A Chinese Biographical Dictionary/Chêng Ch'iao
265 Chêng Ch'iao 鄭樵 (T. 漁仲. H. 夾漈). A.D. 1108-1166. A native of 蒲田 P'u-t'ien in Fuhkien, and one of the most famous men of letters of the Sung dynasty. For a long time he lived in studious seclusion at 夾漈山 Chia-chi-shan, cut off from all human intercourse. Then he spent some time in visiting various places of interest, devoting himself to searching out marvels, investigating antiquities, and reading (and remembering) every book that came in his way. In 1149 he was summoned to an audience, and received an honorary post. He was then sent home to copy out his 通志 History of China, which covered a period from Fu Hsi down to the T'ang dynasty. On its presentation to the Emperor he was made an Imperial historiographer. Besides this, he was author of a collection of twenty-six poems and seven prose pieces, published under the title of 夾漈豪. He also wrote a treatise entitled 石鼓文, in which he showed that the inscriptions on the famous Stone Drums, hitherto accepted as dating from the early part of the Chou dynasty, belonged rather to the latter half of the 3rd century B.C. He was opposed to the famous peace proposals of Ch'in Kuei, and this led to his early retirement into private life, where he died at the age of fifty-eight.