张九龄
The site of Mei Pass has been significant since the Qin dynasty (221BCE206CE) and its name probably dates from this early period. It was part of one of the five transport routes from the Yangtze valley to Nanhai in present-day Guangzhou. During the Tang (618907), the site was variously called Qin Pass () and Hengpu Pass (). In 716, the Chancellor Zhang Jiuling constructed a wide road through the pass as part of the trade route along the Gan River. Of the old gallery road, Zhang wrote: