Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/775

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A Chinese Biographical Dictionary


1994 Ts'ao Chih 1|f || (T. •^^). A.D, 192^232. Third son of Ts'ao Ts'ao. At ten years of age he already excelled in compoeition, so much so that his father thought he must be a plagiarist; hot he settled the question by producing o£P-hand poems on any given theme. Hsieh Ling-yfln said in reference to him , *^If all the talent in the world were represented by 10, Ts'ao Chih would haye 8, I should have 1, and the rest of mankind 1 between them." There is a story that on one occasion, at the bidding of his elder brother Ts^ao P^ei who was then first Emperor of the Wei dynasty, he composed an impromptu stanza while walking only seven steps; and his name and that of Ts^ao Ts^ao have been added by conrtesy to the list of the Seven Geniuses of the Chien-an period (see H$u Kan). He was a great favourite with his father, until he made a serious mistake on a campaign against Snn Gh'tlan and was condemned to death. Under the reign of his brother he was ennobled as Prince , but was never allowed to take any part in public afiBun and died of chagrin in consequence. Author of the ([^ -j^ — • ^, a work on the sounds of characters. He was canonised as J^ ^. and is sometimes known as ^ ^ ^ .

1996 Ts*ao Ching-tsung ^ ^^ (T. ^ ^). A.D. 457-508. A

native of Hsiu-yeh in Honan, who as a youth distinguished himself by his bolduess in the hunting-field and entered upon a military career. After serving under the Liu Sung and Southern Ch4 dynasties, in 502 he aided Hsiao Yen to mount the throne as first Emperor of the Liang dynasty, and was subsequently raised to high office; and for further brilliant services against the Northern Weis he was ultimately ennobled as Duke. Canonised as ^. 1996 Ts*ao Pang W ^ (T. M ^)- ^-D- 231-274. Adopted son of Ts^ao Jui, whom he succeeded in 240 as third Emperor of the Wei dynasty. His real origin was never known, the strictest secrecy being preserved in the palace as to his family and antecedents.