Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/696

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A Chinese Biographical Dictionary
677


provincial post. In 1072 he shared the disgrace of his brother and was banished to a post in Eiangsi, bnt in 1086 he was recalled by the Emperor Ch6 Tsung and rose to be President of the Board of Civil Office. Abont ten years later he again fell into disfavour and was once more dismissed to the provinces. After holding various posts, he died at HsiQ-chou in Honan where he had built himself a retreat. He became a devotee of Taoism, and published an edition of the lao TS Ching, with commentary, under the title of ^ ^ ^. He was also a poet of no mean order. Canonised as ^^• Su Chin ^'^. 7th and 8th cent. A.D. A native of Lan-t'ien 1774: in Shensi, who distinguished himself by precocity of talent, the promise of which was amply fulfilled by the scholarship of his later years. He graduated as chin shih in 691, and rose to be Vice President of the Board of Revenue. After this, his career was somewhat chequered; but at his death he was chief tutor to Jthe Heir Apparent. He was one of the Eight Immortals of the Wine- cup (see Li Po); and though an exemplary Buddhist when sober, he was apt to become profane in his cups.

Su Ch'in jH^ ^. Died B.C. 817. A native of Lo-yang. [For his 1775 early life, see Chang 7.] His first attempt was to join the Ch^in State, but he was repulsed, and had to return home in rags and tatters and with an empty purse. ^^His wife would not spin for him; his sister-in-law would not cook for him; and his very parents disowned him." He gave himself up to the study of the ^ ^ jf^ Tin fu sUtra of the Taoists, every now and again pricking his leg to keep himself awake; when suddenly the idea of federating the Six States flashed upon him as a means of opposing the fast-growing power of Ch'in. This policy he ultimately succeeded in carrying out, and rose to an almost unrivalled position of wealth and power. Returning to Lo-yang, he was warmly welcomed by those who had scorned him in his days of obscurity; and the magnanimity he