author
Yi Zhao
1727–1814
A lively Qing-era poet and historian, this writer is remembered for pairing sharp literary taste with a questioning mind. His poems and historical notes helped make him one of the more distinctive scholarly voices of eighteenth-century China.
1 Audiobook
甌北詩話
by Yi Zhao
About the author
Born in 1727 in what is now Changzhou, Jiangsu, Zhao Yi was a Qing dynasty poet, historian, and literary critic. He came from a family of private tutors and built his career through study and the civil service examinations, eventually becoming known as a learned official as well as a writer.
He is especially remembered for the range of his work. Alongside poetry, he wrote influential historical criticism, most notably Notes on the Twenty-Two Dynastic Histories, a book admired for its close reading of earlier histories and its willingness to challenge accepted views. He also wrote on poetry and earned a reputation for an independent, energetic style.
Today, Zhao Yi stands out as a scholar who moved comfortably between creative writing and serious historical analysis. His work offers both literary charm and a thoughtful, questioning approach to the Chinese past.