Early Life
Wang Meng, ethnically Han, was poor in his youth, when he lived in the Later Zhao capital Yecheng, and he made a living by making bamboo grain containers for shreshing. Despite his intelligence, his talents were not discovered by Later Zhao officials. The intelligentsia also largely refused to associate with him, since he was unkempt in his appearance. He later became a hermit at Huayin Mountain, in the territory of Former Qin, ruled by the Di Fu clan, after Later Zhao's collapse.
When the Jin general Huan Wen made a major attack on Former Qin in 354 and reached all the way to Ba River (灞水), in the vicinity of Former Qin's capital Chang'an. Wang went to meet Huan. Wang, as unkempt as he was, was using his hand to slap at fleas and ticks during the conversation, but impressed Huan with his knowledge and tactics. Huan then asked him why the people of the Qin lands were not shifting their allegiance to Jin, and Wang pointed out that the people were not sure what Huan's intentions were, given that he hesitated at crossing the Ba River. As the situation stalemated, Huan began to run out of food supplies and was forced to withdraw. He invited Wang to withdraw with him, but Wang declined, apparently believing that Huan was not the right person to follow.
After Fu Sheng, the son of Former Qin's founding emperor Fu Jiàn, became emperor in 355, he ruled the empire with stern cruelty and arbitrariness, slaughtering officials and nobles at will. His cousin Fu Jiān (note different tone) the Prince of Donghai feared that he would be the next target, and secretly plotted with a number of people. At Lü Polou (呂婆樓)'s suggestion, Fu Jiān met Wang, and they became friends immediately, and Fu Jiān compared their meeting to Liu Bei's meeting of Zhuge Liang.
In 357, after finding out that Fu Sheng was ready to kill him and his brother Fu Fa (苻法) the Prince of Qinghe, Fu Jiān acted preemptively, overthrowing and killing Fu Sheng. He assumed the throne under the title "Heavenly Prince" (Tian Wang), and he made Wang one of his key advisors, along with his brothers Fu Fa and Fu Rong, his son Fu Pi, and his mother Empress Dowager Gou's lover Li Wei (李威).
Read more about this topic: Wang Meng (Former Qin)
Famous quotes related to early life:
“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)