A Chinese Biographical Dictionary/Chang Hua
65Chang Hua 張華 (T. 茂先). A.D. 232-300. A native of 方城 Fang-ch'eng in Chihli, who flourished as a scholar and statesman under the Chin dynasty. Left a poor orphan, he had to support himself by tending sheep; but his abilities soon attracted attention, and a well-to-do neighbour gave him his daughter to wife and enabled him to complete his education. His poems were much admired by Yüan Chi and 陳留 Ch'ên Liu, and he was brought to the notice of Ssǔ-ma Chao (q. v.); from which date his rise in the public service was rapid, until at length he became Minister of State and was ennobled. As Director of the Court of Sacrificial Worship he suffered disgrace because one of the beams in the Imperial Temple happened to break, for which he was cashiered; however on the accession of the Emperor Hui Ti in 290 he was appointed Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. He was put to death by the Prince of Chao, when the latter took up arms against the tyranny of the Empress 賈 Chia, whose cause Chang Hua refused to abandon. He was profoundly learned, and when he changed houses it took thirty carts to carry his library. Author of the 博物志, a collection of articles on various topics of interest. It appears to have perished during the Sung dynasty, and the modern work which passes under that name was probably compiled from extracts found in other books. See Lin Han.