Gems of Chinese Literature/Huai Tsung-Valedictory

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Gems of Chinese Literature (1922)
translated by Herbert Allen Giles
Valedictory by Huai Tsung
Huai Tsung1524317Gems of Chinese Literature — Valedictory1922Herbert Allen Giles

POOR in virtue and of contemptible personality, I have incurred the wrath of God on high. My Ministers have deceived me. I am ashamed to meet my ancestors; and therefore I myself take off my crown, and with my hair covering my face, await dismemberment at the hands of the rebels. Do not hurt a single one of my people!


  1. She was afterwards killed by the rebels.
  2. His body, together with that of the Empress, was reverently encoffined by the Manchus.