Wang Can 王粲

His great-grandfather Wang Gong and grandfather Wang Chang both served as one of the Three Excellencies of Han. His father Wang Qian was Chief Clerk to the General-in-Chief He Jin; He Jin, regarding him as the descendant of an illustrious duke, wished to form a marriage alliance with him and showed him his two sons to choose from, but Wang Qian did not consent. Wang Qian was dismissed because of illness and died at home. Records, Wei 21 §2

When Emperor Xian moved west, Wang Can also moved to Chang'an. At that time Cai Yong, General of the Household of the Left, was famous for his talent and learning and his seats were always full of guests, but on hearing that Wang Can was at the gate, he rushed out to welcome him with his shoes on backwards. Wang Can was young and small in stature, and the whole company was astonished, but Cai Yong said, 'This is the grandson of Lord Wang; he has extraordinary talent, and I am not his equal. All the books and writings in my house ought to be given to him.' Records, Wei 21 §3

At seventeen he was summoned by the Minister over the Masses and appointed Gentleman of the Yellow Gate by edict, but because the western capital was in turmoil he took up neither post. He went to Jing Province and took refuge with Liu Biao, who did not think much of him because he was unprepossessing in appearance, weak in body and casual in manner. When Liu Biao died, Wang Can urged Liu Biao's son Liu Cong to submit to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao made him Clerk to the Chancellor and granted him the rank of Marquis Within the Passes. Records, Wei 21 §4

When Cao Cao held a banquet on the bank of the Han River, Wang Can raised his cup in congratulation. He said that Yuan Shao loved worthy men but did not know how to use them, so outstanding gentlemen left him, and that Liu Biao sat at ease in Jing-Chu thinking he could emulate the Earl of the West, but did not know to whom to entrust the heroes who had come there fleeing the turmoil. He then said that Cao Cao, on the day he pacified Ji Province, gathered and employed its men of mettle, and when he pacified the Yangtze and Han region, placed its talented men in various posts, and that this was a deed worthy of the Three Kings. Records, Wei 21 §4–5

He later moved to Libationer of Military Strategy, and when the state of Wei was founded he was appointed Palace Attendant together with Du Xi and He Qia. He knew so much that there was no question he could not answer, and when the old rites had fallen into disuse and new institutions were being created, he was always the one in charge. Because of his strong memory and wide learning, he often rode in Cao Cao's carriage on his outings, but in the esteem he enjoyed he did not match He Qia and Du Xi. When Du Xi had an audience alone with Cao Cao and talked until midnight, Wang Can fretted that he did not know what they were talking about, and He Qia laughed, 'You attend him by day; is that not enough? Do you want the nights as well?' Records, Wei 21 §6Records, Wei 23 §38–39

Walking with others, Wang Can read a stele by the roadside and then, with his back to it, recited it without missing a single character. When someone's game of weiqi was knocked into disarray, he laid it out again, and when those who did not believe him covered the board and had him lay it out on another board, the two matched without a single line wrong. He excelled at calculation and wrote a work on arithmetic. When he wrote, he finished as soon as he took up the brush and made no revisions, so people thought he had composed his pieces in advance, yet even with deep thought no one could improve on them. He wrote nearly sixty poems, rhapsodies, essays and discussions. Records, Wei 21 §7–8

When Emperor Wen was General of the Household for All Purposes, he and Cao Zhi, Marquis of Pingyuan, both loved literature, and Wang Can, together with Xu Gan, Chen Lin, Ruan Yu, Ying Chang and Liu Zhen, was treated as a close friend. In the 21st year of Jian'an (216) he followed the campaign against Wu and died of illness on the road in spring of the 22nd year (217), at the age of forty-one. Xu Gan, Chen Lin, Ying Chang and Liu Zhen also died in the same year, and in a letter to Wu Zhi, Emperor Wen wrote, 'Zhongxuan alone excelled at rhapsodies, but his vigour was weak and could not lift his writing.' Wang Can's two sons were drawn in by Wei Feng and executed, and his line died out. Records, Wei 21 §8–9 · 20–21

In his assessment Chen Shou said that because Emperor Wen and the Prince of Chen loved literary refinement, men of talent emerged together, and of them the six including Wang Can were the most renowned. He wrote that Wang Can in particular, holding the office of changbo, raised up the institutions of an age, but that in the breadth of his humble and tranquil virtue he fell short of the purity of Xu Gan. Records, Wei 21 §99