Qián Dàxīn 錢大昕 (1728–1804), zì Xiǎozhēng 曉徵 (also Xīnmèi 辛楣), hào Zhútīng 竹汀, native of Jiādìng 嘉定, Sūzhōu, Jiāngsū. The single most important historiographer of the Qīng dynasty. Jìnshì of Qiánlóng 19 (1754) ranking second in the èrjiǎ; Hànlín biānxiū; rose to shàozhānshì 少詹事 (junior tutor to the heir apparent). On his father’s death in 1775 he withdrew from office in mourning and never returned. From 1788 until his death in 1804 he led the Zǐyáng 紫陽 academy in Sūzhōu, training a generation of QiánJiā historiographers. Major works: Niànèrshǐ kǎoyì 廿二史攷異 (100 juan, the foundational textual-critical commentary on the 22 standard histories); Shíjiàzhāi yǎngxīn lù 十駕齋養新錄 (the major Qīng philological-historical notebook, parallel to 顧炎武 Gù Yánwǔ’s Rì zhī lù); Hòu Hàn shū bǔbiǎo; Yuánshǐ shìzú biǎo; Yuánshǐ yìwén zhì; Sān shǐ shí yí; Hèngyán lù; Qiányántáng wénjí KR4f0059. His Yuán shǐ program, unfinished at his death, became the foundation for 柯劭忞 Kē Shàomín’s Xīn Yuán shǐ (1922). ECCP 152–155 (Tu Lien-che); CBDB id 29876.