Fan Zhongyen

Fan Zhongyen

 or Fan Chung-yen

(born 989, Wu, Jiangsu province, China—died 1052, China) Chinese scholar-reformer whose reforms anticipated those of Wang Anshi. He attempted to abolish nepotism and corruption, reclaim unused land, equalize landholdings, create a strong local militia system, reduce corvée labor, and reform the civil-service examination system. He proposed establishing a national school system to train men to deal with the problems of history and politics; the proposal was adopted in 1044. See also Neo-Confucianism; Song dynasty.