Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/84

Rh the existing three classes. In 987 the empire, which since the suppression of the Northern Han State in 979 had almost equalled in extent the China of the T'ang dynasty, was divided into fifteen provinces, each under a Governor; and thus the power of the former great provincial Governors finally ceased. A rising in Ssŭch'uan in 994 led to the appointment of a eunuch General, 王繼恩 Wang Chi-ên; but the Emperor, warned, as he said, by his historical studies, refused to admit eunuchs to the Central Government. The northern frontier was constantly disturbed by the Liao Tartars, with whom began in 981 a series of wars, which coupled with the establishment of the Western Hsia State, greatly impaired the power of the dynasty. Occasional droughts and famines are recorded, but on the whole the reign was a time of peace and prosperity. The Emperor degraded his eldest son on account of his sympathy with his uncle; and he chose his third son to be Heir Apparent in 995. A plot to set the Heir aside was made by the Empress, and Wang Chi-ên and other eunuchs, aided by certain statesmen, but it was foiled by. Between 982 and 989 a temple and pagoda for a relic of Buddha were built at enormous expense, in spite of the remonstrance of 田錫 T'ien Hsi. Canonised as 神功聖德文武皇帝, with the temple name of 太宗.   Chao-hui 兆惠 (T. 和甫). Died A.D. 1764. A Manchu, who played a prominent part in the conquest of the Sungars in 1756—1759. His retreat from Ili to Urumtsi during the severe winter of 1756, and in face of fearful odds, and his stubborn defence of his camp before Yarkand at the end of 1758, won him great fame and rewards. In 1761 he became an Assistant Grand Secretary, and was employed on missions of investigation until his death. In the poem of the Emperor entitled 懷舊詩 A Retrospect, composed in 1779, Chao-hui is one of his 五