Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/798

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A Chinese Biographical Dictionary
779

replied, 'The resistance of the fir and the pine remains what it ever was." Hence he is spoken of as >|^ ^ ^ >^ • Tsung Tse ^^ (T. J^^). A.D. 1059-1127. A native of 2053 I-wn in Chehkiang, whose mother, the day before his birth, dreamt that her body was illumined by a flash of lightning. A high-spirited youth, he graduated as chin ahih in 1091 and entered upon an official career.. He objected to the plan of using the Chin^ Tartars to crush the Eitans (see Chao Ch%\ and declared that it would be fraught with much trouble to the empire. He spent his life fighting against the Chin^ Tartars, defeating them in no less than 18 pitched battles; and wh^n the two Emperors were carried ofiF to the north, he devoted every energy to secure their return. BafiBed however in all his efforts, and supplanted by unworthy men in the confidence of the Emperor Eao Tsung, he gave way to grief and despair. A carbuncle laid him on his deathbed , but in his last hours he obtained from his sorrowing generals a promise that they would continue to fight in the true cause. When they had left, he recited the following lines:

To die , with victory undecided yet ! . . . .
This makes the hero's breast with weeping wet.

He made no reference to his own family affairs; and on the next day, after shouting three times ^'Gross the River!" he quietly breathed his last. Greatly feared and respected, he was popularly known as . He had been the first to recognise the genius of Yo Fei, and gare him a command which proved the foundation of a brilliant career. Canonised as J^ |^ .

Tsung TB*e ^ ^Ij (T. IR tK ). Died A.D. 495. A native of 2054 Nan-yang, who graduated as hsiu ia^aij but was entirely possessed with the idea of leading a hermit's life and refused several important posts. He finally retired to Mt. ]^ Lu in Sstich'uan, and occupied himself with the study of Taoism, living upon berries and clothing