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Zhang Xia
A Northern Song official who, as Transport Commissioner of the Liangzhe circuit in the Jingyou era, had a stone sea wall built at Hangzhou.
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.
The birth and death years of Zhang Xia are not known. He was an official under Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song and is recorded as prefect of Sizhou and as a Director in the Ministry of Works. In the Jingyou era (1034–1038), as Transport Commissioner of the Liangzhe circuit, he had stone quarried to build a sea wall that would protect Hangzhou, replacing the earth and brushwood walls that rotted easily. Large dressed stones formed the outer face and earth filled the inside. The Lin'an Zhi records that his stone embankment ran for more than ten li. In 1061 he was posthumously given the title Junior Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
Life and times
- UnknownBorn
Songactive in the Jingyou era of Northern Song (1034–1038) - UnknownDied