Guan Ying

For the Taiwanese actress, see Terri Kwan.

Guan Ying
灌嬰
Chancellor
In office 177 BC (177 BC) – 176 BC (176 BC)
Monarch	Emperor Wen of Han
Preceded by	Zhou Bo
Succeeded by	Zhang Cang
Personal details
Born	Unknown Shangqiu, Henan
Died	176 BC
Occupation	General, official
Posthumous name	Marquis Yi (懿侯)
Peerage	Marquis of Yingyin (潁陰侯)

Guan Ying (died 176 BC), posthumously known as Marquis Yi of Yingyin, was a Chinese general and chancellor of the early Han.

Life

Guan Ying was from Suiyang (睢陽; present-day Shangqiu, Henan). He served under Liu Bang (posthumously known as Emperor Gaozu), the founder of the Han dynasty, and joined him in rebelling against the Qin dynasty. He also fought on Liu Bang's side in the Chu–Han Contention and assisted him in overcoming his rival, Xiang Yu. After the establishment of the Han dynasty, he served as the "General of Chariots and Cavalry" (車騎將軍). He assisted Liu Bang in putting down Chen Xi's rebellion, killing Chen's general Hou Chang (侯敞, Hóu Chǎng).

Following Liu Bang's death, Empress Lü and her clan seized power from the Liu family and controlled the Han government – this event is historically known as the Lü Clan Disturbance. When the prince Liu Xiang rebelled against the Lü clan, Guan Ying was appointed as "General-in-Chief" (大將軍) and ordered to lead an army to suppress the revolt. However, he led his troops elsewhere instead and combined forces with Zhou Bo, Chen Ping and others who were loyal to the Liu family to oust the Lü clan from power and install Liu Heng (Emperor Wen), a son of Liu Bang, on the throne. Emperor Wen appointed Guan Ying as the Grand Marshal (太尉) and subsequently promoted him to the position of Chancellor (丞相). He died in office after about a year. He was given the posthumous name "Marquis Yi" (懿侯).

References

Bibliography

• Sima Qian et al. Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji) vol. 95.
• Ban Gu et al. Book of Han (Han Shu) vol. 41.