Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Chao Shih-lin

3633509Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, Volume 1 — Chao Shih-linTu Lien-chê

CHAO Shih-lin 趙士麟 (T. 麟伯, H. 玉峯), Apr. 30, 1629–1699, June 5, official, was a native of Ho-yang, Yunnan. He became a chin-shih in 1664 and thereupon was made police magistrate of P'ing-yüan, Kweichow. Four years later he became magistrate of Jung-ch'êng, Chihli, the birth-place of the philosopher, Sun Ch'i-fêng [q. v.]. There he remained for six years and established the Academy known as Chêng-hsüeh shu-yüan 正學書院. After occupying various posts in the capital he became in 1683 senior vice-president of the Censorate, during which period he sent up a memorial recommending that Formosa be organized under one prefecture and two districts—a plan that was adopted. In the spring of the following year he was made governor of Chekiang. During the twelve years of his administration that province made many improvements—schools were established, the taxation system was reformed, and water routes to facilitate transportation were opened.

It was once the practice for banner troops stationed in Chekiang to loan money to the local inhabitants at exhorbitant rates of interest, causing social unrest and misery to the people. Chao Shih-lin refunded all the outstanding obligations from his own purse and then put a stop to the practice. At that time the population about Hangchow, was dense, and the custom of the inhabitants of building walls and fences made of bamboo, gave rise to frequent fires. Chao Shih-lin created a permanent fire squad of 200 men to remedy this situation. When he was transferred in 1686 to the governorship of Kiangsu the people of Chekiang had six pictures painted in commemoration of his good administration, and Mao Chi-k'o 毛際可 (T. 會侯, H. 鶴舫, 1633–1708), a prominent literary man of the province, wrote an essay in honor of the occasion. After three years in Kiangsu Chao Shih-lin was summoned to Peking to assist in the Board of War, and in 1691 was transferred to the senior vice-presidency of the Board of Civil Office. His collected literary works, in 46 chüan, were entitled 讀書堂集 Tu-shu t'ang chi. This title received notice in the Imperial Catalogue (see under Chi Yün).


[1/281/2a; 3/52/28a; 4/19/1a; 續修雲南通志 (Hsü-hsiu) Yünnan t'ung-chih (1894) 170/9b.]

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