Wang Hui (Tang Dynasty)

Wang Hui (王徽) (died 891), courtesy name Zhaowen (昭文), formally Marquess Zhen of Langye (琅琊貞侯), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xizong.

It is not known for certain when Wang Hui was born — although he was said to be in his 40s when Emperor Xuānzong (r. 846 – 859) was asking chancellors to find appropriate husbands for the princesses in the 850s, placing a loose timeframe on the time of his birth. His family was from Jingzhao Municipality (京兆, i.e., the region of the Tang Dynasty capital Chang'an) and claimed ancestry from Wei Wuji (魏無忌) the Lord of Xinling, a famous prince of the Warring States period state Wei, explaining that the line eventually changed its surname to Wang because it was from a house of kings (and Wang meant "king"). Wang Hui's family also traced its ancestry to the Western Wei general Wang Pi (王羆), whose descendants then served Sui Dynasty and Tang. Wang Hui's grandfather Wang Cha (王察) served as a prefectural prefect, and his father Wang Zili (王自立) served as a county magistrate.

Wang Hui passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class in 858, during Emperor Xuānzong's reign. He started his official career as a copyeditor (校書郎, Xiaoshu Lang) at the Palace Library. When the official Shen Xun (沈詢) served as the director of finances, he invited Wang to serve under him as a traveling reviewer. At that time, Emperor Xuānzong, who was looking for appropriate husbands for his daughters, asked the chancellors to look among the officials who had passed the Jinshi examination, and Wang's name was mentioned. Wang, however, did not want to marry into the imperial family, and he met the chancellor Liu Zhuan to decline on the account of age, as he was already in his 40s, as well as poor health. Liu thus informed Emperor Xuānzong, and Wang was not ordered to marry a princess.

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