But the emperor allowed him to redeem himself by repairing, at his own expense, the city walls of Ku-an, Chihli.
Li Tsung-wan was recalled in 1751 as an expositor of the Hanlin Academy. After further vicissitudes as a government official, he died in 1759 at his post as director of the Court of Imperial Entertainment. A contemporary, Ch'ên Chao-lun [q. v.], who wrote his epitaph, accounted for his political misfortunes on the ground that he was obstinate, harsh in his criticism of others, and careless of social proprieties. As an artist, Li Tsung-wan achieved prominence at Court, and five items of his painting and calligraphy are reported as in the Palace Museum in Peiping.
[1/272/3b; 3/60/11a; 19/丙上/5a; 26/1/43b; Ching-hai hsien chih (1873) 6/9b; L.T.C.L.H.M., p. 438, lists of works of art by him.]
LI Tu-no 勵杜訥 (T. 近公, 譫園), Sept. 3, 1628–1703, Sept. 7, calligrapher and official, was a native of Ching-hai, Chihli, although his ancestors were originally from Shaohsing, Chekiang. He married into a Tu family and used that surname until 1682 when by imperial permission he resumed the surname Li. While still a licentiate (hsiu-ts'ai) he passed first in an examination held in 1663 to select calligraphers to copy the official chronicles of Emperor Shih-tsu (see under Fu-lin). On the completion of this work he was rewarded with a position as sub-prefect of Fu-ning-chou, Fukien, but before he set out for this post he was appointed to serve in the Imperial Study. When a new tablet was ordered to be placed on one of the Palace gates, his calligraphy was selected by the emperor in preference to many others submitted by Hanlin graduates. Owing to his skill as a calligrapher, he was granted in 1680 the rank of Hanlin compiler just as if he had passed the special examination known as po-hsüeh-hung-tz'ŭ (see under P'êng Sun-yü) which was given in the previous year. Promoted to various offices, he finally rose in 1703 to a vice-presidency in the Board of Punishments, but died in the same year.
Li was noted for the conscientiousness and care with which he performed his official duties, not once having been cited for an error. In his memorials to the throne he made useful proposals for the improvement of the government service—one being that provincial governors should make annual reports. Two years after his death when Emperor Shêng-tsu stopped at Ching-hai on one of his tours to the south, the posthumous title, Wên-k'o 文恪, was conferred upon him. In 1723 his tablet was placed in the Temple of Eminent Statesmen and in 1735 he was given the honorary title of Grand Tutor. His son, Li T'ing-i [q. v.]; his grandson, Li Tsung-wan [q. v.]; and his great-grandson, Li Shou-ch'ien 勵守謙 (T. 自牧, H. 檢之, chin-shih of 1745), also became members of the Hanlin Academy. In the two and a half centuries and more of Ch'ing rule only five other families are said to have had in like manner four consecutive generations admitted to the Academy.
[1/272/2b; 3/60/1a; 26/1/20a; 29/2/6b; 32/3/32a; Ching-hai-hsien chih (1929) 酉集 69a.]
LI Tzŭ-ch'êng 李自成 (original ming 鴻基, later changed to 自晟), Oct. 3, 1605?–1645, notorious free-booter, who took Peking and helped to bring the Ming dynasty to an end, was a native of Mi-chih, Shensi. In his youth he was a post-station messenger, skilled in horsemanship and archery, and fond of quarrels and combat. Toward the end of the Ming dynasty, particularly during the period when the eunuch, Wei Chung-hsien [q. v.], was in power, officials were corrupt and administration in both the central and local governments was debased. These conditions led to general economic depression, and lack of faith in the government on the part of the people sowed the seeds of bandit uprising. To make matters worse a great famine occurred in the province of Shensi in 1628 and brigands gathered everywhere—among them Kao Ying-hsiang 高迎祥 (d. 1636), uncle of Li Tzŭ-ch'êng, a prominent bandit leader who styled himself "Dashing King" (Ch'uang Wang 闖王). Before long the neighboring province of Shansi was affected by anarchy, and by 1631 there were in those two provinces thirty-six bands (營) with more than 200,000 adherents engaged in bandit activities. It was in this year that Li Tzŭ-ch'êng and his nephew, Li Kuo 李過 (b. c. 1605), whose name was later changed to Li Chin 李錦, joined Kao Ying-hsiang—Li Tzŭ-ch'êng styling himself "Dashing General" (Ch'uang Chiang 闖將). When pressed in 1633 by government troops of south Shansi this group feigned surrender, but with the approach of winter and freezing weather they crossed the Yellow River at Mien-ch'ih and so escaped into Honan.
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