new Minister's resentment by openly defending a colleague who
had used insulting language to him; the upshot being that he was
accused of having forged the late Emperor's will and was put to
death.
1966
Tou Yü-chün (
Chinese characters) (H.(Chinese characters)) 10th cent. A.D. A native
of Yü-yang in Chihli, who rose to the rank of Censor. He founded
numerous public schools and advanced many poor scholars, but is
chiefly remarkable as having had five sons, all of whom took the
highest literary honours at the public examinations , and were known
as the (Chinese characters) Five Cassias from a line in a poem addressed to
their father by Fêng Tao.
Tsai Y{subst:u:}} (Chinese characters) (T. (Chinese characters)). Died B.C. 480. One of the disciples 1967
of Confucius. He was fluent in speech and skilful in argument,
but his character fell short of the standard of virtue established by
the Master. Confucius said of him, "In choosing a man for his
gift of speech, I have failed as regards Tsai Yü." On another
occasion, finding him asleep in the daytime, Confucius observed,
"Rotten wood cannot be carved," — you cannot make a silk purse
out of a sow's ear. Entering the service of the Ch'i State he became mixed up in the revolt of Ch'ên Hêng and T'ien Chiang, and was
put to death with all his family. His tablet now stands in the
Confucian Temple.
Ts'ai Ch'ên (Chinese characters) (T. (Chinese characters) H. (Chinese characters) and (Chinese characters)). A.D. 1968
1167-1230. Son of Ts'ai Yüan-ting. A native of Chieu-yang in
Fuhkien. He accompanied his exiled father to Hunan, and on the
death of the latter in 1198 he retired to a life of seclusion and
study among the mountains. Besides teaching a large- number of
disciples he found time to write the (Chinese characters) , a commentary
upon the Canon of History, which is still the standard text-book
for students. He also composed the (Chinese characters), a work
based upon the famous (Chinese characters) Writing of Lo, and dealing with
