Zhao Ye

Also known as Zi Changjun · Zhao Changjun

Zhao Ye, courtesy name Changjun, came from Shanyin in Kuaiji. The Book of the Later Han says he quit a post as county clerk rather than run errands for an inspector, travelled to Zizhong in Qianwei and studied the Han school of the Book of Odes under Du Fu for twenty years without sending word home, so long that his family held a funeral for him. He returned only after Du Fu died, refused a provincial appointment, was recommended as a man of virtue and died at home. He wrote the Annals of Wu and Yue and a study of the Odes. The Annals traces the rise and fall of Wu and Yue down to Goujian's conquest of Wu, mixing history with legend, and is a key text on that rivalry.