Zhang Dun

Life and career

His father was 章俞 and his mother was 羅氏; his great-grandfather was 章炎, his grandfather 章佺, his great-grandmother 陳氏, his grandmother 楊氏, his maternal grandfather 李迪, and his elder brother 章訢. His wife was 張氏; his sons were 章持, 章擇, 章授, and 章援; his nephew was 章衡, his son-in-law 張詢, and his maternal nephew 黃寔. His grandchildren were 章傑, 章僅, and 章億; his grandson-in-law was 柳瑊, his great-grandsons were 章冲 and 章淵, and his great-grandson-in-law was 何志崈.

His examination career is reported in two ways: one account makes him a jinshi in the fourth year of Jiayou (1059); another says that he first entered through the examinations in the second year of Jiayou and took the top examination in the fourth year. Ashamed that his standing fell below that of his nephew Zhang Heng, he returned the appointment edict and left; he was later appointed magistrate of Shangluo County and associated with Su Shi.

At the beginning of Xining, when Wang Anshi held power, Zhang Dun was appointed a compiler of the Regulations of the Three Financial Offices and was charged with administering the non-Han groups along the southern and northern river regions. He served as an inspector in Hunan and Hubei—also described as an inspector of Jinghu—conducted military operations among the valley tribes, extended the frontier by several hundred li, and established Yuanzhou. After being recalled, he became You Zhengyan and Zhizhigao, served directly in the Hanlin Academy, and supervised the Military Arsenal; after being criticized by remonstrators, he was sent out as governor of Huzhou and was also transferred to Hangzhou. In the tenth year of Xining (1077), he entered the Hanlin Academy as a Hanlin Academician and took charge of the Court of Evaluating Officials. In the seventh year of Xining (1074), he also served as Commissioner of the Three Financial Offices, and he held the military prefecture of Jiangling from 1076 to 1077. His other offices included the prefectures of Guangzhou (1095–1096) and Yangzhou (1102), as well as the posts of Director of the Palace Library, Director of the Secretarial Department, and Evaluator of the Jixian Hall.

The date of his appointment as Canzhi Zhengshi is disputed: one account places it in the second year of Yuanfeng, another in the third year (1080). In the fourth year of Yuanfeng he was sent out as governor of Cai, Chen, and Ding prefectures, and in the fifth year he was recalled as Menxia Shilang.

When Zhezong succeeded to the throne, Zhang Dun became Director of the Bureau of Military Affairs. During the regency of the Grand Empress Dowager Gao, he argued with Sima Guang that the exemption-from-service law should not be abolished; he was impeached—some accounts name Liu Zhi and Su Shi, while another names Liu Zhi and Su Che—and was demoted to governor of Ruzhou, later becoming an administrator of the Dongxiao Palace.

After Zhezong began to rule in his own right, Zhang Dun became Left Pushe and concurrently Menxia Shilang. He brought in Cai Bian and Cai Jing, advocated “紹述,” restored the policies of the Xining and Yuanfeng periods, and marginalized the Yuanyou partisans; reprisals and extensive entanglements followed, provoking widespread resentment. He also opposed returning territory to Western Xia and cut off the annual subsidies, causing the war to resume; after Zhezong's death, he strongly opposed the proposal to enthrone Huizong.

When Huizong became emperor, Zhang Dun was made Duke of Shen and appointed commissioner for the imperial mausoleum. He was removed from the governorship of Yuezhou and soon demoted to Assistant Military Commissioner of Wuchang; one account says that he was subsequently demoted to Military Registrar of Leizhou, while another places him under residence at Tanzhou. In the second year of Chongning (1103), he was changed to Assistant Military Commissioner of Shuzhou, took up residence in Muzhou, and was transferred to Yuezhou and then Huzhou. He died in the fourth year of Chongning at the age of seventy-one; his place of death is given as Muzhou. In the third year of Zhenghe (1113), he was posthumously granted the title Grand Preceptor.

Works

His attributed works include *導洛通汴記* in one juan, which survives, *元符敕令格式* in 134 juan, *熙寧新定孝贈式* in 15 juan, *熙寧新定節式* in 2 juan, *熙寧新定時服式* in 6 juan, *熙寧新定皇親錄令* in 10 juan, *熙寧將官敕* in 1 juan, and *熙寧新定司農寺敕* and *熙寧新定司農寺式*, each in 1 juan. Thirteen of his poems are preserved in the poetic corpus.