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A Chinese Biographical Dictionary

away a piece of the dead man's flesh to place on his murdered father's grave. Rose to be Viceroy of Fuhkien and Chehkiang, and died President of the Board of War.


543 Fan Su 樊素. A concubine of the poet Po Chü-i, famous for her cherry lips. See Hsiao Man.


544 Fan Ts'êng 范增. B.C. 278-204. The famous counsellor, first of Hsiang Liang, and afterwards of Hsiang Chi, who is said to have advised the assassination of Liu Pang, and who smashed to atoms with his sword the jade vessels sent to him as a present by that potentate. The title 亞夫 Ya4 Fu3 was granted to him by Hsiang Chi; but falling under suspicion of treacherous dealings with Liu Pang, his power was curtailed; whereupon he retired in disgust, and soon afterwards died.


545 Fan Tsu-yü 范祖禹 (T. 淳甫 and 夢得. H. 華陽). A.D. 1041-1098. Graduating as chin shih, he assisted Ssŭ-ma Kuang in the compilation of his history; and when this was finished he received an appointment in the Imperial Library, and ultimately rose to be a Supervising Censor. He firmly opposed the employment of such a man as Chang Tun; and when his counsels were unheeded, he applied for a provincial post and died in exile.


546 Fan Wên-ch'êng 范文程 (T. 憲斗). Died A.D. 1665. A descendant of Fan Chung-yen, who joined the Emperor T'ai Tsu of the present dynasty in 1618, and became his secretary and confidential adviser. In 1632 he urged the invasion of China, and in 1637 he accompanied the army of invasion. On the capture of Peking he induced the Regent to attend before anything else to the proper burial of the last Ming Emperor and his consort. He successfully advocated reforms of government and the speedy restoration of the examination system, measures which won great popularity for the new dynasty. Trusted and consulted