Zhang Hongjing (760–824) was a Tang official, calligrapher, and poet. Originally named Diao (調), he was styled Yuanli (元理), was known by the rank appellation Zhang Shier (張十二), and his name is also found in the written form 張宏靖; he came from Yishi in Hezhong (present-day Linyi, Shanxi). His grandfather Zhang Jiazhen and father Zhang Yanshang both became chancellors; the family’s former residence in Sisun Ward, Luoyang, gave rise to the sobriquet “the Zhang family of three chancellors.” He had a younger brother, Zhang Shen, and four sons: Zhang Wengui, Zhang Jingchu, Zhang Siqing, and Zhang Cizong. His grandsons were Zhang Yanyuan and Zhang Yanxiu, and his granddaughter was Wang Huan.
Life
His career began with appointment through hereditary privilege as a staff officer in Henan Prefecture. He subsequently served as Investigating Censor, Palace Censor, Vice Director of the Ministry of Rites, Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel, Gentleman of the Ministry of War, Drafter of imperial edicts, Secretariat Drafter, and Vice Ministers of Works and Revenue. In the fourth year of the Yuanhe era (809), while serving as a Secretariat Drafter, he acted as director of the Ministry of Rites examinations; in the ninth year (814), he became Minister of Justice with the concurrent title Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, was shortly thereafter additionally made Vice Director of the Secretariat with the same deliberative title, and was created Marquis of Gaoping.
In the eleventh year of Yuanhe (816), he was removed from the chancellorship and appointed military governor of Hedong, stationed at Taiyuan; in the twelfth year (817), he also held the office of Minister of Personnel, and in the fourteenth year (819) he was transferred to the military governorship of Xuanwu. His career included the Hedong, Xuanwu, and Lulong military governorships, together with the concurrent title of jianxiao Sikong. In the first year of the Changqing era (821), he became military governor of Youzhou and Lulong; because he was not adept at managing the troops, military unrest broke out, and he was imprisoned before being released and recalled to court.
Accounts differ over the sequence of his later demotions. One version has him ordered demoted to Ji Prefecture and soon transferred to Palace Guest; another has him demoted to Fu Prefecture and then moved to Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent; a fuller sequence places him first as Palace Guest in charge of affairs at the Eastern Capital, then demoted again to Ji Prefecture and transferred to Fu Prefecture, before his gradual promotion to Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent. He died in 824 at the age of sixty-five and was posthumously granted the title Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent.
Associations
During his tenure at Taiyuan in the twelfth year of Yuanhe (817), he appointed Li Deyu as his secretary. He received gift poems and prose from Quan Deyu, Li Deyu, Wang Jian, Lü Wen, Yang Juyuan, Han Cha, and Bao Rong, and also from Cui Gong, Lu Chan, Gao Zhu, Hu Zheng, Zhang Jia, and Cui Gongxin.
Calligraphy and poetry
Hongjing was accomplished in calligraphy. His household possessed a collection of books and paintings said to rival the imperial repository, and one poem by him survives in the Complete Tang Poetry. His grandson Zhang Yanyuan compiled the Record of Famous Paintings through the Ages, making extensive use of the family collection.
References
- CBDB Zhang Hongjing (32019)
- 搜韵 張弘靖 (15295)
- Wikidata Zhang Hongjing (Q8070214)