Wang Anli

Life

He passed the jinshi examination in 1061 and entered service after being recruited by Tang Jie of Hedong. In 1072 he became a secretary and collation official at the Chongwen Institute; in 1075 he was transferred to the Jixian Academy and sent out as prefect of Runzhou and Huzhou. He later held several posts in the Three Financial Offices, including 同判帳籍司, 同判都勾院, 三司度支判官, 三司都磨勘司, and 帳籍司, as well as 秘書丞; other titles included 太常寺博士, 資政殿學士, 太中大夫, and 中大夫.

He was summoned to serve as judge of Kaifeng Prefecture, then held 直舍人院, 同修起居注, and 知制誥; in 1081 he became a Hanlin Academician and served as prefect of Kaifeng. As prefect, he disposed of long-pending lawsuits and was diligent in administration; a Liao envoy marveled at his performance.

In 1079, Su Shi was imprisoned because a poem touched on the new reforms. When no one dared to intervene, Wang Anli calmly spoke to Emperor Shenzong on Su Shi’s behalf, and Su Shi was saved.

In 1082 he was appointed Right Vice Councillor in the Department of State Affairs, and in 1083 transferred to Left Vice Councillor. In 1084 he was removed from that post and appointed prefect of Jiangning, with the title Duanming dian xueshi.

During the Yuanyou era he successively served as prefect of Yangzhou, Qingzhou, Caizhou, Shuzhou, and Xuanzhou. At the beginning of Shaosheng he became prefect of Yongxing jun; in the second year he moved to Taiyuan, and he also served as prefect of Chengdu with the concurrent title of pacification commissioner. He died in the ninth month of the third year of Shaosheng, aged sixty-two.

Family and associations

His father was Wang Yi and his elder brother Wang Anshi. His affinal relations included Cai Que; his wife’s brother was Xie Jingwen, his co-brother-in-law was Wang Cun, and his nephew was Wang Pang. His sons-in-law were Zhao Dingchen, Liu Anzhi, Cai Bian, and Fang Yuanxiu; his great-grandson was Wang Jian and his great-great-grandson was Wang Houzhi.

He was impeached by Cen Xiangqiu and received a reply from Wang Ling. In his literary work, he composed epitaphs for Shen Jichang, Yuan Jiang, Zhao Zongjin, Jia Gui, Zhao Keqin, and Zhao Shiyue, among others; he also composed epitaphs for Zhang Zifang, Zhao Zhongmou, Zhao Zhongqi, Zhao Zhonglai, Hao shi, Li shi, Zhao Zhongna, and Zhao Zhongying. He wrote a sacrificial text for Wu Chong, a biography in the xingzhuang form for Lü Gongbi, and a school record for Wan Wei; a preface to one of his books was written by Lou Yue, and a postscript by Liu Kezhuang.

Works

His works included the ten-juan 《重修開封府熙寧編》, the sixteen-juan 《天文書》, the one-juan 《二儀賦》, and a twenty-juan collected works; the collected works were later lost. Qing editors compiled the seven-juan 《王魏公集》 from the 《永樂大典》, including one juan of poetry, and Wang Anli’s poems were separately edited as a one-juan collection.