Wang Yan (256 – 5 May 311wuzi day of the 4th month of the 5th year of the Yong'jia era, per Emperor Huai's biography in Book of Jin. This was less than two weeks after Sima Yue's death, on 23 April. Wang's biography in the same work indicate that he was 56 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died.), courtesy name Yifu, was a Chinese politician. A member of the Wang clan of Langya, he served as a minister and was one of the Qingtan leaders of the Western Jin. During the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin, Wang Yan grew popular among the court for his mastery in Qingtan and for being a patron of Xuanxue. Wang Yan vacillated between the warring princes during the War of the Eight Princes until he ended up with Sima Yue, who gave him a considerable amount of power in his administration. After Yue died in April 311, Wang Yan led his funeral procession but was ambushed and later executed by the Han-Zhao general, Shi Le at Ningping City (寧平; in modern Zhoukou, Henan). Though a bright scholar, Wang Yan was often associated by traditional historians as one of the root causes for Western Jin's demise due to his influential beliefs.
Early life and career Wang Yan was born in Langya commandery as part of the same Wang clan of Langya that his cousin Wang Rong, a member of the famous Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, came from. His grandfather was Wang Xiong (王雄; 220-235), a regional inspector (cishi) of You Prefecture (幽州刺史) under Cao Wei.Wang Shi Pu annotation in Sanguozhi, vol.24 (biography of Cui Lin).
When he was 14 years old (by East Asian reckoning), he met with Yang Hu at Luoyang. Yang Hu and others were impressed with the way he spoke, while Wang was not overly deferential towards Yang despite his young age. He became the talk of the town, so much so that the minister Yang Jun wanted to marry him to his daughter. However, Wang Yan was not fond of Yang Jun, so he pretended to go mad to avoid him.(衍字夷甫，神情明秀，風姿詳雅。總角嘗造山濤，濤嗟歎良久，既去，目而送之曰：「何物老嫗，生甯馨兒！然誤天下蒼生者，未必非此人也。」父乂，為平北將軍，常有公事，使行人列上，不時報。衍年十四，時在京師，造僕射羊祜，申陳事狀，辭甚清辯。祜名德貴重，而衍幼年無屈下之色，眾咸異之。楊駿欲以女妻焉，衍恥之，遂陽狂自免。武帝聞其名，問戎曰：「夷甫當世誰比？」戎曰：「未見其比，當從古人中求之。」) Book of Jin, Volume 43
In 273, Emperor Wu of Jin was looking for talents to help safeguard the northern frontiers. Wang Yan enjoyed discussing military strategies and the School of Diplomacy, so for these reasons, he was recommended by Lu Qin (盧欽; grandson of Lu Zhi) to serve as the Administrator of Liaodong. Wang Yan was not pleased with his given position and refused to take it. It was then when Wang Yan decided to focus less on worldly affairs and dedicate his time on studying Qingtan or "pure conversations".(泰始八年，詔舉奇才可以安邊者，衍初好論從橫之術，故尚書盧欽舉為遼東太守。不就，於是口不論世事，唯雅詠玄虛而已。) Book of Jin, Volume 43
Wang Yan eventually left Luoyang to take up the post of Prefect of Yuanxiang (苑鄕, in present-day Hebei and Beijing). After some time, he returned to the capital and served a series of offices, eventually reaching Gentleman-Attendant of the Yellow Gate. By 297, during the reign of Emperor Hui, Wang Yan held the office of Prefect of the Masters of Writing, holding a significant amount of power in court at this time. He still regularly discussed Qingtan and further delved himself into Zhengshi era Xuanxue, particularly the teachings of the Cao Wei minister He Yan and his inner circle. He and another devotee, Yue Guang, were regarded as well-respected men and were thus able to spread their beliefs to the other ministers in the government. However, his ideas supposedly had a negative effect on the court, as many of the ministers began neglecting their duties in favour of committing excessive and absurd acts.(初，何晏等祖述老、莊，立論以爲：「天地萬物，皆以無爲本。無也者，開物成務，無往而不存者也。陰陽恃以化生，賢者恃以成德。故無之爲用，無爵而貴矣！」王衍之徒皆愛重之。由是朝廷士大夫皆以浮誕爲美，弛廢職業。裴頠著《崇有論》以釋其蔽曰：「夫利欲可損而未可絕有也，事務可節而未可全無也。蓋有飾爲高談之具者，深列有形之累，盛陳空無之美。形器之累有徵，空無之義難檢；辯巧之文可悅，似象之言足惑；衆聽眩焉，溺其成說。雖頗有異此心者，辭不獲濟，屈於所習，〈濟，通也。謂虛無習以成俗，崇有者辭不能通其意，遂爲所屈也。〉因謂虛無之理誠不可蓋。〈蓋，掩也。〉一唱百和，往而不反，遂薄綜世之務，賤功利〈【嚴：「利」改「烈」。】〉之用，高浮游之業，卑經實之賢。〈經實，謂有經世之實用者。〉人情所徇，名利從之，於是文者衍其辭，訥者贊其旨。立言藉於虛無，謂之玄妙；處官不親所職，謂之雅遠；奉身散其廉操，謂之曠達；故砥礪之風，彌以陵遲。〈砥礪，謂砥節礪行也。〉放者因斯，或悖吉凶之禮，忽容止之表，瀆長幼之序，混貴賤之級，甚者至於裸裎褻慢，無所不至，〈裸裎，露體也。裸，郎果翻。裎，馳成翻。〉士行又虧矣。夫萬物之有形者，雖生於無，然生以有爲已分，〈物之未生，則有無未分，旣生而有，則與無爲已分矣。〉則無是有之所遺者也。〈遺，棄也。〉故養旣化之有，非無用之所能全也；治旣有之衆，非無爲之所能脩也。〈治，直之翻。〉心非事也，而制事必由於心，然不可謂心爲無也；匠非器也，而制器必須於匠，然不可謂匠非有也。是以欲收重淵之鱗，非偃息之所能獲也；〈重，直龍翻。〉隕高墉之禽，非靜拱之所能捷也。由此而觀，濟有者皆有也，虛無奚益於已有之羣生哉！」然習俗已成，頠論亦不能救也。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 82
War of the Eight Princes In 299, Wang Yan became somewhat involved with the imperial family. Empress Jia Nanfeng, the paramount leader of Jin working behind her husband Emperor Hui of Jin, was becoming more cruel day by day. Her brother Jia Mo (賈模) plotted to assassinate her together with Pei Wei and Wang Yan. However, the plot was dropped after Wang Yan decided to pull out. Later, Wang Yan's younger daughter Wang Huifeng married the Crown Prince, Sima Yu but when Yu was reduced to a commoner and arrested by the Empress, Wang Yan had her divorced and refused to associate with him. His decision to do so backfired in May 300 when Jia Nanfeng was overthrown and replaced by Sima Lun as regent. A group of ministers submitted a petition accusing him of refusing to help Sima Yu in order to save his own life, and Wang Yan was barred from the government.(後曆北軍中候、中領軍、尚書令。女為湣懷太子妃，太子為賈后所誣，衍懼禍，自表離婚。賈后既廢，有司奏衍，曰：「衍與司徒梁王肜書，寫呈皇太子手與妃及衍書，陳見誣見狀。肜等伏讀，辭旨懇惻。衍備位大臣，應以議責也。太子被誣得罪，衍不能守死善道，即求離婚。得太子手書，隱蔽不出。志在苟免，無忠蹇之操。宜加顯責，以厲臣節。可禁錮終身。」從之。) Book of Jin, Volume 83
While Sima Lun was emperor, Wang Yan again pretended to be mad in order to avoid trouble, going as far as attacking his maids. After Sima Lun's fall, he returned to the government as Intendant of Henan.(及伦篡位，衍阳狂斫婢以自免。及伦诛，拜河南尹...) Book of Jin, vol.43 For the next few years of the War of the Eight Princes, Wang Yan appeared to have kept a neutral stance and was not closely affiliated with any of the warring princes. In 303, when Sima Ai (who became the new emperor's regent in late January that year after Sima Jiong's death) was besieged by Sima Ying's army in Luoyang, a group of ministers sent Wang Yan out to negotiate peace with Ying but ended in failure when Ying refused to accept it.(朝議以爲乂、穎兄弟，可辭說而釋，乃使中書令王衍等往說穎，令與乂分陝而居，穎不從。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 85 In February 305, when Sima Yong removed Sima Ying as Crown Prince, Wang Yan was appointed by Yong as Supervisor of the Left of the Masters of Writing.(又以光祿大夫王衍爲尚書左僕射。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 85. Note that Sima Ying was removed as crown prince in the 12th month of that year.
Service under Sima Yue's regency The Prince of Donghai, Sima Yue, was the last of the so-called Eight Princes to take control of the government in 306. Yue appointed Wang Yan Minister of Works on 8 Feb 307xin'chou day of the 12th month of the 1st year of the Guang'xi era, per vol.86 of Zizhi Tongjian and later Minister Over the Masses on 8 January 308. Although Yue had won the civil war, he must now face the growing threat of Han-Zhao, a Xiongnu state that emerged in northern China during the war in 304. After his appointment, Wang Yan alerted Sima Yue that he should secure two places to run away to if the court were to fall. Wang Yan recommended he appoint his younger brother Wang Cheng as Inspector of Jingzhou and kinsman Wang Dun as Inspector of Qingzhou. This was called the "three rabbit burrows strategy (狡兔三窟)".([永嘉元年十一月]乙亥，以王衍爲司徒。衍說太傅越曰：「朝廷危亂，當賴方伯，宜得文武兼資以任之。」乃以弟澄爲荊州都督，族弟敦爲青州刺史，語之曰：「荊州有江、漢之固，青州有負海之險，卿二人在外而吾居中，足以爲三窟矣。」澄至鎭，以郭舒爲別駕，委以府事。澄日夜縱酒，不親庶務，雖寇戎交急，不以爲懷。舒常切諫，以爲宜愛民養兵，保全州境，澄不從。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 86
In 308, the powerful bandit, Wang Mi, aligned himself with Han and began marching towards Luoyang. Mi threw Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yanzhou and Yuzhou into chaos and had Xuchang's armoury emptied for his soldiers. The court was greatly afraid as Wang Mi defeated the Jin forces at Huanyuan Pass. Sima Yue sent Wang Bin (王斌) while the Inspector of Liangzhou, Zhang Gui sent his general Beigong Chun to reinforce the capital. As Wang Mi's army were at the gates of Luoyang, an edict was passed to make Wang Yan the commander. Wang Yan, Wang Bin and Zhang Gui all went out to face Wang Mi with their army. Mi was greatly defeated and withdrew, but Wang Yan sent Wang Bing (王秉) to pursue him, dealing him another great defeat.(太傅越遣司馬王斌帥甲士五千人入衞京師，張軌亦遣督護北宮純將兵衞京師。五月，彌入自轘轅，敗官軍于伊北，京師大震，宮城門晝閉。壬戌，彌至洛陽，屯于津陽門。詔以王衍都督征討諸軍事。北宮純募勇士百餘人突陳，彌兵大敗。乙丑，彌燒建春門而東，衍遣左衞將軍王秉追之，戰于七里澗，又敗之。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 86
In 309, Wang Yan was made Grand Commandant to replace the retiring Liu Shi (劉寔). The next year in 310, Luoyang was suffering from a severe food shortage. Calls to reinforce the capital were met with silence. Many insisted that they move the capital instead to avoid both the famine and Han forces. However, Wang Yan did not think that was possible and sold his carriage and oxen to calm the people down.(京師饑困日甚，太傅越遣使以羽檄徵天下兵，使入援京師。帝謂使者曰︰「爲我語諸征、鎭，今日尚可救，後則無及矣！」旣而卒無至者。征南將軍山簡遣督護王萬將兵入援，軍于涅陽，爲王如所敗。如遂大掠沔、漢，進逼襄陽，簡嬰城自守。荊州刺史王澄自將，欲援京師，至沶口，聞簡敗，衆散而還。朝議多欲遷都以避難，王衍以爲不可，賣車牛以安衆心。山簡爲嚴嶷所逼，自襄陽徙屯夏口。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 87 Later, Wang Yan became Sima Yue's Army Advisor.
Downfall and death In 311, tensions between Sima Yue and his powerful general Gou Xi reached its climax. Gou Xi, disgruntled at the fact that Sima Yue was believing in slanders regarding him, cooperated with Emperor Huai and retaliated against Yue. With Han growing day by day and now his strongest general turning on him, Yue was undergoing a severe amount of stress, and had Wang Yan take over the handling of affairs. Yue died shortly after in Xiang county (項縣; present-day Shenqiu County, Henan) but Wang Yan and the others agreed to keep his death a secret.(越憂憤成疾，以後事付王衍；三月，丙子，薨于項，祕不發喪。衆共推衍爲元帥，衍不敢當；以讓襄陽王範，範亦不受。範，瑋之子也。於是衍等相與奉越喪還葬東海。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 87
Yue's heir, Sima Pi (司馬毗), was in Luoyang at the time, so the ministers all decided to elect Wang Yan as the new head for the time being. Wang was reluctant to take the lead and offered it to Sima Fan (司馬範; Prince of Xiangyang and son of Sima Wei, Prince Yin of Chu), but he too refused. In the end, they all decided that they should carry out a funeral for their late prince in Donghai first. However, the Han general, Shi Le, knew about their plans and sent his cavalries to ambush them in Ningping City. A great number of Jin officials and soldiers were killed while Wang Yan, many imperial princes and other officials were captured. The captured prisoners were all brought into Shi Le's camp for questioning regarding Jin's condition.([永嘉五年]夏，四月，石勒率輕騎追太傅越之喪，及於苦縣寧平城，大敗晉兵，縱騎圍而射之，將士十餘萬人相踐如山，無一人得免者。執太尉衍、襄陽王範、任城王濟、武陵莊王澹、西河王喜、梁懷王禧、齊王超、吏部尚書劉望、廷尉諸葛銓、豫州刺史劉喬、太傅長史庾敳等，坐之幕下，問以晉故。) Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 87
Shi Le had heard of Wang Yan's talents and was happy when he received him. When Wang Yan met with Shi Le, Wang thoroughly explained to him the causes of Jin's downfall, citing its lack of preparation against the likes of Shi Le as one of it. He downplayed his role in the government and even tried to curry Shi Le's favour by urging him to become emperor. However, Shi Le told him, "You have supported the court ever since you were young; your fame spreads throughout the Four Seas, and you occupy a very important office. How can you speak as though you were some nobody? If you are not the one responsible for wrecking the realm, then who is?"(俄而舉軍為石勒所破，勒呼王公，與之相見，問衍以晉故。衍為陳禍敗之由，雲計不在己。勒甚悅之，與語移日。衍自說少不豫事，欲求自免，因勸勒稱尊號。勒怒曰：「君名蓋四海，身居重任，少壯登朝，至於白首，何得言不豫世事邪！破壞天下，正是君罪。」) Book of Jin, Volume 43