Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/864

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A Chinese Biographical Dictionary
845


of a collection of verses and essays, entitled Sf ^ ^ £ ^ ^

^ ^ . Canonised as ^ J^ • Wang T8*an ^^ (T. #^). A.D. 177-217. A native of 2236

"^ ^ Kao-p4ng in Kiangsu, who as a mere youth was said to have astonished Tung Cho by his powers; so much so that on one occasion the latter ran out to meet him with his shoes on the wrong way, in his hurry to welcome the clever boy. He attracted the notice of Ts^ai Yung, who acknowledged his superiority, and received an appointment in the palace, but was prevented from taking it up by the disturbances which prevailed. He then sought refuge with Liu Piao, and on the death of the latter prevailed upon his son to join Ts'ao Ts^ao. For this TsW Ts'ao gave him a high post and ennobled him as Marquis. He was a man of wide learning and ranked as one of the Seven Scholars of the Chien-an period (see Hsu Kan). A brilliant poet, he wrote a large work on the art, entitled ^ ^ |^ ^ ^ • His best known poem is the ^ ^ j^ , which contains the fine passage,

A lovely land! .... I could not bear, If not mine own, to linger there.

Wang Tsao -^ ^ (T. ^ ^). Died A.D. 1155. A native of ^ 2236 ^ Tfi-hsing in Eiaugsi, who graduated as chin shih and distinguished himself by his congratulatory ode on the accession to power of the Emperor Hui Tsung. From this time his literary reputation increased, and he and '^ 'j^ Hu Sh£n came to be known as the Zl ^ Two Jewels of the east bank of the river. He held various high appointments, and in 1131 was employed in reforming the calendar; however in 1133 he foil a victim to political intrigue and was cashiered..

WangTs^eng ^^ (T. ^^). Died A.D. 1038. A native 2237 of I-tu in Shantung, who distinguished himself by taking the first place at each of the public examinations. A friend was congratulating