Zhang Yue (Tang dynasty)

Zhang Yue (simplified Chinese: 张说; traditional Chinese: 張說; pinyin: Zhāng Yuè^[1]) (667 – 9 February 731^[2]), courtesy name Daoji (道濟) or Yuezhi (說之), formally Duke Wenzhen of Yan (燕文貞公), was a Chinese historian, military general, poet, and politician. He served as an official under Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, a chancellor with three separate stints during the reigns of Emperor Ruizong and under Emperor Xuanzong. He was known for having suggested the transition of Tang central government armed forces from being conscription-based to recruitment-based, and for turning the office of the chancellor into a specialized post with strong executive powers.

Zhang Yue was a well-respected literary figure of his time, and was ranked alongside Su Ting (Duke Wenxian of Xu, another of Emperor Xuanzong's chancellors) as the two great writers of the Kaiyuan era. They were known in unison as 燕许大手笔 ("Immense pen-brushes from Yan and Xu").