Wang Yun (Eastern Han)

Wang Yun
A portrait of Wang Yun from a Qing dynasty edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Minister over the Masses
Born	137
Died	192 (aged 54–55)
Names
Traditional Chinese	王允
Simplified Chinese	王允
Pinyin	Wáng Yǔn
Wade–Giles	Wang Yün
Courtesy name	Zishi (子师)

Wang Yun (137–192),courtesy name Zishi, was a Minister over the Masses under Emperor Xian in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. During Wang Yun's time, the emperors were mere puppets under the power of eunuchs and warlords. In 192, Wang Yun plotted and successfully staged Lü Bu's assassination of Dong Zhuo, the tyrannical warlord in power. However, Dong Zhuo's former subjects soon led a coup, in which Wang Yun along with most of his family were executed.

In the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms Wang Yun was the adoptive father of the possibly fictional Diaochan, whom he used to seduce both Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo. The subsequent rift that arose between the foster father and son eventually saw the death of Dong Zhuo by the hands of Lü Bu.

According to Book of Later Han, Wang Yun was from Qi County, Taiyuan (present-day Qi County, Shanxi). His family had many members who had served as administrative officials in the regional government for generations. Wang Yun himself was an official at the age of 19, and became the Inspector of Yu Province (豫州刺史). However, later he failed in the power struggle with the eunuch Zhang Rang. He had to abandon his position and hide himself in countryside. After the death of Zhang Rang, warlord He Jin came into power, and Wang Yun was promoted to the Gentleman of the Household and later to the Intendant of Henan (河南尹).

In 190, the capital Luoyang fell into chaos following the death of He Jin and a bloody clash between the powerful eunuch faction and government officials. Dong Zhuo, a warlord from Liang Province (凉州) managed to take control of the situation and eventually placed in the throne a puppet emperor whom he held in his power. At the end of the eunuch riot era, Wang Yun was the Minister over the Masses and the Director of Imperial Secretariat (尚书令).