{ "id": "ep98p0xgep", "slug": "wang-anshi", "title": "Wang Anshi", "updated": "2026-10-15", "topic_path": [ { "id": "society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society" }, { "id": "society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history" }, { "id": "society.history.asia", "label": "Asian history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.china", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.china" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.china.n-song", "label": "Northern Song (960 to 1127)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.china.n-song" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.china.n-song.statesmen-and-civil-officials", "label": "Statesmen and civil officials", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.china.n-song.statesmen-and-civil-officials" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.china.n-song.statesmen-and-civil-officials.mid-song-officials-1023-1085", "label": "Mid-Song officials, 1023–1085", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.china.n-song.statesmen-and-civil-officials.mid-song-officials-1023-1085" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t1000.society.history.asia.china.n-song.statesmen-and-civil-officials.mid-song-officials-1023-1085", "label": "China · 1000 to 1799: Mid-Song officials, 1023–1085", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1000.society.history.asia.china.n-song.statesmen-and-civil-officials.mid-song-officials-1023-1085", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1000", "label": "China · 1000 to 1799", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1000" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1000.society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1000.society" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1000.society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1000.society.history" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1000.society.history.asia", "label": "Asian history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1000.society.history.asia" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1000.society.history.asia.china", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1000.society.history.asia.china" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1000.society.history.asia.china.n-song", "label": "Northern Song (960 to 1127)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1000.society.history.asia.china.n-song" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1000.society.history.asia.china.n-song.statesmen-and-civil-officials", "label": "Statesmen and civil officials", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1000.society.history.asia.china.n-song.statesmen-and-civil-officials" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1000.society.history.asia.china.n-song.statesmen-and-civil-officials.mid-song-officials-1023-1085", "label": "Mid-Song officials, 1023–1085", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1000.society.history.asia.china.n-song.statesmen-and-civil-officials.mid-song-officials-1023-1085" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Wang Anshi (王安石) was a Song-dynasty statesman, writer, and reformer who twice served as chancellor under Emperor Songshenzong and directed the New Policies reforms of the 1070s.", "snippet": "Wang Anshi (王安石) was a Song-dynasty statesman, writer, and reformer who twice served as chancellor under Emperor Songshenzong and directed the New Policies reforms of the 1070s.", "node": "society.history.asia.china.n-song.statesmen-and-civil-officials.mid-song-officials-1023-1085", "markdown": "# Wang Anshi\n\nWang Anshi (王安石, 1021–1086, courtesy name 介甫, posthumous name 文, enfeoffed as 荆国公, and posthumously 舒王) was a Song-dynasty statesman, writer, and reformer who served as chief councillor to Emperor Songshenzong (宋神宗) and directed the \"New Policies\" (新法) reform program of the 1070s.[1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0001762) • [2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷211) According to the *Song Shi* (卷二百一十一), he twice held the chancellorship, was twice dismissed, and retired to Jiangning (江宁), where he died in 1086 at the recorded age of 66.[1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0001762) \n\n| Fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Life | Born 1021, died 1086, aged 66; Song dynasty[1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0001762) |\n| Names | Courtesy name 介甫; studio name 半山老人; posthumous name 文; enfeoffment title 王荆公[1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0001762) |\n| Ruler served | Emperor Songshenzong, who told him the Xihe victory could not have been achieved \"without your planning within\"[3](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷015) • [4](https://m.thepaper.cn/wifiKey_detail.jsp?contid=14967994&from=wifiKey) |\n| Chancellorships | 参知政事 1069–1070; 同中书门下平章事 1070–1074 and again February 1075 to October 1076[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷211) |\n| Signature laws | 保甲法 (militia), 免役法 (commuted labor service), 均输法, 青苗法, 农田水利法, 方田均税法, 将兵法[3](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷015) • [5](http://szzy.7lue.cn/read/fae1cf09d14af1ce3943c3c21912fd06/73f96b2f3e9107827b8dea8144106d70.md) |\n| Military outcome | The Xihe (熙河) campaign under Wang Shao (王韶) broke the Western Tibetans in the fourth month of 1074, with over 7,000 enemy killed and the chieftain Mu Zheng (木征) surrendering[3](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷015) |\n| Final titles | 尚书左仆射、舒国公、集禧观使 in 1078 (元丰元年)[3](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷015) |\n\n## Origins and family\n\nWang came from Linchuan (临川) in Fuzhou (抚州) (modern Jiangxi), though his exact home village is disputed: one line of sources places his old residence in Linchuan itself, while local tradition in Dongxiang (东乡)'s Shangchi (上池) village also claims him.[6](http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Song/personswanganshi.html) • [7](https://www.48shi.com/renwu/wanganshi.html) He obtained the jinshi degree in 1042.[6](http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Song/personswanganshi.html)\n\nThe biographical database records his father as [Wang Yi](https://www.edgepedia.org/wang-yi) (王益) and his mother as Wu Shi (吴氏); his father-in-law, the father of his wife, was Wu Fen (吴蕡), and he married a Wu Shi of that family.[1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0001762) His brothers were Wang Anren (王安仁), Wang Anguo (王安国), and Wang Anli (王安礼). His sons were Wang Pang (王雱) and Wang Pang (王滂), and his daughters married [Cai Bian](https://www.edgepedia.org/cai-bian) (蔡卞) and Ye Tao (叶涛); the future chief councillor [Cai Jing](https://www.edgepedia.org/cai-jing) (蔡京) married his niece.[1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0001762)\n\n## Career\n\nAccording to the China Biographical Database (CBDB), Wang's early posts trace a normal provincial ascent: signary of a military commissioner's staff (签书节度判官厅), administrator of a county, controller-general (通判), administrative assistant of the herds (群牧判官), commissioner for the districts of the Kaifeng region, and administrative assistant of the tax bureau of the State Finance Commission.[1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0001762) In 1058, according to Britannica, he submitted his \"Ten Thousand Word Memorial\" to Emperor Songrenzong (宋仁宗), setting out the rudiments of his later policies, and no action followed.[8](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wang-Anshi) He became drafter (知制诰), observed mourning for his mother, and became a [Hanlin Academician](https://www.edgepedia.org/hanlin-academician-hanlin-xueshi).[1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0001762)\n\nUnder the new emperor Songshenzong his rise was rapid. In the second month of 1069 he entered the government as 参知政事, and in the twelfth month of 1070 he became 同中书门下平章事, sharing the chancellorship first with [Han Jiang](https://www.edgepedia.org/han-jiang) (韩绛).[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷211) In that same twelfth month of 1070 the court established the baojia militia law (保甲法) and first implemented the exemption law (免役法), which replaced corvée (unpaid forced labor owed by peasants to the state) with a payment, and commissioned Wang to supervise the compilation of the three boards' statutes and rules (提举编修三司令式).[3](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷015) According to one modern history, the reform headquarters, the 制置三司条例司, was created in the second month of 1069, with the 均输法, 青苗法, and 农田水利法 promulgated between July and November of that year.[5](http://szzy.7lue.cn/read/fae1cf09d14af1ce3943c3c21912fd06/73f96b2f3e9107827b8dea8144106d70.md) \n\nIn the fourth month of 1074 Wang was dismissed to administer Jiangning prefecture as 观文殿大学士 and 吏部尚书; [Lv Huiqing](https://www.edgepedia.org/lv-huiqing) (吕惠卿) became 参知政事 in his place.[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷211) In the second month of 1075 he returned as 同平章事 and 昭文馆大学士, and in a later sixth month the court promulgated his commentaries on the *Odes*, the *Documents*, and the *Rites of Zhou* (《诗》、《书》、《周礼义》) in the official schools, raising him to 尚书左仆射兼门下侍郎; in a ninth month he was additionally made supervisor of state historiography.[3](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷015) In the tenth month of 1076 he was dismissed for the second time, made 镇南军节度使 with the title of 尚书左仆射, and sent to administer Jiangning again.[2](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷211) In 1078 (元丰元年) he was named 尚书左仆射, 舒国公, and 集禧观使.[3](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷015)\n\n## Political influence\n\nWang's program reached nearly every organ of the state. The baojia law organized rural households into units of ten, drafting one man from any household with two or more adult males for military training in the agricultural off-season; the 将兵法 abolished the rotating-garrison (更戍) system and assigned a commander and deputy to each permanent unit to train it, ending the separation of soldiers from officers.[3](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷015) • [9](https://www.48shi.com/item/9547.html) The general-history account counts 70+ such territorial commands eventually: 37 in north China from 1074, 42 in the northwest, and 13 in the southeast added later.[5](http://szzy.7lue.cn/read/fae1cf09d14af1ce3943c3c21912fd06/73f96b2f3e9107827b8dea8144106d70.md) According to the Fuzhou Wang Anshi Memorial Hall, his commentary on the classics, promulgated in the schools, made his own learning, later called the 荆公新学, the ideological basis of his political reform.[3](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷015) • [10](http://www.wasjng.cn/) \n\nInstitutions outlasted him in two ways. According to Paul J. Smith's *Taxing Heaven's Treasury*, several of the most radical extensions of state power, such as the Sichuan tea-and-horses enterprise that supplied Qinghai horse traders and generated surplus revenue for frontier defense, were completed by Wang Anshi's colleagues and the emperor after his 1076 retirement, and many specific policies drew on Han-dynasty precedents.[11](https://doi.org/10.1163/9781684170098_006) Second, the laws the Yuanyou faction rescinded in 1086 were later revived in amended forms; a [Peking University](https://www.edgepedia.org/peking-university) assessment argues that the qingmiao loan and baojia systems prefigure modern agricultural credit and militia institutions, and that the exemption law's substitution of money for corvée freed large numbers of commoners from forced labor.[5](http://szzy.7lue.cn/read/fae1cf09d14af1ce3943c3c21912fd06/73f96b2f3e9107827b8dea8144106d70.md) • [9](https://www.48shi.com/item/9547.html) • [12](https://www.sg.pku.edu.cn/xkjs/xkjsdt/1201900zfglxyx1383250.htm) His political thought, in the reading of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, made the state responsible for restraining \"runaway profit-seeking\" in the market, a premise that shaped the whole reform.[13](http://lishisuo.cssn.cn/xsyj/slxxjs/202112/t20211207_5379803.shtml)\n\n## Military style\n\nAccording to The Paper, the record shows him planning the Xihe campaign: Emperor Songshenzong told him, \"without your masterminding within, this could not have been accomplished,\" and \"but for your aid, this achievement would not have been made.\"[4](https://m.thepaper.cn/wifiKey_detail.jsp?contid=14967994&from=wifiKey) In the fourth month of 1074, as the campaign peaked, [Wang Shao](https://www.edgepedia.org/wang-shao) defeated the Western Tibetans at Jiehechuan (结河川), then fortified 珂诺城 and broke the enemy in pitched battle with Tibetan auxiliaries, killing more than 7,000, burning over 20,000 tents, and accepting the surrender of Mu Zheng with more than 80 chieftains; the same month Wang was dismissed.[3](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷015) A later account credits the 1073 campaign under Wang's direction with recovering four or more prefectures, extending territory over 1,600 li, and receiving the submission of more than 200,000 Tibetan tents.[9](https://www.48shi.com/item/9547.html) \n\nHis characteristic method was strategic prioritization and deception. He judged the surrounding powers \"all weakened,\" argued that the Khitan in the north should be temporarily placated while the Xihe and [Western Xia](https://www.edgepedia.org/western-xia) fronts were dealt with first, and praised Wang Shao's plan to \"feign a move toward Hezhou, then strike from the Tao and Min directions along routes the enemy would not guard\" as \"the highest principle of using troops\"; Wang Shao's subsequent crossing of Lugushan (露骨山) followed exactly that prediction.[4](https://m.thepaper.cn/wifiKey_detail.jsp?contid=14967994&from=wifiKey) On the institutional side, the record shows the court in the twelfth month of 1070 reorganizing the rotation garrison system so that troops mixed in from other circuits were sent home, and later ordering the new armies of the southeast to train and review.[3](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷015)\n\n## Death, titles, and heirs\n\nWang died in the fourth month of 1086, at 66, shortly after the young Emperor Zhezong's accession and the rescission of the New Laws under [Sima Guang](https://www.edgepedia.org/sima-guang) (司马光); he was buried at Banshanyuan (半山园) in Jiangning.[1](https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0001762) • [14](https://xjyx.jxutcm.edu.cn/info/1051/1448.htm)\n\nHis posthumous fortunes swung with the court. According to a Hong Kong Polytechnic University thesis, he was granted the title Grand Mentor (太傅); in 1094, the day after the era changed to Shaosheng, he was ordered to accompany Emperor Shenzong's tablet in the ancestral temple, and given the posthumous name 文.[15](https://theses.lib.polyu.edu.hk/bitstream/200/12526/3/6972.pdf) In 1113 Emperor Huizong enfeoffed him posthumously as 舒王 and set him in the Confucian temple, while his son Wang Pang was enfeoffed Linchuan Earl; under Emperor Qinzong in 1126 the princely title was revoked and his portrait removed, and Emperor Gaozong later stripped the 舒王 title entirely.[14](https://xjyx.jxutcm.edu.cn/info/1051/1448.htm) • [15](https://theses.lib.polyu.edu.hk/bitstream/200/12526/3/6972.pdf) • [7](https://www.48shi.com/renwu/wanganshi.html)\n\n## Assessment\n\nThe standard history's image of Wang is a constructed one. A study of his portrayal in the 《宋史》 finds that Yuan compilers used clear editorial techniques to present him negatively, even casting him as leader of the \"traitor-ministers\" and culprit of the Jingkang catastrophe, yet stopped short of placing him in the 《奸臣传》 chapter, a choice the study links to the [Zhu Xi](https://www.edgepedia.org/zhu-xi) school's ideology among the Yuan historians.[16](https://pdf.hanspub.org/cnc_1000891.pdf) \n\nModern and premodern reassessments diverge sharply. The Qing scholar Cai Shangxiang (蔡上翔) of Jinxi spent twenty-seven years on the 《王荆公年谱考略》, completed in 1804 in 25 juan plus 2 juan of miscellany, the most important traditional work defending Wang against the standard history's charges, though the author's openly partisan aim biases his selection of sources.[17](https://pdf.diancang.xyz/31369/) Southern Song scholar [Lu Jiuyuan](https://www.edgepedia.org/lu-jiuyuan) praised his character in a shrine dedication.[14](https://xjyx.jxutcm.edu.cn/info/1051/1448.htm)\n\n## Legacy\n\nWang is counted among the [Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song](https://www.edgepedia.org/eight-great-prose-masters-of-the-tang-and-song); his collected works survive as the 《临川先生文集》 and the 《王文公文集》.[6](http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Song/personswanganshi.html) A shrine was built at his old residence in Fuzhou as early as 1106 by the prefect Tian Deng (田登), with his portrait enshrined.[14](https://xjyx.jxutcm.edu.cn/info/1051/1448.htm) The Wang Anshi Memorial Museum in Fuzhou, built with provincial funding and opened in November 1986, stands on Gandong Avenue with a statue of the reformer over three meters tall.[14](https://xjyx.jxutcm.edu.cn/info/1051/1448.htm) • [7](https://www.48shi.com/renwu/wanganshi.html) His birthplace remains contested between Linchuan and Dongxiang, where Shangchi village was listed as a provincial heritage site in July 2000.[7](https://www.48shi.com/renwu/wanganshi.html)\n\n## References\n\n1. China Biographical Database (CBDB), person 1762 王安石. https://cbdb.fas.harvard.edu/cbdbapi/person.php?id=0001762\n2. 《宋史》卷二百一十一 (宰辅表 passages naming 王安石), Wikisource transcription. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷211\n3. 《宋史》卷十五 (本纪 passages naming 王安石), Wikisource transcription. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/宋史/卷015\n4. 千年王安石︱论王安石对周边形势的战略洞察力, 澎湃新闻. https://m.thepaper.cn/wifiKey_detail.jsp?contid=14967994&from=wifiKey\n5. 第三节 王安石变法, 《中国通史》第七卷 (白寿彝主编). http://szzy.7lue.cn/read/fae1cf09d14af1ce3943c3c21912fd06/73f96b2f3e9107827b8dea8144106d70.md\n6. Wang Anshi 王安石, chinaknowledge.de. http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Song/personswanganshi.html\n7. 王安石简介, 四十八史. https://www.48shi.com/renwu/wanganshi.html\n8. \"Wang Anshi,\" Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wang-Anshi\n9. 王安石变法, 四十八史历史百科. https://www.48shi.com/item/9547.html\n10. 抚州市王安石纪念馆 (官网). http://www.wasjng.cn/\n11. Paul J. Smith, *Taxing Heaven's Treasury*, ch. 6 introduction. https://doi.org/10.1163/9781684170098_006\n12. 学科建设动态, 北京大学政府管理学院. https://www.sg.pku.edu.cn/xkjs/xkjsdt/1201900zfglxyx1383250.htm\n13. \"失败\"与\"探路\": 王安石变法的历史遗产, 中国社会科学院历史研究所. http://lishisuo.cssn.cn/xsyj/slxxjs/202112/t20211207_5379803.shtml\n14. 王安石, 旴江医学, 江西中医药大学. https://xjyx.jxutcm.edu.cn/info/1051/1448.htm\n15. 王安石评价研究, 香港理工大学学位论文. https://theses.lib.polyu.edu.hk/bitstream/200/12526/3/6972.pdf\n16. 王安石于《宋史》中的政治形象研究, 汉斯出版社. https://pdf.hanspub.org/cnc_1000891.pdf\n17. 王荆公年谱考略 (蔡上翔). https://pdf.diancang.xyz/31369/\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › China › Northern Song (960 to 1127) › Statesmen and civil officials › Mid-Song officials, 1023–1085*\n\n*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/wang-anshi", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/wang-anshi.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Wang Anshi\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/wang-anshi. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Wang Anshi](https://www.edgepedia.org/wang-anshi)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/wang-anshi](https://www.edgepedia.org/wang-anshi). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Wang Anshi\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/wang-anshi. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Wang Anshi was a Song-dynasty statesman, writer, and reformer who twice served as chancellor under Emperor Songshenzong and directed the New Policies reforms of the 1070s." }