Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Chao Huai-yü
CHAO Huai-yü 趙懷玉 (T. 億孫, H. 味辛, 收庵, 涒皋賸人), Apr. 14, 1747–1823, Apr. 1, man of letters, a native of Wu-chin, Kiangsu, was a descendant in the fourth generation of Chao Shên-ch'iao [q. v.]. He was a great-grandson of Chao Hsiung-chao and a grandson of Chao T'ung-hsüeh (for both see under Chao Shên-ch'iao). From youth on he was known for his literary ability and rivalled such contemporaries as Sun Hsing-yen, Hung Liang-chi (a distant relative), and Huang Ching-jên [qq. v.]. In 1765, when Emperor Kao-tsung made his fourth tour of South China, Chao Huai-yü presented a long poem written in honor of the emperor. Fifteen years later (1780) when the emperor again made a tour of the South, a special examination was given in which Chao Huai-yü successfully participated, becoming a chü-jên and an expectant secretary in the Grand Secretariat. While he was in Peking he served about three years (1782–84) on the editorial staff of the Ssŭ-k'u ch'üan-shu (see under Chi Yün). As this work progressed he made a copy of the Ssŭ-k'u ch'üan-shu chien-ming mu-lu (see under Chi Yün), which he took with him on his return to the South. This was printed at Hangchow in 1784 with the help of Pao Shih-kung (see under Pao T'ing-po) and Chin Tê-yü 金德與 (T. 少權, 鶴年, 1750–1800), and was the first printing of the so-called Chien-ming mu-lu.
In 1794 Chao Huai-yü was made a secretary of the Grand Secretariat. Four times (1784, 1793, 1795, 1796) he competed in the metropolitan examinations, but did not succeed in qualifying as a chin-shih. In 1800 he received appointment as sub-prefect of Ch'ing-chou, Shantung. In 1802 he served as acting prefect of Têng-chou and later of Yen-chou (both in Shantung). When his father, Chao Shêng-nan 趙繩男 (T. 來武, H. 緘齋, 1723-1803), died he resigned from office to observe the customary mourning and never thereafter resumed official life. In 1805 he was invited to Shanghai by Li T'ing-ching 李廷敬 (T. 景叔, H. 寧圃, 昧莊, chin-shih of 1775), intendant of the Su-Sung-T'ai Circuit, to assist in compiling a work to be entitled 宋遼史詳節 Sung Liao shih hsiang-chieh. In the following year (1806) he went to Yang-chou to participate in the compilation of the Yang-chou t'u-ching (see under Chiao Hsün). From 1807 to 1812 he was head of the Academy known as Wên-chêng Shu-yüan 文正書院 in Shih-chiang-chên, T'ung-chou, Kiangsu. Accepting an invitation to direct the Kuan-chung Shu-yüan (關中書院) in Sian, Shensi, he arrived at Sian early in the summer of 1812. A month later he was stricken with paralysis of the left side of his body and never wholly recovered from its effects. He returned home early in 1815 and later lectured for a time in the Ai-shan Shu-yüan 愛山書院 in Hu-chou, Chekiang.
The collected literary works of Chao Huai-yü were printed under the title, 亦有生齋集 I-yu-shêng chai chi, which comprises 39 chüan of verse (2 of yüeh-fu 樂府, 5 of tz'ŭ 詞, and 32 of shih 詩), and 20 chüan of prose. His own preface is dated 1819, and the collection was probably printed about that time. The 2 chüan of yüeh-fu are poems about notable persons and events in his native prefecture from ancient times to the end of the Ming period. It was reprinted in 1886–87 under the title Yün-hsi (雲溪) yüeh-fu, 2 chüan, in the 粟香室叢書 Su-hsiang shih ts'ung-shu, compiled by Chin Wu-hsiang 金武祥 (T. 溎生), of Chiang-yin Kiangsu. Chao Huai-yü painted in his younger days and achieved some fame as a calligrapher.
[2/72/54a; 3/257/24a; 20/4/xx(portrait); 26/2/54a; Mo Yu-chih [q. v.], Lü-t'ing chih-chien ch'üan-pên shu-mu 6/11a; T'oung Pao 1924, p. 212; 趙收庵年譜 Chao Shou-an nien-p'u (not consulted).]
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