Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/232

 220 CHINESE LITERATURE

CH'NG HAD (1032-1085) and CH'NG I (1033-1107) were two brothers famed for their scholarship, especially the younger of the two, who published a valuable com- mentary upon the Book of Changes. The elder attracted some attention by boldly suppressing a stone image in a Buddhist temple which was said to emit rays from its head, and had been the cause of disorderly gatherings of men and women. A specimen of his verse will be given in the next chapter. Ch'eng I wrote some interest- ing chapters on the art of poetry. In one of these he says, "Asked if a man can make himself a poet by taking pains, I reply that only by taking pains can any one hope to be ranked as such, though on the other hand the very fact of taking pains is likely to be inimical to success. The old couplet reminds us

' E'er one pentameter be spoken How many a human heart is broken }'

There is also another old couplet

lt Twere sad to take this heart of mine And break it o'er a five-foot line!

Both of these are very much to the point. Confucius himself did not make verses, but he did not advise others to abstain from doing so."

The great reformer and political economist WANG AN-SHIH (1021-1086), who lived to see all his policy reversed, was a hard worker as a youth, and in com- position his pen was said to " fly over the paper." As a man he was distinguished by his frugality and his obstinacy. He wore dirty clothes and did not even wash his face, for which Su Hsim denounced him as a beast. He was so cocksure of all his own views that

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