A Chinese Biographical Dictionary/Chao Hui-ch'ien

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1758440A Chinese Biographical Dictionary — Chao Hui-ch'ienHerbert A. Giles

162 Chao Hui-ch'ien 趙撝謙 (his personal name was originally 古則). A.D. 1352-1395. A poor orphan, native of 餘姚 Yü-yao in Chehkiang, who was brought up at a temple until he was of age, when he wandered far and wide on foot in all weathers to study under the best teachers the Confucian Canon, poetry, music, and the various forms of written characters. This last was his special subject, and he compiled the 六書本義, a dictionary under 360 radicals, and also the 聲音文字通, which latter work was brought to the notice of the Emperor in 1405, and at once incorporated in the great encyclopaedia of Yung Lo. In 1379 he visited the capital, in reference to the dictionary known as the 正韻, and was afterwards a Magistrate in Kuangtung. He was known as the 考古先生 Antiquarian.