Wang Ling

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Wang Ling came from a powerful family in Pei County and was close to Yong Chi, another local notable. Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, in the “Hereditary House of Chancellor Chen,” states: “Wang Ling was originally a man of Pei and at first was a local strongman.” When Liu Bang was still of humble status, he treated Wang Ling with the respect due an elder brother. Wang Ling was not known for literary refinement; he was impulsive, outspoken, and direct. This temperament remained characteristic throughout his life, bringing him a reputation for frank remonstrance but also contributing to his political decline under Empress Lü.

Raising Troops at the End of Qin and Holding Nanyang

As the Qin empire collapsed, Liu Bang raised troops in Pei County and Wang Ling also gathered followers. Serving as a stable general, he led a separate force north to pacify former Wei territory in Dong Commandery and then marched west to pacify Nanyang Commandery. As Liu Bang advanced westward, cities surrendered along his route. At Danshui, Sai, Marquis of Gaowu, and Wang Ling forced Xiling County in Qin's Nan Commandery to surrender. After the armies joined, Wang Ling followed Liu Bang to Bashang. Once Liu Bang entered Xianyang, however, Wang Ling refused to become his subordinate, assembled several thousand men of his own, and stationed them in Nanyang Commandery.

In the eighth month of the first year of Han (206 BCE), Liu Bang followed Han Xin's strategy, returned to Guanzhong by way of Gudaoxian, and attacked Zhang Han, King of Yong. Liu Bang sent the generals Xue Ou and Wang Xi through Wuguan to borrow the troops Wang Ling had stationed in Nanyang and return to Pei to escort Liu Taigong, Lü Zhi, and Wang Ling's mother. Xiang Yu learned of the movement and sent troops to intercept them at Yangxia, preventing the Han force from advancing.

Joining Han and the Death of His Mother

In 205 BCE, the second year of Han, Liu Bang moved east through Hangu Pass, joined forces with five feudal lords, and entered Pengcheng. Xiang Yu turned back and defeated the Han army decisively at the Sui River. By this time Wang Ling had placed his troops under Han command. During the rout he escorted Liu Bang's children Liu Ying and Princess Luyuan to safety and then held Fengyi. For these services he was later enfeoffed as Marquis of Yong with an estate of 5,000 households.

Xiang Yu seized Liu Bang's parents and wife in Pei County and also held Wang Ling's mother in his army. When Wang Ling sent an envoy to the Chu camp, Xiang Yu seated Wang Ling's mother facing east, hoping to use her to induce her son to surrender. As she privately sent the envoy away, she wept and said: “Please tell Wang Ling to serve the King of Han respectfully. The King of Han is a generous elder. Do not allow him to have divided loyalties because of me. I will send you off with my death.” She then drew a sword and killed herself. Xiang Yu, enraged, had her body boiled. From that point Wang Ling resolved to follow Liu Bang in pacifying the realm.

Enfeoffment and Rank among the Eighteen Marquises

In 202 BCE, the fifth year of Han, Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor and held a banquet in the Southern Palace at Luoyang. He asked the marquises and generals why he had succeeded and Xiang Yu had failed. Gao Qi and Wang Ling replied: “Your Majesty is arrogant and insults men, while Xiang Yu is humane and loves men. Yet when Your Majesty sends men to attack cities and seize territory, you grant what they take to them and share the benefits of the realm. Xiang Yu is jealous of the worthy and capable: he harms those who have merit and suspects the talented. When he wins a battle he does not credit men with the achievement, and when he gains land he does not share the benefit. This is why he lost the realm.” Liu Bang then responded with his famous explanation concerning the “Three Heroes.”

Because Wang Ling was friendly with Yong Chi, an enemy of Liu Bang, and because he had once refused to submit to Liu Bang, he was enfeoffed later than many other meritorious followers. In 201 BCE, the sixth year of Emperor Gao, more than twenty leading followers had already received fiefs in the twelfth month, while Wang Ling was not enfeoffed until the jiashen day of the eighth month. He then became Marquis of Anguo with an estate of 5,000 households and ranked twelfth among the Eighteen Marquises.

Liu Bang's Final Instructions and Appointment as Chancellor

In 195 BCE, the twelfth year of Emperor Gaozu, Liu Bang returned seriously ill from his campaign against Ying Bu. Empress Lü asked how the chancellorship should be arranged after his death. Liu Bang replied, “Cao Shen can serve.” When she asked who should follow Cao Shen, he said: “Wang Ling can. But he is somewhat stubbornly honest; Chen Ping can assist him. Chen Ping has more than enough intelligence but will find it difficult to bear the burden alone. Zhou Bo is deep and substantial, though lacking in letters; the man who will secure the Liu house will certainly be Zhou Bo, and he may be made Grand Commandant.”

In 189 BCE, the sixth year of Emperor Hui, Chancellor Cao Shen died. Emperor Hui abolished the single chancellorship and established Right and Left Chancellors, with the right side taking precedence. Wang Ling became Right Chancellor and Chen Ping Left Chancellor.

Opposition to the Lü Clan and Final Years

In 188 BCE, the seventh year of Emperor Hui, the emperor died. Empress Lü sought to make members of her clan kings and asked Wang Ling for his opinion at court. Wang Ling replied: “The Gao Emperor sacrificed a white horse and swore: ‘If one who is not of the Liu clan becomes king, the realm shall jointly attack him.’ To make members of the Lü clan kings now violates the covenant.” Empress Lü was displeased. She then asked Chen Ping and Zhou Bo, who answered: “When the Gao Emperor pacified the realm, he made his sons and younger brothers kings. Now the empress dowager governs as regent and wishes to make her brothers and other Lü clansmen kings; there is nothing improper in that.” Empress Lü was delighted.

After court, Wang Ling rebuked Chen Ping and Zhou Bo: “When we made the blood covenant with the Gao Emperor, were you not present? Now the Gao Emperor is dead, the empress dowager rules as a woman, and she wishes to make Lü clansmen kings. You yield and flatter her, violating the oath. With what face will you meet the Gao Emperor underground?” Chen Ping replied: “In confronting a ruler directly and contending in open court, I am not your equal. But in preserving the altars of state and securing the descendants of the Liu house, you are not my equal.” Wang Ling had no answer.

Empress Lü, angered, ostensibly promoted Wang Ling to Grand Tutor to the emperor but in fact removed him from the chancellorship. Wang Ling thereafter ceased attending court. He died in 181 BCE, the seventh year of Empress Gao, and received the posthumous name Marquis Wu.

Family, Rising in the Late Qin and Joining Han

The Hereditary House of Chancellor Chen in the Records of the Grand Historian says: "Wang Ling was a man of Pei, at first a local strongman; when Gaozu was of low estate he served Ling as an elder brother," and that his character was "scant in letters, self-willed and fond of plain speech" — three phrases that sum up his lifelong manner. When Liu Bang marched west, every town he passed submitted, and "at Danshui the marquis of Gaowu, Zai, and Wang Ling, marquis of Xiang, surrendered at Xiling"; yet when Liu Bang entered Xianyang, Wang Ling "gathered a following of several thousand of his own and dwelt at Nanyang, refusing to follow the duke of Pei," and by the table of meritorious houses his troops later took part in Liu Bang's entry into Hanzhong. When the king of Han, on Han Xin's plan, recovered the Three Qin and went east to Xianyang, he "ordered the generals Xue Ou and Wang Xi to come out at Wuguan and, using Wang Ling's troops at Nanyang, to bring back the grand duke and the empress Lü from Pei," but Chu, hearing of it, sent troops to hold them at Yangxia and the Han could not advance; afterwards at Pengcheng the Chu broke the Han heavily and "took the king of Han's parents and wife from Pei and set them in the camp as hostages," the feudal lords turning from Han back to Chu; and only when "the king of Han turned back to attack Xiang Ji did Ling bring his troops over to Han," whence the Han table records that he "settled Nanyang with his own following, and when the king of Han turned back to attack Xiang Ji, joined him with his troops and followed him in settling the empire, with five thousand households."

His Mother's Death and His Enfeoffment

In the course of his joining Han came the most terrible episode of his life. Xiang Yu "took Ling's mother and set her in his camp, and when Ling's envoy came he had her seated facing east, hoping to lure Ling." Ling's mother, privately sending the envoy away, said weeping: "Tell Ling for an old woman to serve the king of Han with care. The king of Han is a generous elder; let him not for my sake be of two minds. I send you off with my death," and she fell on her sword; Xiang Yu in anger "boiled Ling's mother to death," and "Ling in the end followed the king of Han in settling the empire." That her death fixed the price of his loyalty also decided his later attitude toward the Liu house.

His enfeoffment came only on the jiazi day of the eighth month of the sixth year of Gaozu (20 September 201 BC). Besides his having "had no mind to follow Gaozu," he was on good terms with Yong Chi, "Gaozu's enemy," and "for this reason was enfeoffed late, as marquis of Anguo," with five thousand households and twelfth place. Gaozu reckoned his merit as "following as a guest from Feng," recording that he "settled Dongjun and Nanyang with the stables general, followed to Bashang, entered Han, held Feng, and when the emperor went east, following in the reverse, brought the emperor's son Hui and the princess Lu out of the Sui river, and held Feng firmly, being enfeoffed as marquis of Yong with five thousand households" — the rescue of Liu Bang's children in the rout at Pengcheng being his substantial service in passing from an independent force to a Han command. When the empress dowager later fixed the order of the eighteen marquises, Xiao He, Cao Shen, Zhang Ao, Zhou Bo, Fan Kuai, Li Shang, Xi Juan, Xiahou Ying, Guan Ying, Fu Kuan, Jin She, Wang Ling, Chen Wu, Wang Xi, Xue Ou, Zhou Chang, Ding Fu and Chong Da took the first to eighteenth places, and Wang Ling was among them. At the banquet in the southern palace at Luoyang, when Gaozu asked why he had won the empire and the Xiang house had lost it, Gao Qi and Wang Ling answered that "Your Majesty is rude and insults men, while Xiang Yu was generous and loved men; yet Your Majesty, in sending men to attack cities and take land, gives away what is taken and shares the profit with the world, whereas Xiang Yu was jealous of the worthy and envious of the able, harming the meritorious and suspecting the good, giving no reward for victory and no profit for land taken — which is why he lost the empire." Gaozu answered that they knew one thing and not the other, and set out how in planning in the tent he was no match for Zhang Liang, in holding the state and comforting the people no match for Xiao He, and in commanding a million troops no match for Han Xin, "and these three are heroes among men, and I could use them" — the words of Wang Ling in that exchange coming down to us through these very books.

Chancellor, His Stand in Court, and His End behind Closed Doors

In the sixth year of Emperor Hui, when the chancellor Cao Shen died, "Wang Ling, marquis of Anguo, was made chancellor of the right and Chen Ping chancellor of the left." On his deathbed Gaozu, asked by the empress Lü about a chancellor, had answered that "Wang Ling will do; but Ling is a little simple, and Chen Ping can assist him," and had foreseen that "the man who will steady the Liu house is certainly Bo, who may be made grand commandant." After Emperor Hui's death, when the empress dowager wished to make the Lü princes kings and asked Wang Ling, he said "It may not be done"; asked Chen Ping, he said "It may"; and Wang Ling, citing Gaozu's covenant — "the high emperor killed a white horse and swore that 'whoever not of the Liu house is made king, the empire shall strike him together'; to make the Lü kings now breaks the covenant" — gave offence. The empress dowager then asked Chen Ping, chancellor of the left, and Zhou Bo and the rest, who all said that "the high emperor settled the empire and made his own sons and brothers kings; now the empress dowager rules and wishes to make her brothers and the Lü kings, and there is nothing that may not be done," at which she was pleased. Leaving court, Wang Ling reproached Chen Ping and Zhou Bo: "When we smeared our lips with blood and swore with the high emperor, were you not there? Now the high emperor is dead, the empress dowager is a woman ruling, and you would flatter her and break the covenant — with what face will you meet the high emperor below?" and Chen Ping answered: "In facing the court and contending, I am not your equal; in preserving the altars of state and settling the Liu succession, you are not mine," and Wang Ling had no answer. In the first year of the empress dowager's rule, to enfeeoff the Lü kings she decided to go round Wang Ling, and "openly transferred Ling to be grand tutor to the emperor, in fact taking away his chancellorship"; Wang Ling was enraged, resigned on grounds of illness, "and shut his doors and never once came to court, dying seven years later." Afterwards Chen Ping was made chancellor of the right and Shen Yiji, marquis of Piyang, chancellor of the left; and in the second year of the empress dowager's rule, in the memorial that fixed the order of merit of the marquises and deposited it in the ancestral temple, "Chen Ling, marquis of Anguo" still appears. The marquisate of Anguo passed to his great-great-grandson Wang Ding, who lost it in the fifth year of Yuanding for the gold tribute, and in the fourth year of Yuankang Wang Ling's great-great-grandson, Xiang, a public charioteer of Chang'an, was allowed by edict to restore the family. The historians, comparing him with Chen Ping, say that "Wang Ling contended in court and shut himself away, and each followed his own purpose"; and his kindness was remembered too — the Records of the Grand Historian's life of Chancellor Zhang records that Zhang Cang, condemned to death for a fault, "took off his clothes and lay on the block, being tall and fat and white as a gourd," when Wang Ling, seeing him, marvelled at his good looks and "spoke to the duke of Pei, and he was spared," so that Zhang Cang "was grateful to Wang Ling" and "when he became great served Wang Ling as a father; and after Ling's death, when Cang was chancellor, on his days of rest he would always first pay his respects to Ling's lady and serve her food before daring to go home."

Major Activities

Political Activity

Wang Ling's political career was marked by direct speech and willingness to remonstrate. At Liu Bang's banquet in the Southern Palace at Luoyang, he and Gao Qi openly identified Xiang Yu's jealousy of the worthy and capable as a key reason for Xiang Yu's defeat. Liu Bang answered that they understood only part of the matter. In his final instructions, Liu Bang described Wang Ling as “somewhat stubbornly honest” and nevertheless judged him capable of succeeding Cao Shen as chancellor.

When Empress Lü sought to enfeoff members of the Lü clan as kings, Wang Ling cited the White Horse Covenant of Emperor Gao and openly opposed the proposal in court. He was the only minister to state his opposition without qualification. As a result he was transferred to the post of Grand Tutor, deprived of real authority, and spent his final years in political frustration.

Military Activities

At the end of Qin, Wang Ling, serving as a stable general, separately pacified areas of Dong Commandery and Nanyang and took part in forcing Xiling in Nan Commandery to surrender. After Liu Bang entered Xianyang, Wang Ling maintained several thousand followers in Nanyang as an independent force. After joining Han in the second year of Han, he escorted Liu Ying and Princess Luyuan to safety during the collapse of the Han army at the Battle of Pengcheng and held Fengyi, services for which he later received a marquisate.

Relations with Contemporaries

Wang Ling was close to Yong Chi, who was an enemy of Liu Bang, and this relationship affected the timing of his enfeoffment. He was also credited with saving Zhang Cang's life: when Wang Ling entered Nanyang, Zhang Cang had committed an offense punishable by death, but Wang Ling spared him; Zhang Cang later became chancellor of the Western Han. Wang Ling and Chen Ping both served as chancellors but differed politically. Wang Ling accused Chen Ping of accommodating Empress Lü, while Chen Ping defended his conduct as necessary to preserve the Liu state.

His Stand in Court and His Place in Early Han Politics

Wang Ling's place in early Han politics may be put in the six words used of him: "scant in letters, self-willed, fond of plain speech." He was not of the original following that rose with Liu Bang, but a man of his own force who brought his troops to Han at the decisive moment of the Chu-Han struggle, and who thereafter was counted among the meritorious marquises for "bringing the emperor's son Hui and the princess Lu out of the Sui river" and "holding Feng firmly"; his mother's suicide to keep him from divided loyalty, and her being boiled by Xiang Yu, gave his later integrity the colour of a private price paid. In the empress dowager's reign he "contended in court" against making the Lü princes kings, citing Gaozu's oath on the white horse that "whoever not of the Liu house is made king, the empire shall strike him together," in pointed contrast with the expedient course of Chen Ping and Zhou Bo; and when he was ostensibly promoted to grand tutor and in fact stripped of the chancellorship, he resigned on grounds of illness and shut his doors, dying seven years later. Later judgments differ: one says that "the high emperor's covenant was that none not of the Liu should be king and none without merit a marquis, and that whoever broke it the empire should punish together... Wang Ling's contention in court — can it be called less than loyal?" while another holds that "Wang Ling contended in court and shut himself away, and each followed his own purpose," treating contention and expedience as two ways each true to its man.

He also left traces in institutional business: the edict spoken by the high emperor, "The Emperor's Dress, article eight," records that "the grand usher Chen Zhang received the edict in the Changle palace: 'Let the ministers discuss the emperor's dress, to settle the empire,'" whereupon Xiao He, chancellor, and Zhou Chang, censor-in-chief, "together with the general Chen Ling and the grand tutor to the heir Chen Tong" discussed it and proposed that "the emperor's dress in spring, summer, autumn and winter should follow the numbers of heaven and earth and attain the harmony of men" — Wang Ling's name stands in that record. As a former strongman of Pei whom Liu Bang in low estate "served as an elder brother," he holds a place in the establishing of the Han ancestral temple and court ritual; and that his descendants lost the fief for the gold tribute and were restored by edict in the fourth year of Yuankang is the familiar course of one line of the early Han marquises of merit.

Personal Relations

• Wang Ling's mother: Killed by Xiang Yu after urging her son to serve the King of Han loyally
• Yong Chi: Powerful man of Pei County and friend of Wang Ling; later an enemy of Liu Bang
• Zhang Cang: His life was spared by Wang Ling; later became chancellor of the Western Han
• Liu Bang: Treated Wang Ling with the respect due an elder brother and, in his final instructions, described him as “somewhat stubbornly honest” but suitable for the chancellorship
• Empress Lü: Stripped Wang Ling of power by transferring him to Grand Tutor after he opposed making Lü clansmen kings
• Liu Ying: Escorted to safety by Wang Ling during the Battle of Pengcheng
• Chen Ping: Fellow chancellor; disagreed with Wang Ling over policy toward Empress Lü
• Zhou Bo: Mentioned together with Wang Ling in Liu Bang's final instructions; identified as a suitable Grand Commandant
• Cao Shen: Previous chancellor; Wang Ling succeeded him as Right Chancellor

Historical Assessment

Han and Contemporary Views

• Liu Bang described Wang Ling as “somewhat stubbornly honest,” but believed he could succeed Cao Shen as chancellor if assisted by Chen Ping (Records of the Grand Historian, “Basic Annals of Gaozu”).
• Chen Ping said in his own defense, “In confronting a ruler directly and contending in court, I am not your equal; but in preserving the state and securing the descendants of the Liu house, you are not my equal,” thereby acknowledging Wang Ling's courage in direct remonstrance (Records of the Grand Historian, “Hereditary House of Chancellor Chen”).
• Sima Qian summarized Wang Ling as “not literary, governed by his temper, and fond of direct speech,” capturing the central traits of his character (Records of the Grand Historian, “Hereditary House of Chancellor Chen”).

Wei-Jin through Sui-Tang

• In his annotations to the Book of Han, Yan Shigu placed Wang Ling twelfth among the Eighteen Marquises, reflecting recognition of his founding military service (Book of Han annotations, “Table of Meritorious Officials under Gaozu, Hui, and Empress Gao”).
• Later historians frequently treated the story of Wang Ling's mother as an exemplar of loyalty, and works such as the Biographies of Exemplary Women included her story.

Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Periods

• Sima Guang's Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance gives a detailed account of Wang Ling's opposition to the enfeoffment of the Lü clan and presents him as a model of loyal and forthright service.
• Ming and Qing scholars often discussed Wang Ling together with Zhou Chang as representative early Han ministers known for direct remonstrance.

Modern Period

• Modern scholars have often focused on the effect of Wang Ling's mother's death on his political choice and on his disagreement with Chen Ping over how to respond to Empress Lü's government.
• As one of the Eighteen Marquises, Wang Ling's relatively late enfeoffment—often linked to his friendship with Yong Chi and his earlier refusal to submit to Liu Bang—is frequently cited as an example of Liu Bang's principles and calculations in distributing rewards.