Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/159

140

favourite concubine Mo Hsi. His utter wickedness was even said to ha?e caused the rivers ^ I and j^ Lo to dry up. Only one of his Ministers, named §§ j||| ^ Kuan Lung-f6ng, ventured to remonstrate; and to him the Emperor replied, ^^I am to the empire what the sun is to the sky; when the sun goes, I shall." He then caused Kuan to be put to death. At length Ch^Sng T^ang took up arms against him. His forces were defeated, and in B.C. 1766 he himself was sent into banishment, where he died three years later.

Chieh Lin. A name for the old man, seen on the ice by moonlight, and sometimes called ^ ;^, who is supposed to join by an invisible red thread such persons as are destined afterwards to become man and wife.

Chieh Ni. A man who was working with Gh'ang Chil {q. V.) when accosted by Tzti Lu. He took the opportunity to moralise upon the iniquity of the world, and advised the disciple to withdraw from it into retirement.

Chien I  (T. IC :^ ). Died A.D. U35. As President of the Board of Civil Office from 1403 until his death, he and Hsia TtLan-chi were the most prominent statesmen of their time. He graduated as chin shih in 1385, and entered the Privy Council, becoming a great favourite with Chu Ttlan-chang, who altered his name from ^j^ Jung to I on account of his fine character. He persuaded the Emperor Yung Lo to modify his intention of reversing all the acts of the preceding reign; and in 1421, as one of the twenty-six Imperial Commissioners sent to inspect the condition of the people, he procured the adoption of many reforms. The Emperor Jen Tsung on his accession gave him an autograph letter recognising his services, and also a seal, inscribed |^ J^ ^ "Chien, the Loyal and Pure", to be kept as an heirloom. Canonised as J^ ^.