Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/371

352 to his master. His palate was so delicate that he could distinguish between the waters of the 淄 Tzŭ and the 澠 Shêng rivers.

I Yin 伊尹 18th cent. B.C. Minister under Ch'êng T'ang, first Emperor of the Shang dynasty. The envoy sent to summon him to Court returned five times before he could persuade I Yin to accompany him. He was at once placed at the head of the administration, and took part in the campaign against the infamous tyrant Chieh Kuei which put an end to the Hsia dynasty and placed his master upon the throne. He banished Ch'êng T'ang's grandson, who ultimately succeeded, for misconduct, and kept him in exile until he promised to reform. He conferred many benefits upon the State by the wisdom of his counsels, and when be died there is said to have been a dense fog for three days. Some say that his personal name was 阿衡 A-hêng; others that it was 摯 Chih. Tradition has it that he was born in a hollow mulberry-tree, and that he ingratiated himself with Ch'êng T'ang by means of his skill in cookery.

I Yüan 藝元 13th cent. A.D. A famous maker of clay and metal images for Buddhistic worship. His images were said to be quite lifelike in appearance.

Ile Chepe 懿璘質班 A.D. 1326-1332. Second son of Hosila. At the death of Tup Timur, he was placed upon the throne by the latter's widow as ninth Emperor of the Yüan dynasty, but died within the year. Canonised as 寕宗.

Jan Ch'iu 冉求 (T. 子有). Born B.C. 520. One of the disciples of Confucius, who accompanied his master when the latter quitted his native State of Lu. Subsequently he took office, and incurred the censure of Confucius by doubling the tax on grain in order to increase the revenues of his sovereign.