A native of Nanfeng, Jiangxi, Zeng Gong is alternatively named as Zeng Zigu, an essayist, historian, politician in the Northern Song Dynasty and one of the Eight Tang-Song Prose Masters. After entering the court in the Jiayou period, he became the magistrate of Mingzhou (now a district of Ningbo) in 1078 AD during Emperor Shenzong’s reign, acquiring several political achievements there. He carried out policies to boost commerce, attracting nationwide merchants to Mingzhou, fervently endorsed the expansion of overseas trade and developed economical exchanges with Korea and Japan.