生平

同治六年（1867年）中舉人。同治十三年（1874年）進士，後歷任翰林院編修、安徽、陝西等省按察使，甘肅、新疆、山西布政使。

光緒二十八年（1902年）11月，奉命護理山西巡撫。光緒二十九年（1903年）署湖南巡撫。光緒三十年（1904年）4月，內調署戶部尚書。光緒三十一年（1905年）4月，復外調出任盛京將軍。

1906年1月1日，盛京將軍趙爾巽奏准奉天設商務總局，調查全省礦產及各項商業。5月25日，清廷電飭袁世凱、趙爾巽、程德全等協力進剿馬賊。10月19日，清廷以盛京將軍趙爾巽奏奉省應辦事宜為難，諭軍機大臣等奉省所用人員，准其奏咨調往，所需款項隨時咨商戶部設法協濟，並勉趙爾巽力任該職，所有練兵、理財以及農工商業，務當認真籌辦。

1907年3月17日，趙爾巽札行各州縣，通諭民間禁止售地租地於外人。4月11日，盛京將軍趙爾巽電告外務部：日本駐屯滿洲軍隊，除鐵嶺、奉天兩處鐵道守備隊外，已全部退完。5月3日，清廷以四川總督岑春煊為郵傳部尚書，裁缺盛京將軍趙爾巽為四川總督。5月9日，外務部電前盛京將軍趙爾巽，日商私訂開礦合同，應切實諭禁，並照會日領事聲明不認。5月17日，趙爾巽電外務部，請照會日使，禁阻日人越界收取黃海、渤海及山東沿海一帶漁利。後由趙爾巽弟趙爾豐代理四川總督。同年7月，張之洞入京授軍機大臣，乃以趙爾巽補授湖廣總督，在此期間主持創辦湖北法政學堂。11月13日，湖廣總督趙爾巽電請外務部力阻日人在漢口租界外購地。

1908年2月，復調任四川總督。1911年3月繼錫良任東三省總督，並授欽差大臣。期間重用張作霖，任其為奉天國民保安會軍事部副部長。1912年1月30日，趙爾巽致電袁世凱，要求袁世凱承認東三省的立法、人事、財政、軍事的獨立。3月15日，袁世凱任命趙爾巽為東三省都督。

民國成立後，隱居青島。民國三年（1914年），袁世凱委任其為清史館館長，主編《清史稿》。初期經費充足，每月撥款10多萬銀元，最高者每月薪金600元。由趙爾巽做主，廣聘人員。清末耆儒通士，不少都進入史館。1916年，袁世凱病逝，北洋政府財政維艱，館中經費驟減10萬銀元。清史館開支成為重大問題，編纂人員紛紛離去。民國十四年（1925年）2月，段祺瑞舉行善後會議，推其為正議長。5月，又聘其為臨時參政院參政，並被指定為臨時參政院院長。1926年，趙爾巽靠個人關係向張作霖、吳佩孚、張宗昌等人募捐，方才勉強維持清史館的運作。民國十六年（1927年），《清史稿》勉強完稿，旋即逝世於北京。

家庭

排行老二，有兄趙爾震，三弟趙爾豐，四弟趙爾萃。

Life

Early career

Zhao's ancestral roots were in Tieling, Fengtian Province (present-day Liaoning Province). His family was under the Plain Blue Banner of the Han Chinese Eight Banners. He sat for the provincial-level imperial examination in 1867 and obtained the position of a juren. In 1874, he sat for the palace-level examination and emerged as a jinshi, after which he was admitted to the Hanlin Academy as a bianxiu (編修; compiler and editor).

The first position Zhao held was an assistant examiner for the provincial-level imperial examination in Hubei Province. Later, he was promoted to a Supervising Censor of the Ministry of Works. In 1893, he served as a prefect in Guizhou Province and was promoted to a daotai (道台; a type of military official). He was transferred to Guangdong Province later. He subsequently served as the anchashi (按察使; Provincial Judicial Commissioner) in Anhui and Shaanxi provinces, and later as the buzhengshi (布政使; Provincial Financial Commissioner) of Gansu, Shanxi and Xinjiang provinces.

In November 1902, Zhao was appointed as the xunfu (Provincial Governor) of Shanxi Province. A year later, he was made acting xunfu of Hunan Province. In August 1904, he was recalled to the imperial capital, Beijing, to serve as acting Secretary of Revenue. One year later, he was sent to Fengtian Province to serve as "General of Shengjing".

Activities in Tibet and as Viceroy of Sichuan and the Three Northeast Provinces

In March 1907, Zhao replaced Xiliang (錫良) as the Viceroy of Sichuan but never assumed office. His brother, Zhao Erfeng, succeeded him as the Viceroy of Sichuan. Around August, when Zhang Zhidong was recalled to Beijing to serve on the Grand Council, Zhao was appointed as Viceroy of Huguang to replace Zhang. He was also given the honorary appointments of Secretary of Defence and Censor-in-Chief. During his tenure as Viceroy of Huguang, he set up the Hubei Law School.

Zhao and his brother Zhao Erfeng extended Qing rule into Eastern Tibet (Kham) and sent an army to Lhasa in 1908. This initially worked with the restored 13th Dalai Lama but later drove him out after strong disagreements about a conflict between Lamas in Eastern Tibet and the Qing government in Sichuan. It has been suggested that this conflict, along with an increase in taxes, caused the September 1911 rebellion in Sichuan. Han Suyin takes a different view and says that the main issue in the conflict was control over a planned railway that would have linked Sichuan to the rest of China.

In March 1908, Zhao was reassigned to serve as the Viceroy of Sichuan again. Around April 1911, he was transferred to Manchuria to serve as the Viceroy of the Three Northeast Provinces (or Viceroy of Manchuria) and awarded an honorary title as an Imperial Commissioner. During his tenure, he established the Fengtian Military School (奉天講武堂) and promoted Zhang Zuolin to deputy military chief of the Fengtian Citizen Security Association. He served as Viceroy of the Three Northeast Provinces until the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty in early 1912.

Under the Republic

In March 1912, the Provisional Assembly of the Republic of China passed a bill appointing Zhao as the Viceroy of Fengtian Province, giving him control over Manchuria just like when he was Viceroy of the Three Northeast Provinces. However, Zhao resigned on 3 November and returned to Beijing. In 1914, Yuan Shikai appointed Zhao as the director of the Qing History Bureau (清史館) to create a Draft History of Qing (Qing Shi Gao).

In March 1925, when Duan Qirui convened the Shanhou Conference, he nominated Zhao to lead the conference. In June, when the Provisional National Council (臨時參政院) was established, Zhao was nominated to lead the council.

Zhao died in Beijing in 1927. His tomb is located at the north of Shenshan Village (神山村), Huaibei Town, Huairou District, Beijing.