Jia Dan

Jia Dan (simplified Chinese: 贾耽; traditional Chinese: 賈耽; pinyin: Jiǎ Dān) (730 – October 27, 805), courtesy name Dunshi (敦詩), formally Duke Yuanjing of Wei (魏元靖公), was a Chinese scholar-official, general, geographer, and cartographer from Cangzhou, Hebei during the Tang Dynasty of China.

Background

Jia Dan was born in 730, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. His family was from Cang Prefecture (滄州, in modern Cangzhou, Hebei) and traced its ancestry to the Han Dynasty official Jia Yi, through officials of Cao Wei, Jin Dynasty (265-420), Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang Dynasty, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, Sui Dynasty, and Tang Dynasty. Both his grandfather Jia Zhiyi (賈知義) and father Jia Yuanyan (賈元琰) served as county-level officials.

Career

Early career

During Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao era (742-756), Jia Dan passed the imperial examinations and was made the sheriff of Linqing County (臨清, in modern Liaocheng, Shandong). After he submitted suggestions on the matters of the times to Emperor Xuanzong, he was moved to be the sheriff of Zhengping County (正平, in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi) — closer to the capital Chang'an, and therefore considered a promotion despite it being the same level of office. While the general Wang Sili (王思禮) served as the military governor (Jiedushi) of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), Wang invited him to serve as secretary. While serving under Wang, Jia was promoted to be the deputy mayor of Taiyuan Municipality and deputy military governor. He later served as the prefect of Fen Prefecture (汾州, in modern Linfen, Shanxi) for seven years and was known for ruling the prefecture well.