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Kong Wei

Chinese official of the Tang dynasty

Layered newspapers, civic records and oral-history reels arranged as chronological evidence
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 30, 2025
Entity authorityQ6429152
Source-derived summary

Kong Wei (孔緯) (died 1 October 895), courtesy name Huawen (化文), formally the Duke of Lu (魯公), was an official of the late Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Xizong and Emperor Xizong's younger brother Emperor Zhaozong.

Background and early career

Kong Wei's family was descended from the Spring and Autumn period philosopher Kong Qiu (Confucius). His great-granduncle Kong Chaofu (孔巢父) was a well-known official during the reign of Emperor Dezong, and his great-grandfather Kong Cenfu (孔岑父) and grandfather Kong Kui (孔戣) also both served as imperial officials. His father Kong Wenru (孔溫孺) served as a county secretary general, but died early. Kong Wei had at least two younger brothers, Kong Jiang (孔絳) and Kong Jian (孔緘).

As Kong Wenru died early, Kong Wei was raised by his uncles Kong Wenyu (孔溫裕) and Kong Wenye (孔溫業). As both Kong Wenyu and Kong Wenye served as regional governors, Kong Wei followed them to their assignments, and due to the friendships that Kong Wenyu and Kong Wenye had, Kong Wei became well known among the imperial officials. He passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class in 859, during the reign of Emperor Xuānzong, and therefore served as a copyeditor (校書郎, Xiaoshu Lang) at the Palace Library. When the former chancellor Cui Shenyou served as the military governor (jiedushi) of Dongchuan Circuit (東川, headquartered in modern Mianyang, Sichuan), he invited Kong to serve on his staff. Kong later served on the staff of another former chancellor, Cui Xuan, when Cui Xuan served as the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu).

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Kong Wei” as chinese official of the Tang dynasty. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewMost valuable as an event-and-institution map that identifies actors, dates and record creators for deeper historical inquiry. The current 268-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 0801-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Kong, Chinese and official can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as chinese official of the Tang dynasty. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 30, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6429152. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

Institutional narratives can privilege the records that survived while minimizing voices that were never formally collected. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Kong Wei”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Kong Wei primary sources, Kong Wei archive and Kong research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Kong Wei”?
  2. Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
  3. Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Kong Wei” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.