He and his colleague Zhen Dexiu were instrumental in establishing Neo-Confucianism as the dominant political philosophy of the court at the time.
[1] Wei was born in Qiongzhou and spent most of his early life and career in Sichuan, holding the post of prefect over several towns.
[2] Despite being held in high esteem as a philosopher by many of his contemporaries, Wei was criticised for his inability to make profound changes to the government system in which he operated.
He was satirised by a contemporary acting troupe as an ineffectual drunkard (the actors were flogged after Wei made a complaint against this slander).
[3] After his death, the legend sprang up that Wei's ghost traveled the mountains in the company of the spirit of Zhu Xi.