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Zhang Sheng
Northern Song minister from Hancheng in Shaanxi, a jinshi who became Vice Chancellor and Commissioner of Military Affairs and retired as Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince.
In a council hall, a long table holds an unrolled map scroll, a brass-cornered chest and a brush pot, with tall-backed chairs around it and a bronze lamp at the left; a figure stands with their back turned on the balcony at the right, with palace roofs beyond.
Also known as Zhang Bian (standard form) · Zhang Sheng (variant) · Courtesy name Gaoqing · Posthumous title Kangjie
Zhang Sheng, also written Zhang Bian, courtesy name Gaoqing, came from Hancheng in Shaanxi and lived 992 to 1077 as a Northern Song minister. He passed the jinshi in 1015 and served as registrar of Chuqiu, Vice Director of the Bureau of Accounts and Censor-in-Chief; he became Deputy Commissioner of Military Affairs in 1058 and Vice Chancellor and Commissioner of Military Affairs in 1060, and retired as Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince with the posthumous title Kangjie. His lyric Li ting yan, beginning Yi dai jiangshan, is remembered for its reflection on the rise and fall of dynasties.
Life and times
Dates 992 CE–1077 CE