RAn edict said he practised benevolence, held to righteousness and was upright in purposeWei 4 §93
NAdmonished against setting aside the eldest sonCh. 119 §32Ch. 119 §33
Wang Xiang 王祥
| Occupation | RNOfficial · Grand Commandant | Faction | Wei |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | RN | Biography in | Book of Wei |
| Born | R180 Unverified | Native place | Langya Commandery |
| Died | R268 Unverified | Place of death | |
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R12 |
Profile
Wang Xiang was a native of Langya. He has no separate biography in the Records; in Chen Shou's main text his name appears in the biography of Lü Qian, the Annals of the Three Young Emperors and the biography of Lu Yu. After Emperor Wen became king, Lü Qian, who had become Inspector of Xu Province, invited him to be his Attendant Officer with Separate Carriage (biejia) and entrusted all civil affairs to him. Records, Wei 18 §46Records, Wei 4 §93–94Records, Wei 22 §105
In the 3rd year of Ganlu (258), the Duke of Gaogui Village made Wang Xiang, Marquis Within the Passes, the Thrice Venerable as a man who practised benevolence and held to righteousness. Later he went from Colonel-Director of Retainers to Minister of Works, and in the 3rd month of the 1st year of Xianxi (264) he was transferred from Minister of Works to Grand Commandant. Records, Wei 4 §93–94 · 120 · 128
Chen Shou's main text does not record his courtesy name or the year of his death, and there is no assessment of him. In the Romance he first appears in Chapter 116 as Grand Commandant and features in 2 of its 120 chapters; there is no chapter whose title contains his name. When Zhong Hui sets out on campaign he asks Liu Shi about the prospects of the conquest of Shu, and in Chapter 119, together with Xun Yi, he admonishes Sima Zhao to make his eldest son his heir. Records, Wei 18 §46Records, Wei 4 §128Romance, Ch. 116 §9–10Romance, Ch. 119 §32–33
In the Records
Wang Xiang was a native of Langya. He has no separate biography in Chen Shou's main text. According to the biography of Lü Qian in Records of Wei 18, when Emperor Wen became king, Lü Qian was given the additional title of Adjutant General and promoted to Inspector of Xu Province, and he invited Wang Xiang of Langya to be his Attendant Officer with Separate Carriage (biejia) and entrusted all civil affairs to him. People of the time praised Lü Qian for his ability to entrust affairs to worthy men. Records, Wei 18 §46
In the 3rd year of Zhengyuan (256), when Lu Yu, who had resigned his post because of illness, was transferred to Minister of Works, he insistently yielded the post to the General of Agile Cavalry Wang Chang, the Grandee of Splendid Happiness Wang Guan and the Colonel-Director of Retainers Wang Xiang. But an edict sent an envoy to confer the seal and ribbon on Lu Yu on the spot. Records, Wei 22 §105
In autumn, in the 8th month of the 3rd year of Ganlu (258), the Duke of Gaogui Village issued an edict. Saying that to care for the aged and promote moral instruction there must be a Thrice Venerable and a Fivefold Experienced to exalt the highest reverence, and that men of virtuous conduct must be carefully chosen to fill these posts, he declared that Wang Xiang, Marquis Within the Passes, practised benevolence and held to righteousness, and was upright in purpose, pure and steadfast. Thereupon Wang Xiang was made the Thrice Venerable and Zheng Xiaotong, Marquis Within the Passes, the Fivefold Experienced, and the emperor personally led the officials in performing the ancient rites. Records, Wei 4 §93–94
On the jiawu day of the 12th month of the 1st year of Jingyuan (early 261 CE), the Colonel-Director of Retainers Wang Xiang became Minister of Works. On the dingchou day of the 3rd month of the 1st year of Xianxi (264), after Shu had been pacified and Zhong Hui had rebelled in Shu and been put down, the Minister of Works Wang Xiang became Grand Commandant; at this time the General Who Conquers the North He Zeng became Minister over the Masses, and the Left Supervisor of the Imperial Secretariat Xun Yi became Minister of Works. Records, Wei 4 §120 · 128
Chen Shou's main text does not record Wang Xiang's courtesy name, the year of his birth or the year of his death. Nor is Wang Xiang dealt with in the assessments of the volumes in which he appears. Records, Wei 18 §46Records, Wei 4 §128
In the Romance
In Chapter 116 of the Romance, when Zhong Hui marches out to attack Shu, the hundred officials see him off outside the city. Everyone praises and envies him, but the Army Adviser to the Chancellor of State Liu Shi only smiles and says nothing, so the Grand Commandant Wang Xiang takes his hand from horseback and asks whether the two men, Zhong Hui and Deng Ai, will be able to pacify Shu on this expedition. Liu Shi answers that Shu will certainly be broken, but he fears that neither of the two will return to the capital. When Wang Xiang asks why, Liu Shi only smiles and does not answer, and Wang Xiang asks no further. Romance, Ch. 116 §9–10
In Chapter 119, Sima Zhao, enfeoffed as King of Jin, wishes to make his heir his second son Sima You, whom he had made the successor of his sonless elder brother Sima Shi. Shan Tao remonstrates that setting aside the eldest to raise a younger son is contrary to ritual, and Jia Chong, He Zeng and Pei Xiu also remonstrate, but Sima Zhao hesitates. At this the Grand Commandant Wang Xiang and the Minister of Works Xun Yi admonish him to think deeply, saying that in past ages setting up a younger son usually threw the state into disorder, and Sima Zhao at last makes his eldest son Sima Yan his heir. Romance, Ch. 119 §31–33
In the same chapter, Sima Zhao returns to the palace and, as he is about to eat, suddenly suffers a stroke and loses the power of speech. The next day, when his illness becomes critical, the Grand Commandant Wang Xiang enters the palace with He Zeng, Xun Yi and other high ministers to ask after him, and Sima Zhao, unable to speak, points with his hand at the heir apparent Sima Yan and dies. Romance, Ch. 119 §34
Where the Romance differs
His office at the time of the expedition: Chapter 116 of the Romance calls Wang Xiang Grand Commandant when Zhong Hui marches out. In the Annals of the Three Young Emperors in the Records, Wang Xiang went from Colonel-Director of Retainers to Minister of Works in the 12th month of the 1st year of Jingyuan, and was transferred from Minister of Works to Grand Commandant in the 3rd month of the 1st year of Xianxi (264), after Shu had been pacified. The Grand Commandant who died in autumn, in the 9th month of the 4th year of Jingyuan (263), was Gao Rou. Romance, Ch. 116 §9Records, Wei 4 §120 · 126 · 128
The exchange with Liu Shi: The scene in Chapter 116 of the Romance in which Wang Xiang asks Liu Shi about the prospects of Zhong Hui and Deng Ai appears nowhere in the records of Wang Xiang in Chen Shou's main text, and the name Liu Shi does not appear in Chen Shou's main text either. Romance, Ch. 116 §9–10Records, Wei 18 §46Records, Wei 22 §105Records, Wei 4 §93–94 · 120 · 128
Setting up the heir: In Chapter 119 of the Romance, Sima Zhao makes Sima Yan his heir after the admonitions of Wang Xiang and Xun Yi. The Annals of the Three Young Emperors in the Records state only that in the 1st year of Xianxi (264) Sima Yan, General-in-Chief Who Pacifies the Army and Marquis of Xinchang District, was made heir of Jin, and do not record who remonstrated. Romance, Ch. 119 §32–33Records, Wei 4 §144
Sima Zhao's death: In Chapter 119 of the Romance, Sima Zhao points at Sima Yan with his hand and dies while Wang Xiang, together with He Zeng, Xun Yi and others, is visiting him. The Annals of the Three Young Emperors in the Records only state that on the xinmao day of the 8th month, in autumn, of the 2nd year of Xianxi (265), the Chancellor of State, the King of Jin, died, and that the next day the heir apparent of Jin, Sima Yan, succeeded to his fief; Wang Xiang's visit does not appear. Romance, Ch. 119 §34Records, Wei 4 §148
Attendant officer and Thrice Venerable: The Records include Wang Xiang's handling of civil affairs as Lü Qian's Attendant Officer with Separate Carriage (biejia), and his appointment as the Thrice Venerable by the Duke of Gaogui Village in the 3rd year of Ganlu (258). In the Romance, Wang Xiang appears only as Grand Commandant in Chapters 116 and 119, and these episodes do not appear. Records, Wei 18 §46Records, Wei 4 §93–94Romance, Ch. 116 §9Romance, Ch. 119 §32
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
Abilities
The Records score (Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, main text) is the baseline. Each ability compares how the Romance redrew the same person, and the evidence from both sources explains the difference.
Records total496 / 1000Rank 262 of 996 · Top 27%Romance total422 / 1000Rank 364 of 1,113 · Top 33%
Romance adaptation index−74Romance total − Records total
- LEA3131±0
- STR3131±0
- INT4542−3
- POL6240−22
- CHA5840−18
- VIR8558−27
- ADP5245−7
- SCH5040−10
- DIP4055+15
- DIS4240−2
Abilities shaped by the Romance — where it differs from the Records Differences of 10 or more
RLü Qian entrusted all civil affairs to himWei 18 §46
NNo direct record — only the title of Grand CommandantCh. 119 §34
RHonoured as the Thrice Venerable, and Lu Yu tried to yield the post of Minister of Works to Wang Chang, Wang Guan and himWei 4 §94Wei 22 §105
NNo direct record — only the title of Grand CommandantCh. 119 §34
RNo direct record — estimated from his official careerWei 18 §46
NHis admonition led Sima Zhao to make Sima Yan his heirCh. 119 §32Ch. 119 §33
RNo direct record — estimated from his receiving the ancient rites as the Thrice VenerableWei 4 §94
NNo direct record — only the title of Grand CommandantCh. 119 §32
5 similar abilities — show evidence
RNo direct record — estimated from his career as a civil officialWei 18 §46
NNo direct record — only the title of Grand CommandantCh. 116 §9
RNo direct record — estimated from his career as a civil officialWei 18 §46
NNo direct record — only the title of Grand CommandantCh. 116 §9
RNo direct record — estimated from his career as an attendant officer (biejia)Wei 18 §46
NNo direct record — only the record of his asking Liu Shi whether the expedition would succeedCh. 116 §9
RNo direct record — estimated from his career rising to Minister of Works and Grand CommandantWei 4 §120Wei 4 §128
NNo direct record — estimated from his title of Grand CommandantCh. 119 §34
RNo direct record — estimated from his official careerWei 18 §46
NNo direct record — only the title of Grand CommandantCh. 116 §10
Records Romance Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.
Romance chapters (2)
AppearsNot present Chapter list →
Allegiance history
- Wei · Records · Records vol. 18 「請琅邪王祥為別駕」
Related works (1)
- The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars Classical texts
Linked via Wikidata "depicts" and character names in titles (unverified) — not yet reviewed.