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Jia Dan
Chancellor under Emperor Dezong who in 801 presented the large Map of China and the Barbarian Lands within the Seas with a forty-chapter geography
On an observatory terrace at night, a large bronze armillary sphere stands on a stone base while two people stand with their backs turned facing the view; stars are joined into constellation lines overhead, and a sundial and tiered dripping water vessels stand at the right.
Also known as Zi Dunshi · Weiguo Gong
Jia Dan, courtesy name Dunshi, came from Nanpi in Cangzhou. He passed the classics examination in the Tianbao era, began as a county sheriff at Linqing, and rose through provincial and military posts, including the military governorships of Shannan West and Yicheng. In 793 he was called to court as right vice-director of the Department of State Affairs with chief-minister status, and he stayed in that office for thirteen years. Keenly interested in geography, he questioned envoys and visitors from distant lands about routes and terrain, and in 801 he presented the Map of China and the Barbarian Lands within the Seas (Hainei Hua Yi tu) with a forty-chapter account of ancient and modern administrative districts and foreign peoples; Emperor Dezong rewarded him and made him Duke of Wei. He died in the tenth month of 805 aged seventy-six and was named Yuanjing. The seven routes from the frontier to foreign lands listed in the New Tang History geography treatise are taken from his records.
Life and times
Dates 730 CE–805 CE