Fan Zhongyan

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Names
Xìng 姓:	Fàn 范
Míng 名:	Zhòngyān 仲淹
Zì 字:	Xīwén 希文
Shì 謚:	Wénzhèng 文正¹

1. hence referred to as Fàn Wénzhènggōng 范文正公

Fan Zhongyan (Chinese: 范仲淹) (989–1052), born in Wuxian 吳縣, Suzhou (in Jiangsu province today), was a prominent politician and literary figure in Song dynasty China. He was also a strategist and educator. After serving the central government of the state for many years he finally rose the seat of chancellor over the whole of the Chinese empire.

As chancellor, Fan Zhongyan introduced a series of reforms to the government, including reforms for the recruitment system, higher pay for minor local officials to discourage against corruption, and wider sponsorship programs to ensure that officials were drafted more on the basis of their intellect and character. However, many of the reforms that he introduced were met with reaction of opposition by conservative ministers who felt the system did not need drastic changes (and who felt threatened by change halfway in the process of their career as state bureaucrats). Although his reforms were cancelled within a year, his idealist approach to governance inspired those like the later Chancellor Wang Anshi.

[edit] Literay Works

His most famous work was Yueyang Lou Ji 岳陽樓記, composed on occasion of the reconstruction of Yueyang Lou under the governance of a friend of his. Yueyang Lou, a city gate by the side of Dongting Lake, was known as one of the three great Lou's in Southern China, due to their association with famous literary works (the others being Huanghe Lou 黃鶴樓 and Tengwang Ge 滕王閣). This commemorative Ji was written in prose, with extensive usage of phrases in four. It's most famous for the political ideal he expressed at the end, culminating in the oft-quoted 先天下之憂而憂，後天下之樂而樂 (Feel worried before Tianxia starts to worry, and feel happy after Tianxia has rejoiced.)

He was also known for his ci. Among the most famous are Su Mu Zhe 蘇幕遮 and Yu Jia Ao 漁家傲. Together with Su Shi, he was considered one of the founders of the haofang 豪放 school of ci.