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Zhao Erxun (23 May 1844 – 3 September 1927), courtesy name Cishan, art name Wubu, was a Chinese political and military officeholder who lived in the late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China. He served in numerous high-ranking positions under the Qing government, including Viceroy of Sichuan, Viceroy of Huguang, and Viceroy of the Three Northeast Provinces. After the fall of the Qing dynasty, he became a historian and was the lead editor of the Draft History of Qing ( Qing Shi Gao).
The first position Zhao held was an assistant examiner for the provincial-level imperial examination in Hubei. Later, he was promoted to a Censorate of the Ministry of Works. In 1893, he served as a prefect in Guizhou and was promoted to a daotai (道台; a type of military official). He was transferred to Guangdong 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. 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 Shenyang" (盛京將軍).
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.
In March 1925, when Duan Qirui convened the Shanhou Conference (善後會議), 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 (懷北鎮), Huairou District, Beijing.
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