Zhao Zhiqian (1829-1884) was from Kuaiji, Shaoxing in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). A talented man, he was enthusiastic about learning. He studied all the classics and was extremely erudite with researches of ancient scholars and their academic achievements. Zhao became a substitute of erudite while in his teen.  

In the 11th year (1872AD) of the Tongzhi Period of the Qing dynasty, Zhao was promoted to a county magistrate from a copyist at the Historiography Institute and he went to work in Jiangxi Province. Liu Kunyi, governor of Jiangxi Province, put Zhao in charge of compiling the General History of Jiangxi Province. Working as the editor-in-chief, Zhao wrote the notes on the use of the history, decided on forms and wrote all the entries on politics and businesses. When the history book was completed, it received good reviews. People commented that the wording was economic but the entries were complete with accurate quotations of data and that the writing was in an elegant style and that it was a better work than previous ones. Shortly after this, Zhao was appointed to govern Poyang County and later he was county magistrate to Fengxin County and Nancheng County. He cleared the long-pending cases accumulated from history, simplified the suit documents, had the Confucius Temple rebuilt, and organized infrastructure projects on urban areas and villages. He accomplished much in his different posts. In 1884, he received troopers who passed Nancheng County on their way to Fujian Province. As he worked in poor conditions he died from hard work. In October 1884, he died at age 56 while working.  

Academically, Zhao Zhiqian was a specialist good at explaining words in ancient classics. He was especially known for his contributions to explaining the words in an ancient book called Gongyang. He sublimed words with deeper meanings. As a scholar, he was strict with words and his comments were polished and fine. His works were well ordered. He was also good at writing poems and ancient-styled essays. He calligraphic works and seal-cutting arts were well known. He learned his art from Ding Jing and Deng Shiru and absorbed the best from the works of the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty. Zhao combined the merits of both Zhejiang artists and Anhui artists and introduced the seal cutting techniques into paintings. Zhao homogenized the techniques of painting, seal cutting and calligraphy and created his unique style. His works are available today.