Wei Cong


Wei Cong, courtesy name Liyu, was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving briefly as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuānzong.

Background and early career

It is not known when Wei Cong was born, and little is known about his background — as there was no biography of his in the Old Book of Tang, and his biography in the New Book of Tang merely stated that he came from a line of prominent officials, while omitting his ancestry entirely in its table of the chancellors' family trees, not listing him among the other chancellors of the Wei clan.
According to the New Book of Tang, Wei Cong passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class, and eventually served as an imperial censor with the title Dianzhong Shiyushi. While serving in that post, he was considered to have made incorrect conclusions in criminal investigations, and was instead made Taichang Boshi, a scholar at the ministry of worship. After several promotions, he was eventually made the deputy minister of census and chief imperial scholar.

Chancellorship and aftermaths

In 847, during the reign of Emperor Xuānzong, Wei Cong was made Zhongshu Shilang, the deputy head of the legislative bureau of government, and chancellor de facto with the designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi. He was not a capable chancellor, however, and because of that, later in the year, he was removed from his chancellor position and made an advisor to the Crown Prince, with his office at the eastern capital Luoyang. He died while serving there.