Wang Yun (Han Dynasty)

Portrayal of Wang Yun in an edition of the Three Kingdoms History of the Qing Dynasty .

Wang Yun ( Chinese  王允  /  王允 , Pinyin Wáng Yún , W.-G. Wang Yun ), majority name Zishi (子 师; * 137 ; † 192 ), was Minister of Abundance under Emperor Xian , the last sovereign of the Han Dynasty . During Wang Yun's tenure, the emperor was little more than a puppet of powerful generals and warlords . In 192, Wang Yun and Lü Bu conspired against the warlord Dong Zhuo , who was currently controlling the emperor, and they murdered him. However, Dong Zhuo's associates fell out with them and executed Wang Yun and his family.

In the story of the Three Kingdoms , Wang Yun is introduced as the adoptive father of the (probably fictional) Diao Chan . He uses his daughter to seduce Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo, which eventually culminated in the murder of Dong Zhuo by his foster son.

Life

According to the Hou Hanshu , Wang Yun came from the country Qi (祁县, south of today's Taiyuan , Shanxi ). Many members of his family had served as administrative officials in regional governments for generations. Wang Yun himself became a civil servant at the age of 19 and was appointed inspector of Yu Province (豫 州刺史) when the Yellow Turban Riot broke out. He later succumbed to the eunuch Zhang Rang in a power struggle , had to give up his post and hide in the wilderness. After the death of Zhang Rang, General He Jin came to power, who appointed Wang Yun nobleman of the household and later director of Henan (河南 尹).

The capital Luoyang fell into chaos in 189 with the deaths of Empress Mother He and her brother He Jin . In the struggles of the eunuch faction and the empress family, Dong Zhuo , a ruthless warlord from Liang Province (凉州) , seized power. He eliminated the eunuchs and replaced the Emperor Liu Bian with the younger Liu Xie , whom he could use as he pleased. Now that the anarchy ended, Wang Yun was appointed Minister of Abundance (司徒) and Director of the Imperial Secretariat (尚书 令).

Dong Zhuo's cruel and tyrannical behavior soon turned not only the people against him. Wang Yun conspired with several other court officials to murder Dong Zhuo. The plan became all the more promising when Lü Bu , Dong Zhuo's adopted son, sided with her. With a dozen men, Lü Bu pushed his foster father into a corner outside the palace and killed him with his own hands.

After Dong Zhuo's death, rumors spread that the court was also trying to murder soldiers from Liang Province. When, even after weeks, no imperial decree announced a general amnesty, two previous comrades-in-arms of Dong Zhuo, Guo Si and Li Jue , overthrew the ruling Lü Bu and seized power themselves.

Before Lü Bu escaped from the capital, he went to Wang Yun and asked him to follow him. However, Wang Yun refused to leave the young emperor behind. The rebels seized Wang Yun and his family and pointed them at the large square in the city center public way . Some of his brother's family escaped, and his nephew Wang Ling, for example, became Grand Commander under Cao Cao .

Web links

Commons : 王允  - album with pictures, videos and audio files