Zhang Zhao

Also known as Zi Detian · Hao Tianping Jushi · Posthumous name Wenmin

Zhang Zhao, born Zhang Mo, styled Detian and Changqing, with the sobriquets Jingnan and Tianping Jushi, came from Lou County, Jiangsu (now part of Shanghai). A jinshi of 1709, he entered the Hanlin Academy, served in the Southern Study from 1715 and rose to Minister of Justice; he was canonised as Wenmin. Trained on Dong Qichang, he excelled in running and regular script and became the model of the Qing court style; he wrote Tianping zhai shuhua tiba. Building on Zheng Zhizhen's Ming play of Mulian rescuing his mother and on Yuan and Ming drama and regional tunes, he compiled Quanshan jinke, a palace serial drama of ten parts and 240 scenes performed at court at the year's end.