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Rh the new monarch from tiie barbarities to which he was prone, but only succeeded in arousing the jealousy of Ghao E[ao, and ultimately fell a victim to the intrigues of that wily eunuch. He was accused of treason and thrown into prison; and a confession being wrung from him by torture, his body was sawn asunder in the market- place. He was a good scholar, and is said to hare invented the form of writing known as the Lesser Seal, on which he published a work under the title of 倉頡.

Li Ssŭ-hsün 李思訓 (T. 建見). A.D. 651-716. A great grandson of the founder of the T^ang dynasty, famous as a landscape-painter and styled 大李將軍 General Li, Senior, to distinguish him from his son Li 李昭道 Chao-tao, who was even better than his father at figures and buildings. The father and son were the leaders of the northern school of art under the Tang dynasty. When the Empress Wu Hon slew many members of the Imperial clan, he fled from his post as Magistrate of Chiang- tu in Eiangsu. The Emperor Chung Tsung, on recovering power in 705, ennobled him as Duke, and in 713 he received a high military command.

Li Ssŭ-yüan 李嗣源 A.D. 866-988. An orphan child, named 邈佶烈 Mo-chi-lieh, belonging to a Turkic tribe, who was adopted by Li E'o-yung and received his surname. His brilliant achievements on behalf of the Later T^ang dynasty founded by Li Ts*un-hsii, his adopted brother, caused him, on the death of the latter in 926, to be proclaimed Emperor by the army. He was a modest and energetic ruler; and it is worthy of note that during his reign the Classics were for the first time printed from wooden blocks. Canonised as 明宗.

Li Sung 李誦. A.D. 761—806. Son of Li Kua, whom he succeeded in 805 as tenth Emperor of the T^ang dynasty. He was mild and good, but had become dumb in 804. In lees than a