Ministers › Statesman / Official
Shi Yan
Northern Song official from Kaifeng, courtesy name Bangmei, top graduate of 1079, who rose to Minister of Personnel and died in 1107.
In the courtyard of a district government hall, a line of petitioners waits before a raised bench with a long table and document boxes; a blue umbrella stands beside it, a large drum stands at the gate where a few people wait, and a lake with sailboats lies beyond.
Also known as Bangmei
Shi Yan, courtesy name Bangmei, was from Kaifeng and died in 1107. He took first place in the 1079 jinshi examination and served in the Secretariat, the Jixian Academy and as vice minister of personnel. He was dismissed after a failed mission to the Liao, reinstated as a judicial official in Hedong, and dismissed again when Jian Xuchen accused him of privately accepting Liao gifts. Recalled after Huizong's accession, he was prefect of Kaifeng in 1106, then Minister of Works and Minister of Personnel, and died in office in 1107. His ci Qingmen yin appears in the Song ci san bai shou.
Life and times
Dates Born unknown; died 1107 CE