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Wei Hongmin (韋弘敏) was briefly a 7th-centurychancellor of theChineseTang dynasty, during the first reigns ofEmperor Zhongzong andEmperor Ruizong (both of whom reigned twice).
Very little is known about Wei Hongmin's life or career, as, unusual for a chancellor, he did not have a biography in either theOld Book of Tang or theNew Book of Tang.[1] He was from Duling (杜陵, in modernXi'an,Shaanxi).
Emperor Zhongzong had taken the throne late in 683 after the death of his fatherEmperor Gaozong. In spring 684, he made Wei Hongmin, who was thenZuo Sanqi Changshi (左散騎常侍), a chief advisor at the examination bureau of government (門下省,Menxia Sheng), to be the minister of palace supplies (太府卿,Taifu Qing), and also gave him the designation ofTong Zhongshu Menxia Sanpin (同中書門下三品), making him a chancellorde facto. (Some modern historical discussions make much of the fact that he was distant relative of Emperor Zhongzong's wifeEmpress Wei,[2] although the actual significance of this very distant relationship—Empress Wei's great-great-grandfather Wei Yi (韋議) shared a 10th generation ancestor, theCao Wei official Wei Zhou (韋冑), with Wei Hongmin[3]—was not stated in official histories.) In spring 684, after Emperor Zhongzong showed signs of independence from his powerful motherEmpress Dowager Wu (later known as Wu Zetian), Empress Dowager Wu deposed him and reduced him to the title of Prince of Lulin, replacing him with his brother Li Dan the Prince of Yu (as Emperor Ruizong).
After Emperor Ruizong took the throne, Wei Hongmin remained chancellor for about eight more months, but in winter 684 was demoted to the post of prefect of Fen Prefecture (汾州, roughly modernLinfen,Shanxi) -- on the same day that another chancellor,Liu Jingxian, was demoted for having defended fellow chancellorPei Yan against accusations of treason,[4] although there was no indication in historical accounts that Wei's demotion was also related to defending Pei. There were no further records about Wei in history.