Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/491

472 and four days later a gate in the southern city was opened to him and the last Emperor of the Mings hanged himself on the 萬歲 Wan-sui hill. The city was given up to pillage, though Li buried both Emperor and Empress with Imperial honours. The approach of Wu San-kuei forced him to take the field, and now for the first time he was badly beaten and Peking was again besieged. Li retreated westwards, and after two Tain attempts to check the pursuers his army began to melt away. Driven south, he held Wu-ch'ang for a time, but ultimately he fled down the Yang-tsze and was slain by local militia in Hupeh. Li was a born soldier. Even hostile historians admit that his army was wonderfully well disciplined, and that he put a stop to the hideous atrocities which had made his name a terror to the empire just so soon as he found that he could accomplish his ends by milder measures. His nature is described as calm and cold; his manner of life as frugal and abstemious.

  Li Tzŭ-shêng 李孜省. Died A.D. 1487. An official clerk of Nan-ch'ang in Kiangsi, who having been struck off the selection list for bribery, studied necromancy, and by bribing the eunuchs managed to get his magic formulae laid before the Emperor Hsien Tsung in 1479. He was at once taken into favour and allowed to send in secret Memorials. His oracular statements were received with the utmost respect. He controlled all official appointments, even the Ministers being forced to truckle to him. On the accession of Hsiao Tsung the Court was purged of priests and favourites; Li was banished to Shensi, and after being sentenced to death was reprieved and died in prison.

  Li Yang-ping 李陽冰 (T. 少溫). 8th cent. A.D. A relative of the poet Li T'ai-po, celebrated for his labours on the Shuo Wên, in which he made many changes and additions. He was an authority on the ancient style of writing and is the author of the