Huang Zongdan was born in a famous family and was different from others since he was a child. He can write good poems at an early age and has great ambitions. In the early spring of the fourth year of Xingguo in Song Taiping (979), 7-year-old Huang Zongdan and his neighbor's children were playing around the Baoguang Pool in front of the village, and his grandfather Huang Yuxi ordered him to write a poem on the topic of early spring. After a little thought, he recited, "I see the water in Qingchuan, and it is warm on the Baoguang pool. As long as there is a Longmen passenger in China, only thunder will jump out of Hongbo. " The export is extraordinary, the feathers are amazing, and the listeners are different. So, "a child is called a prodigy." Zong Dan studied mechanics hard and went to Beijing. He was highly valued by officials and celebrities such as Kou Zhun, Yu Wang and Qian Ruoshui. He was originally promoted to Jinshi during the Chunhua period (990 ~ 994), but he won the first place because the candidates copied his articles. The person who plagiarized his article was removed from the list, and Zong Dan was not allowed to be selected. At the end of Chunhua (993 ~ 994), he got to know Lai Gong Kou Zhun with articles, which was highly valued by Kou Zhun. Ouyang Xiu also admired him and called him "Fujian Guoshi". In 998, the first year of Xianping, Zhenzong, Fang Zhongjia was the second scholar, ranking third in the same list, second only to Li, a native of Hui 'an. The two articles are equally famous and are known as "Huang Zongdan, a gifted scholar in China, and Li, an article in the world".

Huang Zongdan is not only knowledgeable, but also known as "prodigy" and "gifted scholar". He is also good at judging scholars and recommending backward people. Wang He and Qian Ruoshui regarded him as a strict teacher. When he became the magistrate of Suzhou, he treated the gentleman with courtesy and dared to mend his ways. At that time, there was a young official, Wang Zhi, who served as a judge. Every time a decision is made, he always argues with Zongdan. Zong Dan first saw that he was young and frivolous and wanted to transfer him. On one occasion, Zong Dan tried more than 100 people who stole copper coins, and was about to be convicted, so he boasted in front of the king. The king said to him, "How do you know they stole copper coins?" Zong Dan said: "I used all means to lure them into confessing." Wang Zhi retorted, "I'm still glad that I lured them into confessing and executed them by all means. Is this how benevolent people handle political affairs? " After listening, Zong Dan praised Wang Zhi and said, "You are the real gentleman!" Since then, he has become more humble. Especially good at judgment, the people he recommended for promotion are celebrities. He is in charge of the history museum. He works hard. He suffered from eye diseases in his later years. All the memorials were memorized before he appeared in court. Someone in his class cheated him and secretly replaced him with another letter. He was still carrying his notebook, and he didn't realize it until he got home. So I urged him to retire and return to China. The court forbade him to be the magistrate of Xiangzhou (now Xiangyang City, Hubei Province) and the official doctor of punishments. He died in November of the eighth year of Song Renzong Tiansheng (1030).