昭梿

Zhao Lian was a Qing-dynasty writer of the imperial clan. Public information about his life and official career is limited, and he is known to later generations mainly through his notebooks Xiaoting Zalu and its sequel Xiaoting Xulu. The library holds 17 of his works, mostly individual volumes of Xiaoting Zalu and a combined edition of the sequel, showing that his output consists chiefly of notebook miscellanies. These writings record court institutions, anecdotes about people, and miscellaneous observations, drawing on firsthand experience; the style is concise and the narration concrete, giving the works both documentary value and literary interest, and they are often classed as classic works. Because details of the author's life are hard to verify, readers should rely on the works themselves and note the aspects of Qing society and political culture they preserve.