Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/617

598 A Chitiese Biographical Dictionary

Secretary ^ ^ ^ Gh^^n Ming-hsia, retiriDg in 1658. CanoniBed as J^ ^, and admitted to the Temple of Worthies.

Nil! Chin ^ ^- A military official, who is said to have excited the distrnst of Sstl-ma I in consequence of a prophecy in which horses and oxen were mysteriously mentioned in connection with succession to the throne. Ssti-ma I caused him to be poisoned, not knowing that another member of the Niu family had committed adultery with one of the concubines of the Prince of Lang-yefa. According to this story, the child born was named Juit and in A.D. 318 he mounted the throne as YUan Ti, first Emperor of the Eastern Chin dynasty (see Niu Jni).

Niu Hsien-k'o 4^ fll] ^. Died A.D. 742. A native of |i| ^ Shun-ku in Kansuh, who distinguished himself as an official under the Emperor Ming Huang of the T'ang dynasty. His Majesty wished to make him a Minister of State, but was opposed in this by Chang Chiu-ling. Li Lin-fu, who saw a chance of ingratiating himself at Court, supported the Emperor, a step which ultimately led to his own advancement and to the banishment of his rival. Niu was appointed Minister, and later on was ennobled as Duke, though in reality nothing more than a tool in the hands of Li Lin-fu. Canonised as ^ ^.

Niu Hsiu ^ ^ (T. 3^ ft )* ^ student of folk-lore and popular superstition, who flourished in the 17th cent. A.D. His {^ |^ ^ ^ contains miscellaneous memoranda of men and things at the end of the last and beginning of the present dynasties.

Niu Hung ^% or -^ ^ (T. M t^ )• Died A.D. 610. A native of ^ ^ Shun-ku in Kansuh. Liberal-minded and studious, after serving as a Chamberlain under the N. Chou dynasty he rose to be President of the Civil Office under the founder of the Sui dynasty, of which he is considered to be the foremost scholar. He induced his master to collect by ofi^er of reward the scattered