Fan Zhongyan

Fan Zhongyan (989-1052), with courtesy name of Xiwen, born in Wuxian, Suzhou, was a prominent statesman, strategist and literary figure in the Northern Song Dynasty. In 1051 (Huangyou 3rd year), as a vice minister, he went to Qingzhou. In 1052, he died on the way to Yingzhou. When he was in Qingzhou, the area on the north bank of Yellow River suffered a severe famine. The government ordered that the land tax of Qingzhou be transferred to Bozhou (nowadays Liaocheng). People all worried about long-distance travel. Fan Zhongyan investigated that the price of grain was not high in Bozhou, so he ordered people to pay money instead of tax grain. Then he ordered people to buy grain in Bozhou. With favorable price, enough tax grain was purchased within 5 days. The rest of the money was returned to the peasants in Qingzhou. 1051 saw famine in Qingzhou. He asked the government to send grain reserved for the military use to the destitute, with enough left for the military use for one year. People in Qingzhou were very grateful to Fan Zhongyan. There was a very pleasant place in Nanyang, Qingzhou, with Xiyang creek and dense forests. During his stay in Qingzhou, a sping spouted beside the creek. He built a pavilion over the spring. After his death, people in Qingzhou named this pavilion ``Fan Gong Pavilion`` and built ``Fan Gong Temple`` beside the pavilion. Ou Yangxiu, liu Ban and other celebrities had written poems in honor of him and these poems were inscribed on the stones erected in the pavilion.