Wang Yun (Han dynasty)

Wang Yun (pronunciation^ⓘ) (137–4 July 192), courtesy name Zishi, was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He served in the Han government through the reigns of three emperors – Emperor Ling (r. 168–189), Emperor Shao (r. 189) and Emperor Xian (r. 189–220). The highest offices he served in were Manager of the Affairs of the Masters of Writing and Minister over the Masses in the early reign of Emperor Xian. In 192, with help from the general Lü Bu and others, he plotted a successful coup in Chang'an against Dong Zhuo, a tyrannical warlord and regent who controlled the Han central government, and assassinated him. However, later that year, Dong Zhuo's followers staged a counter-coup and seized back control of the central government in Chang'an. Wang Yun and his family members were captured and executed.

In the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Wang Yun was the adoptive father of the fictional maiden Diaochan, whom he used to stir up conflict between Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo, causing the former to betray and assassinate the latter.