: "Dong Xian was by nature crafty and fawning. He assisted treachery and thereby won a marquisate; father and son monopolized the court, and brothers shared favor side by side. They received lavish gifts, built mansions and tomb chambers, and imitated royal scale without limit, no differently from the institutions of kings. Their expenses ran into the hundreds of millions and emptied the state.

王莽聞之而大怒，以它罪擊殺詡。 Wang Mang, enraged, found another pretext and had Zhu Xu beaten to death.

而王閎王莽時為牧守，所居見紀，莽敗乃去官。 Wang Hong became a provincial governor under Mang and left a good record; he quit when Mang fell.