The Hanlin Academy was an academic and administrative institution of higher learning founded in the 8th century Tang China by Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an. Membership in the academy was confined to an elite group of scholars, who performed secretarial and literary tasks for the court. One of its primary duties was to decide on an interpretation of the Chinese classics. This formed the basis of the Imperial examinations, which aspiring government bureaucrats had to pass to attain higher-level government posts. Painters working for the court were also attached to the academy. Academy members Some of the more famous academicians of Hanlin were: Li Bai (701–762) – Poet Bai Juyi (772–846) – Poet Yan Shu (991–1055) – Poet, calligrapher, (prime minister, 1042) Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) – Historian Shen Kuo (1031–1095) – Chancellor Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145) – Painter Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322) – Painter, calligrapher, poet (rector, 1314–1320) Huang Zicheng (1350–1402) – Imperial scholar Li Dongyang (1447–1516) – Imperial officer, poet, served as 'Grand Historian' Ni Yuanlu (1593–1644) – Calligrapher, painter, high-ranking official Wu Renchen (1628–1689) – Historian and mathematician Chen Menglei (1650–1741) – Scholar, writer (Editor in Chief of the Gujin Tushu Jicheng) Zhang Tingyu (1672–1755) – Politician and historian Ji Xiaolan (1724–1805) – Scholar, poet (Editor in Chief of the Siku Quanshu) Yao Nai (1731–1815) – Scholar Gao E (1738–1815) – Scholar and editor He Changling (1785–1848) – Scholar and official Zeng Guofan (1811–1872) – Scholar and later key military official Chen Lanbin (1816–1895) – Diplomat (ambassador to the U.S., Spain and Peru) Weng Tonghe (1830–1904) – Imperial Tutor Cai Yuanpei (1868–1940) – Educator Qu Hongji (1850–1918) – Politician Bureau of Translators Subordinated to the Hanlin Academy was the Bureau of Translators (). Founded by the Ming dynasty in 1407, after the first expedition of Zheng He to the Indian Ocean, the Bureau dealt with the memorials delivered by foreign ambassadors and trained foreign language specialists. It included departments for many languages such as the Jurchen, "Tartar" (Mongol), Korean, Ryukyuan, Japanese, Tibetan, "Huihui" (the "Muslim" language, Persian) Vietnamese and Burmese languages, as well as for the languages of the "various barbarian tribes" (Bai yi 百夷, i.e., Shan ethnic groups on China's southwestern borders), "Gaochang" (people of Turfan, i.e. Old Uyghur language), and Xitian (西天; (Sanskrit, spoken in India). In 1511 and 1579 departments for the languages of Ba bai (八百; Lao) and Thai were added, respectively. A Malay language vocabulary (Manlajia