Wang Dao
| Wang Dao | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 276 | ||||||||
| Died | 339 (aged 62–63) | ||||||||
| Spouse | Lady Cao | ||||||||
|
|||||||||
| Father | Wang Cai 王裁 | ||||||||
| Full name | |
|---|---|
|
Family name: Wang 王 Given name: Dao 導 Courtesy name: Maohong 茂弘 Viscount of Jiqiu 即丘子 Marquis of Wugang 武岡侯 Duke of Shixing 始興郡公 |
|
| Posthumous name | |
| Wenxian 文獻 |
Wang Dao (Chinese: 王導; 276–339), courtesy name Maohong (茂弘), formally Duke Wenxian of Shixing (始興文獻公), was a Jin Dynasty (265-420) statesman who played an important role in the administrations of Emperor Yuan, Emperor Ming, and Emperor Cheng, including as Emperor Cheng's regent. In these capacities, he served as a crucial governing figure of the Eastern Jin Dynasty during its first decades. His governance style was to be lenient with the laws, and he handed out few punishments—which stabilized the Jin regime greatly, but which also led to extensive, if moderate, corruption and incompetence in the Jin regime, making it difficult for Jin armies to recapture northern China.
Wang's line, during the subsequent Southern Dynasties, was known as one of the two most honored lines of nobles—the other being Xie An's line—and in the people's minds no less honored than imperial households.
Wang Dao's grandfather Wang Lan (王覽) and father Wang Cai (王裁) were mid-level Jin Dynasty officials, and he inherited from them the title Viscount of Jiqiu. He was the grandnephew of Wang Xiang. When he was young, during the late reign of Emperor Hui, he served on the staff of Sima Yue the Prince of Donghai. During that time, he befriended Sima Rui the Prince of Langye. It was at Wang's suggestion that Sima Rui slipped out of the capital Luoyang and stayed safe during most of the War of the Eight Princes in his principality of Langye. When Sima Yue later became regent for Emperor Huai and commissioned Sima Rui to be the military commander for the area southeast of the Yangtze River, posted to Jianye (建業, modern Nanjing, Jiangsu), Wang volunteered to serve on Sima Rui's staff, and he became Sima Rui's chief advisor.
...
Wikipedia