Zhāng Jiǔlíng was a native of Qǔjiāng 曲江 in Sháozhōu 韶州 (Guangdong). He passed the jìnshì in Cháng’ān 2 (702) and rose through a series of Court posts to become Director of the Secretariat (中書令) under Xuánzōng 玄宗 in Kāiyuán 21 (733). Famed both as the leading southern statesman of the early Kāiyuán reign and as one of the foremost Tang lyric poets — his Gǎn yù 感遇 cycle is a touchstone of mid-Tang poetic taste — he was an outspoken critic of Lǐ Línfǔ and An Lùshān 安祿山 alike, warning the throne (in vain) of the latter’s danger. He was demoted in Kāiyuán 24 (736) and died in 740 in Jīngzhōu 荊州. Posthumous title 文獻. Tradition credits him with directing the final compilation of Táng liùdiǎn 唐六典 (KR2l0001); his collected works are Qǔjiāng jí 曲江集 (KR4d0094 in some editions). Lifedates 678–740 are confirmed in CBDB and standard biographies in Jiù Tángshū 99 and Xīn Tángshū 126.