Part 2 (1/2)

SU WU (200-100 B.C.).

Su Wu (Tze K'ing) lived in the Han Dynasty. When sent on a mission to the Khan of the Hsiung-nu he was seized by that ruler and ordered to renounce his allegiance to the Han Emperor; and on refusing to do this he was cast into prison. Afterwards he was banished for many years to the desert region around Lake Balkash, where he was compelled to tend the flocks of the Hsiung-nu; but he persisted in his loyalty to the Han Dynasty. On his return to China, when a grey-headed old man, he was greatly honoured by the Emperor, and his portrait was hung up in the Khi-lin Koh (Council Chamber).

He is held up as a pattern of loyalty by Chinese writers. His poetical compositions are ancient but not numerous.

LI LING (First Century B.C.).

Li Ling was a military commander in the Han Dynasty. Given command of an army in the war against the Hsiung-nu he rashly advanced into the enemy's country with only a few thousand soldiers, who were surrounded and all but three or four hundred killed, and Li Ling was captured, and spent the rest of his life in exile. His name is mentioned in the Introduction to this book of translations.

CHU Kw.a.n.g-HI.

Chu Kw.a.n.g-hi was a soldier of the T'ang Dynasty. He pa.s.sed the highest literary examinations, and was appointed a member of the Censorate by the Emperor Hsuen Tsong.

CHEN TZE-ANG.

A celebrated scholar of the T'ang Dynasty. He filled various official offices, but is most famous for the work he did in advancing the renaissance of literature during the T'ang Dynasty. w.a.n.g s.h.i.+h, a learned writer of the same period, said that Chen Tze-ang was the most famous scholar in the Empire of that time.

T'AO YUEN-MING (A.D. 365-427).

T'ao T'sien (T'ao Yuen-ming) was a scholar and poet of the Song Dynasty.

He was appointed Magistrate of a district, but after filling the office only a short time he resigned it and retired into private life, spending the remainder of his years in writing poetry and in musical pursuits.

CHINESE POEMS

_Only a Fragrant Spray_

NAME OF POET UNKNOWN (HAN DYNASTY OR EARLIER)

Ah me, the day you left me Was full of weary hours; But the tree 'neath which we parted Was rich with leaves and flowers.

And from its fragrant branches I plucked a tiny spray, And hid it in my bosom In memory of that day.

I know the endless distance Must shut you from my view, But the flower's gentle fragrance Brings sweetest thoughts of you.

And, though it's but a trifle, Which none would prize for gain, It oft renews our parting, With all the love and pain.

_The River By Night in Spring_

BY CHANG POH-HSu