Zhang Fangping Collection

Author: (Song) Zhang Fangping, edited by Zheng Han
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1992-01-01
Features: Zhang Fangping, styled Andao, later self-named Yuequan Jushi, was a native of Songcheng County, Yingtian Prefecture (now Shangqiu County, Henan Province) in the Song Dynasty. He was born in the fourth year of the Zhenzong reign (1007) and died in the sixth year of the Qizong reign (1092), at the age of 85, posthumously honored as Wen Ding. Zhang Fangping was personally taught by his mother, Ji Shi, in his early years. At the age of 13, he returned to his hometown in Yingtian from Yangzhou. At that time, his maternal uncle, Ji Ying, was the leading scholar of the Yingtian Prefecture Academy and held great prestige. He engaged in close discussions and studies with Zhang Fangping, greatly advancing his academic pursuits. In the fifth year of the Tiansheng reign (1027), Fan Zhongyan was appointed to lead the Yingtian Prefecture Academy. Zhang Fangping once won Fan's recognition and praise with his writings, and for this reason, Quan Zuwang listed him as a "Disciple of Gaoping" in the Song-Yuan Learning Cases (Volume 3, Gaoping Learning Case).
Zhang Fangping possessed extraordinary talent and, in his youth, was ambitious and fond of discussing national affairs. He once longed to "recover the land north of the mountains and avenge the hundred-year humiliation of the Central Plains" (from the preface to Sending Gu Can North to Travel, Yuequan Collection, Volume 34; hereafter referred to as Collection). In the first year of the Jingyou reign (1034), he passed the Maocai Yi Ci examination and was appointed as the Chief Secretary of Kunshan County in Suzhou Prefecture. In the first year of the Baoyuan reign (1038), he also passed the Xianliang Fangzheng Neng Zhiji Jiejian examination and was promoted to Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Deputy Magistrate of Muzhou.