wang chen was from jinyang county (晉陽縣), taiyuan commandery (太原郡), which is located southwest of present-day taiyuan, shanxi. his father wang ji (王機) died early so he was raised by his uncle, wang chang, who served as the minister of works (司空) in the wei government. he was known for his literary talent and was employed by the regent cao shuang as a secretary. he was promoted to the position of a gentleman attendant (侍郎) later.