Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/51

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A Chinese Biographical Dictionary

called for pen and paper and wrote down the one word "Forbearance," repeated again and again.


83Chang Kuo 張果. 7th and 8th cent A.D. One of the Eight Immortals of the Taoists. Hearing of his fame while he was living as a recluse among the mountains, the Empress Wu Hou sent to invite him to Court; but when her messenger arrived he was already dead. Ere long he was once more seen alive, and in 723 the Emperor Ming Huang dispatched another messenger to fetch him. This second messenger, instead of accomplishing his mission, fell into a swoon, from which he recovered only after a long interval. A third messenger, bearing an autograph letter from the Emperor, fared better, and returned with Chang Kuo to the capital. He entertained the Emperor with a variety of magical tricks, such as rendering himself invisible, and drinking off a cup of aconite. He refused the hand of an Imperial princess, and also declined to have his portrait placed in the Hall of Worthies. He was allowed to return to his seclusion, with an honorary appointment in the Imperial Banqueting Court and with the title of 通元先生, in allusion to his supernatural powers.


84Chang Lei 張耒 (T. 交潛). A.D. 1046–1106. A native of Huai-yin in Kiangsu, whose early poems attracted the attention of Su Shih. He graduated as chin shih before he was twenty, and by 1086 had gained a high post in the Historiographer's Office. But he twice got into trouble by mixing himself in the cabals of the day; on the first occasion he was banished to a distant post, and on the second he was cashiered. In 1101 he was again banished for openly mourning on the death of his old patron and master, Su Shih. He was bracketed with the latter as one of the Four Great Scholars of the empire, the other two being Ch'ao Pu-chih and Ch'in Kuan. Author of the 兩漢決疑.

85Chang Li-hsiang 張履祥 (T. 吉人 and 老夫). A.D.