Du Yan

Life

His place of origin is given both as Shanyin in Yue Prefecture and as Songcheng; Songcheng is also listed as a place to which he moved, while Shanyin is listed as an earlier residence.

He passed the jinshi examination in the first year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era (1008); one account places him fourth. He began as an observation commission judicial assessor in Yangzhou, served as magistrate of Pingyao and assistant prefect of Jinzhou, and later governed the prefectures and military prefectures of Qian, Yang, Tianxiong, Yongxing, and Bingzhou.

Early in his career he became known for adjudicating difficult cases. His administration did not rely on harsh punishments to control subordinates; his staff could not profit through wrongdoing, and he was known as a good administrator. He rose to be Hebei circuit transport commissioner, a direct academician of the Privy Council, and governor of Tianxiong. At the beginning of Emperor Renzong’s reign, he was specially summoned as chief censor, concurrently presided over the personnel appointment bureau, and was then placed over the Office of Reviewing Appointments; he subsequently served as Vice Minister of Works and Vice Minister of Justice, received the title Academician of the Dragon Diagram Pavilion, and governed Yongxing and Kaifeng.

There are two chronological accounts of his Privy Council service: one places him as Privy Council Commissioner in the third year of Qingli (1043) and as tong pingzhangshi concurrently holding that office the following year; another gives a sequence beginning with Commissioner of the Privy Council in the first year of Kangding, followed by Deputy Commissioner, Commissioner in the third year, and tong pingzhangshi, Grand Academician of the Jixian Palace, concurrently holding the Privy Council in the fourth year. During the Qingli New Policies, he served with Fan Zhongyan, Fu Bi, and Han Qi, supported the reforms carried out by Fan and Fu, and sought to eliminate abuses and restore discipline. Because the reforms curtailed privilege, he was resented by powerful figures; after only about 100 days as chief councillor, he was dismissed and sent out as governor of Yanzhou.

After governing Yanzhou he retired; one account says he did so as Junior Preceptor to the Crown Prince, while another describes him as governing Yanzhou as Left Director of the Department of State Affairs and retiring at age seventy. He lived in Nandu (present-day Shangqiu, Henan) for ten years and was also associated with the Suiyang Five Elders assembly with Wang Huan, Bi Shichang, and Zhu Guan. During the Huangyou era he was created Duke of Qi; he died in the second year of Jiayou (1057), aged eighty, and was posthumously titled Zhengxian, with Wenxian given as an alternative.

Family

His father was Du Suiliang (杜遂良), his mother was Mou (某氏), and his wife was Xiangli (相里氏; 988–1065). His children included the eldest son Du Shen (杜詵; 1017–1041), a second son Du Xin (杜訢), and a daughter who married Su Shunqin (蘇舜欽); Su Ye (蘇液) is also named among his sons-in-law.

His extended family included the paternal nephews or cousins Du Yin (杜諲) and Du Yi (杜誼), the grandnephews or collateral grandsons Du Zhen (杜縝; 1079–1137) and Du Changqi (杜昌期; died 1071), and a grandson, Du Wan (杜綰).

Writings

His poems are represented by the one-scroll 《杜祁公摭稿》, used as the base text, with fourteen additional poems collected; the collection’s title also appears as 《杜祁公摭蒿》. A one-scroll 《四時祭享儀》 is also listed among the works he authored.