Zheng Qiao

Zheng Qiao (born April 26, 1104, Putian, Fujian province, China—died April 22, 1162, Putian) was a great historian of the Song dynasty (960–1279). He wrote the Tongzhi (“General Treatises”), a famous institutional history of China from its beginnings through the Tang dynasty (618–907). In this work he discussed subjects such as philology, phonetics, and the development of families and clans, none of which had been systematically explored before. Zheng’s method and style served as a model for many later historians.