Zhao Mingcheng

Zhao Mingcheng (simplified Chinese: 赵明诚; traditional Chinese: 趙明誠; pinyin: Zhào Míngchéng, courtesy name Défǔ (德甫) or Défù (德父) (1081–1129) was a Chinese writer, scholar-official, and epigrapher of the Song dynasty, husband to the famous poet Li Qingzhao. His 30-volume magnum opus Jīn Shí Lù (金石錄) has long been hailed as an important work in the development of Chinese epigraphy since its publication.

Zhao Mingcheng was born in Zhucheng, Shandong in an affluent scholar-official family. He was the third son of civil servant Zhao Tingzhi (趙挺之), who served as a prime minister (尚書右仆射) during the reign of Song Huizong. Zhao spent most of his youth in the capital Bianjing (modern day Kaifeng), where he entered the royal Taixue academy to study the classics. In 1101 he met then 18-year-old Li Qingzhao and the two quickly fell in love. Their marriage was hailed among the literati. The couple shared strong interest in art collection and epigraphy and avowed to collect as many antiquities as possible for the sake of future research.

Zhao Mingcheng started his civil service career in 1103, but was quickly involved in an imperial court power struggle between his father and the infamous politician Cai Jing. In 1107 he was arrested and brought to court by his political rivals but his case was soon closed for lack of evidence. After this episode he returned to his hometown of Zhucheng and started to focus on his systematic study of antiquities.

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