sòng 宋

### Song Yu A native of the State of Chu during the Warring States period, he was born around the 25th year of King Nan of Zhou and died in the year when the State of Chu perished. Since he once served as the Director of Lantai, he was also known as the Lord of Lantai. He was good at writing Ci and Fu, and his works included *Nine Elegies* and *Evocation of the Soul*. He was并称 with Qu Yuan as "Qu and Song". ### Song Jing (663 - 737) A native of Nanhe in the Tang Dynasty. He was a famous prime minister during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. He was upright and principled, abiding by the law and upholding justice. He was并称 with Yao Chong as the virtuous prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty. He was successively enfeoffed as the Duke of Guangping and promoted to the Right Minister of the尚书省. He loved plum blossoms, and his *Ode to Plum Blossoms* was widely praised. After his death, he was posthumously titled "Wen Zhen". ### Song Zhiwen (656 - 712) With the courtesy name Yanqing and also known as Shaolian, he was a native of Fenzhou (now Fenyang County, Shanxi Province) in the Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Empress Wu, he held the positions of Supervisor of the Imperial Workshops and Inner Attendant of the Zuo Fengchen. He was skilled in poetry, and his poems were as famous as those of Shen Quanqi, so they were called "Shen and Song". Because he flattered Zhang Yizhi, he was demoted from office and later exiled to Lingnan and ordered to commit suicide. ### Song Jiang His birth and death years are unknown. He was a native of Yuncheng in the Song Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Huizong, he was a bandit. When Hou Meng was the prefect of Bozhou, he submitted a memorial to the emperor, suggesting that Song Jiang be recruited and pacified, but Hou Meng died before this was accomplished. Later, Zhang Shuye captured Song Jiang's deputy leader, and then Song Jiang surrendered.