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aud took refuge in obscure poverty, wanderiDg abont the lakes and rivers of Kiangsn.

Nieh Cheng ^ j^. Died B.C. 397. A femous bravo who lived 1565 in modern Honan nnder the Ghou dynasty. He was engaged by BSt '^ '7* ^^'^ Chung Tzii to assassinate ^ J^ Hsieh Lei, a Minister of the Han^ State. When the deed was done he committed suicide, having first mutilated himself beyond recognition in order to save his sister from implication in the crime. She however came boldly forward and recognised her brother's body, but overcome by grief, lay down beside the corpse and died.

Nieh I-Chung ^ ^ 4* - ^ scholar and poet of the 10th cent. 1566 A.D., known chiefly by a poem he wrote in commiseration of the hardships of the agricultural labourer.

Nien Keng-yao if^%. A.D. (?) 1665-1726. An official 1567 who rose to be Viceroy of Sslich'uau and Shensi, and who in 1724 was ennobled as Duke for his utter defeat of the Oelots nnder Blobdzang Tantsing. But he became suspected of harbouring rebel- lious designs, and was accused of amassing treasure and munitions of war. He was accordingly seized and put to death as a traitor. Ning Ch*i. ^ |S • 7th cent. B.C. A poor waggoner of the Wei» 1568 State, who was overheard singing a ballad and beating time on the horns of his oxen by Huan Eung of the Ch4 State, and at once taken into his employ, in which he rose to be a Privy Councillor.

NlDg Tsung. See Chao K*uo.

NingWan-wo if ^ ^ (T. ^"gT). Died A.D. 1665. A 1569 native of ^ ^ Liao-yang, who joined the Manchus about 1616, and aided in the establishment of the Six Boards and the Censorate by the new dynasty in 1631. He was cashiered in 1686 for gambling, but subsequently became head of the commission entrusted with the compilation of the Ming History. In 1653 he rose to be a Minister of the Council, and in 1654 he exposed the misdeeds of the Grand