Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/490

Rh rose to be Vice President of the Board of Punishments. Canonised as 文恪, and included in the Temple of Worthies.

  Li T'ung 李侗 (T. 愿中. H. 延平). A.D. 1093-1168. A native of Yen-p'ing in Fuhkien; hence his sobriquet as above. He studied under Lo Ts'ung-yen, but had no taste for official life and accordingly took no degree. He lived in a cottage in the country and gradually surrounded himself with disciples, among whom was Chu Hsi, who subsequently collected and published his oral explanations of difficult or doubtful points in the Canon. Canonised as 文靖, in 1617 his tablet was placed in the Confucian Temple.

  Li Tzu-Ch'eng 李自成. A.D. 1606-1645. A native of the 米脂 Mi-chih District in Shensi, who succeeded his father as village headman before he was twenty years old. The famine of 1627 brought him into trouble over the land-tax, and in 1629 he turned brigand, joining the great Shensi leader 王自用 Wang Tzŭ-yung, and calling himself 闖將 General Ch'uang. In 1686 Wang Tzŭ-yung was captured, and Li was dubbed Prince Ch'uang by his comrades; but he was soon compelled to flee to Ssŭch'uan where he improved his neglected education. In 1640 he headed a small gang of desperadoes, and overrunning parts of Hupeh and Honan was soon in command of a large army, with Chang Hsien-chung as an ally. He had been joined by a female bandit, formerly a courtesan, who advised him to avoid slaughter and to try to win the hearts of the people. This was probably connected with the recent prophecy that 十八子 (= 李) was to get the throne. In 1642 he captured K'ai-fêng Fu after a four-months' siege, forced the 潼 T'ung pass and subjugated Shensi. In 1644 he proclaimed himself first Emperor of the 大順 Great Shun dynasty, with 永昌 Yung Ch'ang as his year-title, and advanced in two columns on Peking. He forced the 南口 Nan-k'ou pass,