Wang Jian (Southern Qi) - Service During Southern Qi

Service During Southern Qi

For Wang Jian's contributions during his takeover, Emperor Gao created him the Duke of Nanchang. Even though Emperor Gao made Chu Yuan prime minister, Wang appeared to have more actual power. He often compared himself to the Jin prime minister Xie An, praising Xie for his elegant style. In 479, Emperor Gao wanted to institute a universal identification card program in Jiankang to keep social order, but Wang persuaded him of its impracticality. In 482, when Emperor Gao died and was succeeded by his son Emperor Wu, Wang and Chu were the two officials that Emperor Gao entrusted the new emperor to (however, Emperor Wu was older than Wang).

Emperor Wu continued to entrust Wang with great responsibilities within his administration, particularly after Chu died later in 482. Because of how powerful Wang was, his uncle Wang Sengqian, not wanting too much attention toward one household, repeatedly turned down promotions, and further advised Wang Jian not to be overly wasteful at his mansion. In 484, Wang Jian advised Emperor Wu to reduce the power of four secretaries that he had, and while Emperor Wu took the unusual step of personally writing a letter to Wang Jian to explain himself, he did not follow Wang's advice in this matter, and at one point, Wang lamented that while he was prime minister, his power was not as great as one of these secretaries, Ru Faliang (茹法亮). However, it was also said that anyone that Wang recommended for post was immediately commissioned by Emperor Wu.

At some point during Emperor Gao or Emperor Wu's reign, Wang also took on the secondary responsibility of being the principal of the imperial university, and by 485, Emperor Wu had merged the imperial research facility Zongmingguan (總明觀) into the university, allowing Wang to have the school set up entirely within his own mansion. As Wang was also a Confucian scholar, it was said that from this point on, the university switched from a focus on literature to Confucianism. In 489, Wang Jian died.