Wen Yanbo (1006–1097) was a Northern Song statesman and chancellor. His courtesy name was Kuanfu (寬夫), with 寬夬 appearing as an alternative form; he was a native of Jiexiu in Fenzhou, in present-day Jiexiu, Shanxi.
Life and career
In the fifth year of the Tiansheng era (1027), he passed the jinshi examination. He began as magistrate of Yicheng and assistant prefect of Jiangzhou, later serving as Investigating Censor, Palace Censor, and Deputy Transport Commissioner for Hedong; he was then appointed Academician of the Longtuge and Privy Council Academician, and served as governor of Qinzhou and Yizhou.
By the seventh year of Qingli, he was Deputy Commissioner of the Privy Council and Vice Director of State Affairs; in the eighth year, after suppressing Wang Ze’s rebellion in Beizhou, he was appointed Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, a chief councillor. Impeached and removed from the council in the third year of Huangyou, he was sent out as governor of Xu, Qing, and Yongxing; in the second year of Zhihe, he returned to the council.
In the third year of Jiayou, he was sent to administer the prefectures of Henan, Daming, and Taiyuan and was created Duke of Lu; under Yingzong he returned to court as Privy Commissioner. During Xining, after forcefully arguing against the harm of Wang Anshi’s new laws, he withdrew from office; he was made Sikong and military governor of Hedong, and later retired as Grand Preceptor.
In the sixth year of Yuanfeng he retired as Grand Preceptor; at the beginning of Yuanyou, on Sima Guang’s recommendation, he became Pingzhang junguo chongshi, and retired again five years later. He served the reigns of Renzong, Yingzong, Shenzong, and Zhezong; the length of his service as general and chief minister is given as either fifty years or more than fifty years, and he changed military commands seven times.
He died in the fourth year of Shaosheng (1097), at the age of ninety-two. During Huizong’s Chongning era he was entered in the party register; Grand Preceptor was later restored to him, and he received the posthumous title Zhonglie.
Family and associations
His grandfather was 文銳 (944–996), and his father was 文洎 (d. 1037); his younger brother was 文彥若 (1015–1045). His sons included 文保雍, 文宗道, 文恭祖, and 文及甫, and his sons-in-law were 任元卿 and 蔡旻.
His father-in-law was 陳貫; related by marriage were 陳安民 and 韓宗道, and his cousin was 文彥璋.
In Luoyang, with Fu Bi and Sima Guang among a group of thirteen, he followed the precedent of Bai Juyi’s Gathering of the Nine Elders; they drank wine and composed poetry, calling the gathering the “Luoyang Gathering of Senior Worthies.” He turned to Buddhism in later life.
Works
His works include the forty-juan 《潞公集》, which was included in 《山右叢書》, as well as the forty-juan 《文潞公文集》, the two-juan 《大饗明堂記要》, and the twenty-juan 《大饗明堂記》.
His poetry was compiled in six juan, with nine poems collected outside the main collection.
References
- CBDB Wen Yanbo (1953)
- 搜韵 文彥博 (26200)
- 法鼓佛教人名规范数据库 文彥博 (A007247)
- Wikidata Wen Yanbo (Q11079830)