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Zhao Shuqiao
Shaanxi jurist and grand councillor who inspected the Boxers at Zhuozhou in 1900 and was ordered to take his own life at Xi'an the next year
In a council hall, a long table holds an unrolled map scroll, a brass-cornered chest and a brush pot, with tall-backed chairs around it and a bronze lamp at the left; a figure stands with their back turned on the balcony at the right, with palace roofs beyond.
Also known as Zi Zhanru
Zhao Shuqiao, courtesy name Zhanru, styled Shenzhai, came from Chang'an in Shaanxi and passed the metropolitan examination in 1874. He spent most of his career in the Board of Punishments, rising from secretary to department director, and while in charge of the board's prison he compiled Tilao beikao, a handbook of jail regulations. He became governor of Jiangsu in 1895, returned to Beijing as minister of punishments and joined the Grand Council in 1898. In 1900 he and Gangyi were sent to inspect the Boxers around Zhuozhou, and on his return he did not press for their suppression. In the peace talks the powers named him one of the chief culprits, and in February 1901 he was ordered to take his own life at Xi'an.
Life and times
Dates 1848 CE–1901 CE