Ministers › Exemplary Magistrates
Teng Zongliang
Northern Song official, a jinshi classmate of Fan Zhongyan, who rebuilt Yueyang Tower while demoted to Baling and asked Fan to commemorate it.
In spring fields beside a canal, a wooden water wheel turns as water pours down, many small farmers work in the flooded paddies, and a plain sedan chair stands on the path along the bank, with village houses and green hills in the distance.
Also known as Zi Zijing · Teng Zijing
Teng Zongliang, courtesy name Zijing, was from Henan and passed the jinshi examination in 1015 in the same class as Fan Zhongyan. During the Song–Western Xia war he governed Jingzhou and Qingzhou on the frontier, but was impeached for misusing official funds and in 1044 was demoted to Yuezhou (Baling Commandery). There he restored good order, rebuilt Yueyang Tower, inscribed it with poems by Tang and contemporary writers, and asked Fan Zhongyan to write the 'Memorial on Yueyang Tower'. He was later moved to Suzhou, where he died in office in 1047.
Life and times
Dates c. 991–1047 CE