active 1675-1695 Renhu Chu

Active in the late 17th century, Chu Renhu was a writer of the Qing dynasty from Changzhou in the Suzhou region. Sources describe him as broadly learned and highly regarded for his writing, though he did not build a successful official career through the examination system.

Later in life, he devoted himself seriously to study and writing. He became known for collecting stories, historical anecdotes, and curious details from earlier texts, and he produced a large body of work in that vein.

His best-known work is Sui-Tang Yanyi, a retelling of earlier Ming-era narratives and folk traditions about the Sui and Tang periods. He appears to have still been alive in 1704, though the exact year of his death is unclear.