Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/305

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280
A Chinese Biographical Dictionary

In 515 the mighty dyke along the Hoai, said to have been three milei long and twelve hundred feet high, bank, and hundreds of thousands were drowned. In 547 he accepted Hbu Ching's offer of allegiance, and appointed him Prince of Honan; but on Hou's defeat by the Eastern Wei, the House of Liang made peace, thus arousing Hou Ching's suspicions. In 548 the latter succeeded by treachery in crossing the Tang-tsze; and in the next year ^ ^ Tai*ch*dng in Eiangsu was taken, and the sick Emperor was allowed to die of want and mortification in a monastery to which he had retired for the third time. He had always been a devout Buddhist, living upon priestly fiiire and taking only one meal a day; and on two occasions, in 527 and 529, he actually adopted the priestly garb. He also wrote the ^ ^ ^ i^ ($ f a Buddhist ritual in 10 books. He was kind, learned, economical, and diligent, but unable to prevent his officials firom robbing the people. luterpreting the Buddhist commandment ^'Thou shalt not kill** in its strictest sense, he caused the sacrificial victims to be made of dough.

721 Hsiao Ying-shih (T. ^ |g). 8th oent. A.D. L deeoaudaut of the Imperial House of laang. He graduated as dtin tAiA in 735, and entered upon a public career, ffis advance was aOMewhat n»taid«^) by Li lin-fu whom he had maaaged to ofiead; b«t afUr the death of the latter he roee to fill importaMt poets, uatil the flowing iafluenoe of An Lu-akan fioreed hiai to take Wart' and travel* He was audi a piofboiid aehohr tiiat the JaiMMMoe seat aa eavoy addaf to be allowed the eaa of Ida eerrkee ia Ja|iaa« but this waa refwed by the laparial adviaoa. He was t^^ «tikt« airf used to beat oee of Ua aemuats eaaserMftdly. TW latter heweiw dedaied that he viDii^ jmt up wiA il f>r the aake cif Wiie^ eear » karaed a

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