Zhang Yushu

Zhang Yushu (, 22 July 1642 – 2 July 1711) was a Han Chinese politician and scholar in the Qing dynasty. He was one of the chief editors of the Kangxi Dictionary alongside Chen Tingjing.

Biography

A native of Dantu, Jiangsu, Zhang took the imperial examination and earned a jinshi degree in 1661. He appointed as a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy and was promoted to the rank of compiler three years later. He served in that role for the next twelve years before being made a tutor in the Imperial Academy. He was appointed director-general of the Historiographical Board in 1679 and tasked with helping compile the History of Ming with Ye Fang'ai and Xu Yuanwen.

He was promoted to expositor in the Hanlin Academy soon after and made a sub-chancellor in the Grand Secretariat in 1681. In 1684, he became vice-president of the Ministry of Rites and also served concurrently as chancellor of the Hanlin Academy. In the same year, his father died and he took retirement to mourn. In 1687, Zhang returned to government service to become Minister of Justice. In 1690, Zhang became Grand Secretary of Wenhua Hall as well as Minister of Revenue. Zhang retired the following year to mourn his late mother, but returned to official life in 1700. He joined the emperor on his fourth tour of the south in 1703 and also travelled to Rehe with him in 1708, leaving behind a highly detailed account of the Kangxi Emperor's mountain estate there. Zhang's later career was spent directing the compilation of the Peiwen Yunfu and the Kangxi Dictionary. He died in 1711 whilst accompanying the emperor on a trip to Jehol. Zhang was honoured with posthumous name Wenzhen (文貞) and his name was included in the Temple of Eminent Statesmen during the reign of Yongzheng.