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A Chinese Biographical Dictionary
295

the ^ ^ Tortoise Nest, he was appointed Officer of Education for his native place. Daring the wars preceding the establishment of the Ming dynasty h^ retired into seclusion, bat in 1864, when oyer seventy, he returned to Eiangsu and lived a solitary life on a mountain. He was occupied in editing the local topography, and officials passing by his residence would call and consult him. He died at the age of ninety-six. He was a fine poet, but his philosophical attainments chiefly made him famous. H!e hated all religion and superstition , against which he wrote the ^ j|^ j^ .

Hsien Chu. See Liu Pei.

747 Hsien Fêng . A.D. 1831-1861. The title of the reign of ^ 1^ I-chu , fourth son of the Emperor Tao Euang. He succeeded in 1851 and proved to be a weak ruler, ill-fitted to cope with the T'ai-p4ng rebellion which broke oat early in his reign. The rebels, who professed Christianity, for some time carried all before them; and it was not until 1864 that the rebellion was finally suppressed (see Hung Hnu'ch^Uan). The ill- timed arrogance of Commissioner Teh had meanwhile led to a second war with England in 1858—1860, as disastrous as the former, although the first attempt to force a passage for Sir F. Bruce past the Taku Forts in 1859 was repulsed. In 1860 the allied armies of England aud France were at the gates of Peking, and the Emperor fled to Jebpl where he died in 1861. He left behind him an anti-foreign Regency, which was upset by a coup (V^tat of the Empress and the Princes Eung and Ch^un. Canonised

Hsien Ti. See Liu Hsieh.

Hsien Tsung. See (T'ang) Li Shun; (Ming) Chu Chien-shên.

Hsien Wên Ti. See Toba Hung.

748 Hsien-yü Tzŭ-chün 11th cent. A.D. He served

as an official under Ssti-ma Euang, who remarked that his career