Jia Dan

Jia Dan (simplified Chinese: 贾耽; traditional Chinese: 賈耽; pinyin: Jiǎ Dān) (730 – October 27, 805), courtesy name Dunshi (敦詩), formally Duke Yuanjing of Wei (魏元靖公), was a Chinese scholar-official, general, geographer, and cartographer from Cangzhou, Hebei during the Tang Dynasty of China.

Jia Dan was born in 730, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. His family was from Cang Prefecture (滄州, in modern Cangzhou, Hebei) and traced its ancestry to the Han Dynasty official Jia Yi, through officials of Cao Wei, Jin Dynasty (265-420), Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang Dynasty, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, Sui Dynasty, and Tang Dynasty. Both his grandfather Jia Zhiyi (賈知義) and father Jia Yuanyan (賈元琰) served as county-level officials.