Who's Who in China (3rd edition)/Chao Erh-sun

Chao Erh-sun

趙爾巽字次珊

General Chao Erh-sun is a descendant of a Chinese Banner family. He was born in 1846. He became a provincial graduate in 1867 and a metropolitan graduate or chin shih in 1874. In the same year—1874—he was made a Hanlin with the degree of Pien Hsiu or Hinlin compiler of the College of Hanlins. The first official position General Chao held was that of assistant examiner for the provincial examinations of Hupei. Subsequently he was appointed a Supervising Censor of the Board of Works. In 1898 he becamie a prefect in the province of Kueichow and soon he was promoted to be a Ping Pei Tao or Taotai with power over military forces in the Kuangtung Province. In April 1895 General Chao was appointed Judicial Commissioner of Anhui Province and sometime later he was transferred to the Province of Shensi. In November 1898 General Chao was appointed Financial Commissioner of Kansu and Hsin-kiang. In 1902 he was transferred to be Financial Commissioner of Shensi province. In 1903 General Chao became Governor of Hunan. In August 1914 he was called to Peking and was given the position of acting President of the Board of Revenue. May 1905 he was appointed Tartar general of Mukden with the concurrent post at Peking of Vice-President of the Board of War. Later he became governor of the metropolitan district and concurrently director of the imperial household affairs. In May 1907 General Chao was appointed Viceroy of Szechuan. He did not assume this office however, and in September of the same year he was appointed viceroy of Hu-Kuang Provinces with the brevet title of President of the Board of War find that of President of the Censorate. In March 1903 General Chao was transferred to act as Viceroy of Szechuan With the concurrent posts of Tartar General of Chengtu and the assistant director-general of the Salt Adminstration. These posts he held until April 1911, wheen he was appointed Viceroy of Manchuria having under his control all the Tartar Generals of the three provinces. In March 1912, the First Year of the Republic, a Bill was passed in the provisional assembly in Peking placing him upon as equal footing with the Tutuhs of Kirin and Heilungkiang. He was subsequently made a full general and awarded the Second Order of Merit and First Order of Chiaho. As Tutuh of Fengtien, General Chao was given supreme control of military and diplomatic affairs in three Manchurian Provinces. He resigned from this post on November 3, 1912 and subsequently was appointed director general of the Ching History Compilation Bureau, which position he is still holding. General Chao was one of the "Four Friends of Sungshan" of ex-President Yuan-Shih-kai, the other three being Hsu Shih-chang, Li Ching-hsi and Chang Chien. General Chao has been president of the board of directors of the Hsiangshan Childrens' Home, in the Western Hills, Peking, which was founded by ex-Premier Hsiung Hsi-ling after the 1917 fall flood in the Province of Chihli.