Wáng Áo 王鏊 (1450–1524), zì Jǐzhī 濟之, hào Shǒuxī 守溪 and Zhènzé xiānshēng 震澤先生, posthumous title Wénkè 文恪. Native of Wúxiàn 吳縣 (modern Sūzhōu), Jiāngsū. Jìnshì of Chénghuà 11 (1475), placed third in the zhuàngyuán class. He rose through the Hànlín establishment and the Six Ministries to become Lìbù yòu shìláng 吏部右侍郎 (Vice Minister of Personnel) and Guóshǐ fùzǒngcái 國史副總裁 (Vice Editor-in-Chief of the National History) under Xiàozōng (Hóngzhì), and eventually Hùbù shàngshū 戶部尚書 (Minister of Revenue) and Wényuāngé dàxuéshì 文淵閣大學士 under Wǔzōng (Zhèngdé era). He resigned office in 1509 in protest against the eunuch Liú Jǐn’s 劉瑾 influence at the Zhèngdé court and lived out his later years at his Sūzhōu home at the lake. He is associated with the Wú-school cultural circle of early-sixteenth-century Sūzhōu.
His principal extant works include:
- Gūsū zhì 姑蘇志 (KR2k0029) in 60 juan — the principal Míng prefectural gazetteer of Sūzhōu, edited by Wáng with Zhù Yǔnmíng 祝允明, Wén Zhēngmíng 文徵明 (then Wén Bì), Cài Yǔ 蔡羽, Dù Qǐ 杜啟, and others, completed early 1506.
- Zhènzé jí 震澤集 — his collected literary writings (Sìkù).
- Zhènzé jìwén 震澤紀聞 — biographical anecdotes of Sūzhōu and Hànlín colleagues (Sìkù).
- Shǒuxī biéjí 守溪別集.
- Various memorial and policy compositions.
CBDB: 34579 (lifedates 1450–1524). Standard biographical reference: Dictionary of Ming Biography, vol. 2, 1343–47 (entry by Chao-ying Fang).