2188 Wang Jung (
Chinese characters) (T. (Chinese characters) ). A.D. 235-806. A natiTe of
Lin-i in Shautung, and brother to Wang Yen. He was a clever
child , and could look at the sun without being dazzled. When only
seven years old he refused to join his companions in eating some
plums &om a roadside tree. "They must be bitter," he said scornfully, "or they would not have been left there." At fifteen he was
on terms of friendship with Yüan Chi, although the latter was
twenty years his senior, and was ranked with him as one of the
Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove (see Hsiang Hsiu). He roae
to be President of the Board of Civil Office, and instituted a system
under which the administrative powers of. men were tested before
they were actually appointed to office. Later on he got into trouble
and was cashiered, but was re-instated by the Emperor Hui Ti.
He died at a provincial post in Honan. His meanness and parsimony
were proverbial. He even caused the stones of a rare species of
plum, which he had in his orchard, to be bored through before
being sent to market for sale, lest some one might try to raise
the same kind and so spoil his monopoly. He and Ho Ch'iso being
in mourning for their parents at the same time, the latter wept
bitterly but still managed to perform all the proper ceremonies,
while he himself lay in bed and became reduced to a skeleton.
'"ang Jung," said (Chinese characters) Liu Chung-hsiung to the Emperor
Wu Ti, As the one to be commiserated. Ho Ch'iao's is the filial
piety of life; Wang Jung's is the filial piety of death." Canonised
as (Chinese characters).
2189 Wang K'ai (Chinese characters) (T. (Chinese characters)). 3rd cent. A.D. Brother-in-law
to the Emperor Wu Ti of the Chin dynasty. He was a wild young
man, and yet he did good service in the field and was ennobled
as Duke. He was fond of display, and his rivalry with the powerful
Shih Ch'ung ultimately brought him into trouble. He was impeached,
and would have suffered but for the intervention of the Emperor.
