Wang Can (177 – 17 February 217), courtesy name Zhongxuan, was a Chinese politician and poet who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.
He was born in a family of high-ranking officials as a son of Wang Qian (王謙), a Chief Clerk (長史) to the general He Jin, who was briefly a regent for Emperor Shao in 189.
[5] When the warlord Dong Zhuo usurped power in 189, placing on the throne the puppet ruler Emperor Xian, Wang Can was merely 13 years old (by East Asian reckoning).
In Chang'an, the prominent scholar and calligrapher Cai Yong recognised Wang Can's talent and recommended him to the civil service.
In 194, Wang Can went to Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan) to seek a position under the provincial governor, Liu Biao.
The civil strife towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty gave the Jian'an poems their characteristic solemn yet heart-stirring tone, while lament over the ephemerality of life was also a central theme of works from this period.
In the history of Chinese literature, the Jian'an poems were a transition from the early folk songs into scholarly poetry.
Later, Wang Can went to visit Cai Yong; although many guests of exalted rank were present, the host hastened to welcome the newcomer with the greatest deference, even wearing his shoes the wrong way in his haste.
If he saw people playing weiqi and the board was suddenly disturbed, he could replace every piece in its correct place.