Wang Weizhen

Life

He was the son of Wang Zai and Liu; his great-grandfather was Wang He and his grandfather Wang Yuan. His elder brothers were Wang Weifan and Wang Weiqi, his younger brothers Wang Weixin and Wang Weihou, and his wife was Dong.

In the Shaanxi provincial examination of Jiajing 10 (1531), he passed as a juren, with his placement given as 51st; a separate examination listing gives 96 for the xianggong juren entry and 51 for the shengyuan entry. In the yiwei examination of Jiajing 14 (1535), he became a jinshi, ranked 103rd in the third class.

After becoming a jinshi, he was selected as a shujishi and, in the first month of Jiajing 16, appointed to the Hanlin Academy as a jiantao; he later served as xiuzhuan and yude. In the first month of Jiajing 24 he became a compiler of the Da Ming Huidian; in the tenth month of Jiajing 28, after nine years of service, he was promoted to xiuzhuan. In the eighth month of Jiajing 29 he served as chief examiner for the military metropolitan examination; in the twelfth month of Jiajing 30 he became right yude of the Right Spring Ward and took charge of the Nanjing Hanlin Academy.

In the eighth month of Jiajing 34, he and the Hanlin lecturer Yuan Wei presided over the Shuntian provincial examination; in the eleventh month he was promoted to libationer of the Nanjing Directorate of Education. His offices also included fushi (副使) in Jiajing 16. After the appointment, he returned home to visit his mother. On the renyin day of the twelfth month of Jiajing 34 (1555; 23 January 1556), during the Guanzhong earthquake, the sound was said to be like thunder and even the dogs and chickens cried out; Wang Weizhen rushed out calling for his mother, who was already asleep, and was accidentally crushed by a wall.

Thought and writing

He prided himself on his ability in statecraft, knew the strategic conditions of the Nine Frontier Garrisons, and was learned in letters, but found no opportunity to put these abilities to use. He was frustrated by current affairs and was given to drinking and abusive rants.

His literary correspondence included letters to Xue Yingqi and replies to Xue and Wang Shizhen; he also wrote prefaces for works by Liu Tianhe and He Liangjun.

His poetry and prose followed Li Mengyang. His collected writings appear under several titles, including Huaiye xiansheng cunsi gao, Huaiye cunsi gao, and Huaiye cunsi ji; the Cunsi manuscript is listed in 38 juan, and Sicheng yihan in 4 juan.