Wang Lang

Early life and career

Wang Lang was from Tan County (郯縣), Donghai Commandery (東海郡), which is around present-day Tancheng County, Shandong. His original given name was "Yan" (嚴) but he changed it to "Lang" (朗) later. He started his career as a Gentleman (郎中) due to his academic proficiency. When his teacher Yang Ci (楊賜) died, he left his post and went back to his home county. Later, he served Tao Qian, the Governor of Xu Province. During that time, he advised Tao Qian to form a general alliance with Dong Zhuo, the warlord who controlled the Han central government. Tao Qian then sent an envoy to the Han central government in Chang'an to pledge allegiance to Dong Zhuo's government, and in return received the appointment "General Who Pacifies the South". The Han central government also appointed Wang Lang as the Administrator of Kuaiji Commandery.

As a warlord

During his tenure as the Administrator of Kuaiji Commandery, Wang Lang formed a secret alliance with the Shanyue tribes. When the warlord Sun Ce started his Jiangdong campaign, Wang Lang financed the Shanyue leader Yan Baihu to fight Sun Ce, but Yan Baihu and the other Shanyue clan leaders lost to Sun Ce. At the time, Liu Yao, another warlord in the Jiangdong region, had also lost to Sun Ce in battle. Yan Baihu had become the head of a loose confederation composed of bandits and local officials, including Wang Lang, and he again gathered soldiers numbering tens of thousands. Despite opposition from his adviser Yu Fan, Wang Lang directly joined Yan Baihu in military operations against Sun Ce's forces, but they were defeated. He then escaped to Dongye (東冶). There, he gained the support from the Chief of Houguan (侯官長) and attempted to rebuild his power. He also received support from Zhang Ya (張雅), a rebel leader who had a rather strong army. They succeeded in killing Han Yan (韓晏), the Commandant of the Southern Region (南部都尉) appointed by Sun Ce. However, they were ultimately defeated by He Qi, a general under Sun Ce.

Wang Lang tried to go further south to Jiao Province to recuperate, but was caught up and defeated by Sun Ce. He then conducted a very humble speech to appease Sun Ce, who later accepted his surrender.

Service in Wei

Soon afterward, Wang Lang entered into a self-imposed retirement from public life, but was contacted by Cao Cao's spy and was asked to join Cao Cao in the new imperial capital, Xuchang, where the Han central government was based. Although he was initially hesitant, he became convinced after reading a letter from his old friend, Kong Rong, who advised him to go to Xuchang. Thus, he travelled north and reached Xuchang about a year later. Cao Cao highly valued Wang Lang's talent and appointed him as an adviser. Wang Lang later served in key appointments in Cao Cao's vassal kingdom of Wei after the latter was enfeoffed as a vassal king by Emperor Xian, the last emperor of the Han dynasty. In 220, after Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi usurped the throne from Emperor Xian and established the state of Cao Wei to replace the Han dynasty. After becoming the emperor, Cao Pi appointed Wang Lang as the Minister of Works and enfeoffed him as the Marquis of Leping District. During Cao Pi's reign, Wang Lang made several suggestions regarding both military and civilian matters, which Cao Pi partially accepted.

In 227, when Cao Rui came to the throne, he promoted Wang Lang from a district marquis to a county marquis under the title "Marquis of Lanling", with a marquisate of 2,000 taxable households. (Wang Lang previously had 1,500 households in his marquisate during Cao Pi's reign.)

Once, Wang Lang went to Ye (in present-day Handan, Hebei) to visit the tomb of Empress Wenzhao and saw the populace was short on material; thus, he wrote to ask the emperor Cao Rui to reduce the scale of the building of his extravagant palaces and ancestral temples. Although Cao Rui publicly applauded Wang Lang's suggestion, he later reassigned Wang Lang to the position of Minister over the Masses so that Wang Lang could no longer monitor the construction of his palaces and ancestral temples.

Late life and death

After Wang Lang showed his objection to Cao Rui's palace-building project, he became concerned about the future of his political career. When he noticed that Cao Rui had a small imperial harem, he thought of a way to appease the emperor: he wrote to Cao Rui stating that an emperor should have more concubines in order to continue the imperial bloodline with more offspring. This time, Cao Rui wholeheartedly agreed with Wang Lang and started expanding the size of his imperial harem. Wang's hideous advice had a profound influence: Nine years after Wang Lang's death, Cao Rui even ordered beautiful married women all be formally seized unless their husbands were able to ransom them, and that they would be married to soldiers instead – except that the most beautiful among them would become his concubines. Despite protests from some officials, this decree was apparently carried out, much to the distress of his people.

Wang Lang later focused on academic works and had published several books that were well received at the time. He died in 228 and was given the posthumous title "Marquis Cheng" (成侯), literally meaning "marquis of establishment". He was succeeded by his son Wang Su, who continued serving as an official in Wei.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms

In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Wang Lang died at the age of 76 in 228. Despite his age, he led a group of soldiers and set up camp to do battle with Zhuge Liang. In the novel, Cao Zhen was defeated by Zhuge Liang. Cao Zhen called for his subordinates to help, and Wang Lang decided to try and persuade him to surrender (even though Guo Huai was sceptical that it would succeed) and engaged Zhuge Liang in a debate, but was soundly defeated. Zhuge Liang among other things scolded him as a dog and a traitor, from the shock of which he fell off his horse and died on the spot. There is no record of this in history, and instead, it is said that he merely sent a letter to Zhuge Liang recommending that he surrender. The letter was ignored.