Zhang Yong

Life and office

In 980, he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed Dali pingshi and magistrate of Chongyang County in Ezhou; in 984 he became zhuzuo zuolang, in 988 mishu cheng, and the following year assistant prefect of Xiangzhou. After being recalled, he became magistrate of Junyi County in Kaifeng Prefecture and, in the early Chunhua era, Circuit Transport Commissioner for Jinghu North.

In 993, he was promoted to Privy Council Academician, placed in charge of the Tongjin Yintai Office and the Three Classes Court; the following year he went out as prefect of Yizhou. In the first year of Xianping (998), he was recalled and appointed jishizhong, then the Household Revenue Commissioner and Censor-in-chief; in 999 he went out as Vice Minister of Works and prefect of Hangzhou, in 1002 became prefect of Yongxing Commandery, and in 1003 was made Vice Minister of Justice and again prefect of Yizhou. In 1006 he resumed direction of the Three Classes Court and adjudication of the Dengwen Examination Court; in 1007 he became prefect of Shengzhou. In 1010 he was appointed Minister of Works and later that autumn Minister of Rites, and in 1012 he was transferred to the prefecture of Chenzhou. His other appointments included Left remonstrance grand master, Gentleman of the Court of Works, and Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs.

After rising to Minister of Rites, he submitted memorials fiercely criticizing Ding Wei and Wang Qinruo for their large-scale construction projects, arguing that they had emptied the state treasury and urging that both men be executed to answer the realm; he was soon pushed aside and sent out as prefect of Chenzhou. He died on the first day of the eighth month in 1015, aged seventy; he was posthumously granted the title Zuopuye and named Zhongding. His father was Zhang Jing and his younger brother Zhang Shen; his second wife's father was Wang Xian, and he had one son, Zhang Congzhi, a son-in-law, Wang Jiayou, and a grandson, Zhang Shen.

Governance and associations

During his tenure as prefect of Yizhou, Zhang Yong participated in suppressing Li Shun's uprising and adopted conciliatory policies toward the people of Shu, combining leniency with severity; the people both feared and loved him. He governed Yizhou twice, in 994 and 1003, and was noted for his administrative achievements. While serving as a prefect, he urged Li Tian, a Shu scholar reluctant to enter official service, to sit for the examination; Li Tian consequently passed the jinshi examination in the third year of Chunhua and was later appointed registrar of Hengning.

In his youth he was a fellow student of Fu Lin; Fu Lin lived in retirement, while Zhang Yong went on to prominence. He was closest to Kou Zhun and repeatedly reproved Kou Zhun to his face, without changing his manner even after Kou Zhun became eminent. Zhang Yong exchanged reply letters with Wang Sizong and Yang Yi, and wrote inscriptions, records, or names for buildings associated with Liang Zhouhan. He described himself as upright and uncompromising, governed with severity, and favored impassioned grandiloquence.

Poetry and writings

Zhang Yong excelled in shi poetry and fu, and his prose was vigorous and strong in spirit, qualities said to match his character. His collected works included 《張乖崖集》, traditionally in ten fascicles and expanded to twelve during the Southern Song; related titles included 《乖崖先生文集》, 《張乖崖事文錄》, 《乖崖集存》, 《乖崖詩鈔》, 《乖崖詩集》, and 《乖崖集》. An edited poetry collection also gathered five poems from outside the main collection and appended them at the end.

While serving as Circuit Transport Commissioner for Jinghu North, he visited the Yellow Crane Tower to admire the view and compose poetry; returning from Chengdu and passing through Wuchang, he visited it again and wrote the seven-character regulated poem 《登黃鶴樓》. Later generations built the Guaiya Pavilion at the place where he had composed poetry on the tower. Texts related to Zhang Yong's life included Qian Yi's epitaph, Han Qi's spirit-way inscription, Li Tao's 《湖北漕司乖崖堂記》, and Song Qi's account of his life.