Chia Ssu-tao (1213-1275) was a Chinese statesman who served as chief minister in the closing years of the Sung dynasty and inaugurated a program of radical agrarian reform.

Chia Ssu-tao was born on Aug. 23, 1213, into a military family originally from T'ai-chou in Chekiang Province. Because of his father's distinguished service against the Chin, Ssu-tao was privileged to enter the bureaucracy, and he began his career as a granary superintendent in 1231. The influence of his elder sister, who became an imperial concubine in 1231, may have helped his career initially, but it was only after her death in 1247 that he received his most important posts. After a number of appointments involving financial and military affairs in the capital and in the provinces, Chia became an assistant state councilor in 1256 and right grand councilor in 1259. As right grand councilor, he dominated the government from 1259 until 1275, serving after 1267 concurrently as commander of...