Wei Qing

A general in the reign of Emperor Wu of the Former Han Dynasty in China. His pen name was Zhongqing and his posthumous name was Lie Hou. He was from Pingyang (Linfen County, Shanxi Province). His mother was a maid who served the household of the Marquis of Pingyang, and he took his mother's surname along with his half-siblings. When his elder sister, Shifu (later Empress Wei), entered the harem of Emperor Wu, he was promoted to a government position, and eventually achieved great success as General of the Chariots and Cavalry in the war against the Xiongnu, and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Changping. He continued to serve in foreign campaigns with his nephew, General of the Cavalry Huo Qubing, and achieved many military feats, becoming a great general, and then, together with Huo Qubing, he was appointed as Grand Sima, the highest military rank. Wei Qing's tomb, along with that of Huo Qubing, remains in the western outskirts of Xi'an as a companion tomb to Emperor Wu's Maoling.

[Isamu Ogata]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、前漢武帝期の将軍。字(あざな)は仲卿(ちゅうけい)、諡(おくりな)は烈侯。平陽（山西省臨汾(りんふん)県）の人。母は平陽侯の家に仕えた婢(ひ)であり、異父の兄弟姉妹とともに母姓を名のった。姉の子夫(しふ)（のちに衛皇后）が武帝の後宮に入ったため、取り立てられて官途につき、やがて車騎(しゃき)将軍として対匈奴(きょうど)戦に大功をたて、長平侯に封ぜられた。その後も甥(おい)の驃騎(ひょうき)将軍霍去病(かくきょへい)ともども外征に従事し、多くの武勲をあげて大将軍となり、ついで霍去病とともに武官の最高位である大司馬(だいしば)に任ぜられた。衛青の墓は、霍去病のものと並んで、武帝の茂陵(もりょう)の陪葬墓として西安市の西郊に残っている。

［尾形　勇］

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