Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/111

 ** But I a poor orphan must ever remain, My heart, still so young, overburdened with pain For him I shall never set eyes on again.

That grief stamps the deepest of lines on the brow : Alas for my hair, it is silvery now!
 * "7V.r a well-worn old saying, which all men allow,

" Alas for my father, cut off in his pride! Alas that no more I may stand by his side! Oh, where were the gods when that great hero died?"

The literary fame of the Beauclerc was rivalled, if not surpassed, by his grandson, Liu CH'fe (B.C. 156-87), who succeeded in B.C. 140 as sixth Emperor of the Han dynasty. He was an enthusiastic patron of literature. He devoted great attention to music as a factor in national life. He established important religious sacri- fices to heaven and earth. He caused the calendar to be reformed by his grand astrologer, the historian SstJ-MA CH'IEN, from which date accurate chronology may be almost said to begin. His generals carried the Imperial arms into Central Asia, and for many years the Huns were held in check. Notwithstanding his enlightened policy, the Emperor was personally much taken up with the magic and mysteries which were being gradually grafted on to the Tao of Lao Tzu, and he encouraged the numerous quacks who pretended to have discovered the elixir of life. The following are specimens of his skill in poetry :

" 7Ai? autumn blast drives the white scud in tJie sky, Leaves fade, and wild geese sweeping south meet the eye y The scent of late flowers fills the soft air above. My heart full of thoughts of the lady I love. In the river the barges for revel-carouse Are lined by white waves which break over their bows /

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