Quick Facts
Biography
Wang Su (195–256), courtesy name Ziyong, was an official and Confucian scholar of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a son of Wang Lang. When Guanqiu Jian started a rebellion in Shouchun, Wang Su advised Sima Shi to lower the rebels' morale by treating their families with respect. Following that, Wang Su entreated Cao Mao to allow Sima Zhao to succeed Sima Shi as regent of Wei.
Wang Su's daughter, Wang Yuanji, married Sima Zhao and gave birth to Sima Yan, the first emperor of the Jin dynasty (265–420), thus Wang Sure becoming a grandfather himself. Wang Su inherited the title and marquisate of Marquis of Lanling (蘭陵侯) from his father.
Wang Su compiled the extant edition of the Kongzi Jiayu (School Sayings of Confucius), the sayings of Confucius not included in the Analects. Scholars long suspected it was a forgery by Wang Su, but a book discovered in 1977 from the Shuanggudui tomb (sealed in 165 BCE), entitled Ru Jia Zhe Yan (儒家者言, Sayings of the Ru School), contains very similar content to the Kongzi Jiayu.