Wei Guan (魏觀) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Wei Guan as an administrator, official, and scholar. This record brings together 10 passages from 1 chapter across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Wei Guan	魏觀	Wei Guan
Given	Guan	觀	Guan
Courtesy	Qishan	杞山	Qishan
Surname	Wei	魏	Wei

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · mingshi:140:s0020

Roles

Administrator
Official
Scholar

Life and dates

Death

Manner: execution · Cause: political accusation
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0045

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 元季 · Western Interval: Start: AD 1351 · End: AD 1368
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0021
Source Date: Text: 吳元年 · Western Year: AD 1367
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0023
Source Date: Text: 太祖下武昌 · Western Year: AD 1364
Explicit event contextual date · mingshi:140:s0022
Source Date: Text: 洪武三年 · Western Year: AD 1370
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0028
Source Date: Text: 洪武五年 · Western Year: AD 1372
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0031
Source Date: Text: 洪武元年 · Western Year: AD 1368
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0026
Source Date: Text: 洪武六年 · Western Year: AD 1373
Explicit event contextual date · mingshi:140:s0039, mingshi:140:s0045
Source Date: Text: 洪武四年 · Western Year: AD 1371
Explicit event contextual date · mingshi:140:s0030

Career and standing

Label: assistant instructor at the Directorate of Education / 國子助教 · Action: appointed
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0022
Label: director of transport for the Two Huai / 兩淮都轉運使 · Action: appointed
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0023
Label: libationer of the Directorate of Education / 祭酒 · Action: appointed
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0029
Label: minister of ceremonies / 太常卿 · Action: appointed
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0028
Label: prefect of Suzhou / 知蘇州府 · Action: appointed
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0031
Label: principal clerk in the Ministry of Rites / 禮部主事 · Action: appointed
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0030
Label: reader-in-waiting / 侍讀學士 · Action: appointed
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0029
Label: recorder of imperial actions / 起居註 · Action: appointed
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0024
Label: vice administrator of the Sichuan branch secretariat / 四川行省參知政事 · Action: appointed
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0039
Label: vice commissioner of the Zhejiang surveillance commission / 浙江按察司僉事 · Action: appointed
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0022
Title: Five Prefects of Gusu / 姑蘇五太守 · Action: enshrined
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0183
Status: demotion · Action: demoted · Label: magistrate of Longnan County / 知龍南縣
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0030

Places and affiliations

Label: Ming / 明 · Relation: served
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0022, mingshi:140:s0026
Polity Id: yuan · Relation: lived-under
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0021
Place: Puqi / 蒲圻
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0020
Place: Pu Mountain / 蒲山 · Relation: resided-at
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0021

Events and relationships

Kind: education · Role: tutor · Action: instructed · Other Person Id: Crown Prince (太子)
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0026
Kind: burial · Role: deceased · Action: returned-for-burial
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0046
Kind: recruitment · Role: envoy · Action: sought-talent · Other Person Id: Wu Lin (吳琳)
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0025

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: administrative rating first in the empire · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · mingshi:140:s0038

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

History of Ming, Chapter 140Volume 140 Biographies 28: Wei Guan, Tao Houzhong, Liu Shihuan, Wang Zongxian, Lu Wensui, Wang Guan, Dao Tong, Lu Xi, Qing Wensheng · 10 passages

Open chapter

魏觀陶垕仲 Wei Guan; Tao Houzhong

魏觀，字杞山，蒲圻人。 Wei Guan, whose style was Qishan, came from Puqi.

太祖下武昌，聘授國子助教，再遷浙江按察司僉事。 After the Founding Emperor captured Wuchang, Guan was summoned and made an assistant instructor at the Directorate of Education, then promoted to vice commissioner of the Zhejiang surveillance commission.

五年，廷臣薦觀才，出知蘇州府。 In the fifth year court officials recommended Guan's ability, and he was appointed prefect of Suzhou.

觀盡改寧所為，以明教化、正風俗為治。 Guan reversed everything Ning had put in place and made his administration a project of moral instruction and the reform of local custom.

觀以其地湫隘，還治舊基。 Finding the new site damp and cramped, Guan moved the government back to its former location.

或譖觀興既滅之基。 Someone accused him of rebuilding on ground associated with a defeated regime.

帝使御史張度廉其事，遂被誅。 The Emperor dispatched Censor Zhang Du to investigate on the spot, and Guan was put to death.

帝亦尋悔，命歸葬。 The Emperor soon came to regret the decision and ordered Guan's remains sent home for burial.

守蘇者前有季亨、魏觀，後有姚善、況鐘，皆賢，稱「姑蘇五太守」，並祀學宮。 The worthy prefects of Suzhou included Ji Heng and Wei Guan in the early years and Yao Shan and Kuang Zhong later; with Guan they were known as the "Five Prefects of Gusu" and all were enshrined in the school temple.