Wang Yu (王瑜) | 24 Histories

Overview

Wang Yu was an official and Military Officer.

Life and dates

Death

AD 946 丙午歲
Executed · At Qizhou 岐州 · Authority Hou Yi (侯益)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passages 34, 50

Age

39
Reckoning Sui
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 50

Attested activity

AD 946 丙午歲
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 34
AD 936 to AD 944 天福中
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 26

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Kin of Aunt of Wang Yu (王瑜姑)
aunt 姑
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 51
Child of Wang Qinhuo (王欽祚)
father 父
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 23

Kinship Role clan-members · Count 100 · young and old nearly all killed
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 47

Career and standing

Left Mentor 左贊善大夫
AD 936 to AD 944 天福中 · Appointed
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 26
Deputy military governor of Hengzhou 恒州節度副使
Appointed
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 32
Director in the Ministry of Punishments 刑部郎中
Appointed
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 33
Vice Director of the Imperial Storehouse 太府少卿
Appointed
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 31
Entered
Became monk
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 49

Places and affiliations

At Fanyang (ancestral) 范陽 · Relation Ancestral
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 22

Works and attributed material

Memorial · Author · With Shi Jingtang (石敬瑭)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 30
Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation · With Hu Yun (胡蘊)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 28

Events and relationships

Fought alone then fled
Military · Combatant
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passages 48-49
Relation Sworn brother of · Person Zhao Hui (趙徽)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 40

Assessments and attributes

Assessment violent and treacherous yet eloquent and martial · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 24

References in the histories

Search passages

History

17 passages

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 96Volume 96 Book of Later Jin 22: Biographies 11: Kong Chongbi, Chen Baoji, Wang Yu, Zhang Jizuo, Zhen Ruan, Hu Rao, Liu Suiqing, Fang Gao, Meng Chenghui, Liu Jixun, Zheng Shouyi, Cheng Xun, Li Yu, Zheng Xuansu, Ma Zhongji, Chen Xuan · 17 passages

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王瑜，其先范陽人也。 Wang Yu's family came from Fanyang.

瑜性兇狡，然雋辯驍果，騎射刀筆之長，亦稱於當代。 Yu was by nature violent and treacherous, yet he was quick-witted, eloquent, and bold in battle, and his skill at riding, archery, and administrative writing also won him a name in his day.

由是濮之部內五邑令長共斂錢五十萬，私獻於瑜。 The magistrates of the five counties in Pu then pooled five hundred thousand cash and secretly gave it to Yu.

瑜即以書上奏，高祖覽章嘆曰：「廉直清慎有如此者，誠良臣也。」 Yu then submitted a memorial. When Gaozu read it he exclaimed, "Such integrity, uprightness, purity, and caution—this is truly a fine minister."

於是二吏五宰即時停黜，擢瑜為太府少卿。 The two clerks and five magistrates were immediately dismissed, and Yu was promoted to vice director of the imperial storehouse.

杜重威之鎮東平也，瑜父欽祚為節度副使，及重威移鎮常山，瑜乃詭計於重威，使奏己為恒州節度副使，竟代其父位。 While Du Chongwei held Dongping, Yu's father Qinhuo served as his deputy. When Chongwei was transferred to Changshan, Yu persuaded him by a ruse to recommend him as deputy military governor of Hengzhou, and in the end took his father's place.

丙午歲，父欽祚刺舉義州，瑜歸寧至郡。 In the bingwu year his father Qinhuo was posted as investigating commissioner of Yi prefecture, and Yu went to visit him there.

會契丹據有中夏，何建以秦州歸蜀，瑜說欽祚曰：「若不西走，當屬契丹矣！」 The Khitans had seized the heartland, and He Jian had surrendered Qinzhou to Shu. Yu urged his father, "If we do not flee west, we shall end up under Khitan rule!"

因其臥疾涉旬，瑜仗劍而脅之曰：「老懦無謀，欲趨炮烙。 When his father had been bedridden for more than ten days, Yu drew his sword and threatened him: "You old fool without a plan—you are rushing straight toward the stake.

時隴東屯兵扼其川路，將北趣蕃部假途，而因與郡盜酋長趙徽歃血為約，以兄事之。 Garrison troops in eastern Long blocked the river routes, so they planned to head north through tribal territory and borrow a passage. Yu then swore a blood oath with Zhao Hui, a local bandit chieftain, and treated him as an elder brother.

瑜慮為所賣，先致其妻孥，館於郡中。 Fearing betrayal, Yu first sent Hui's wife and children to stay in the prefectural seat as hostages.