Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/306

 294 CHINESE LITERATURE

FANG HSIAO-JU (A.D. 1357-1402) is another scholar, co- worker with Sung Lien, who adorned this same period. As a child he was precocious, and by his skill in composition earned for himself the nickname of Little Han Yii. He became tutor to one of the Imperial princes, and was loaded with honours by the second Emperor, who through the death of his father suc- ceeded in 1398 to his grandfather. Then came the rebellion of the fourth son of the first Emperor ; and when Nanking opened its gates to the conqueror, the defeated nephew vanished. It is supposed that he fled to Yunnan, in the garb of a monk, left to him, so the story runs, with full directions by his grandfather. After nearly forty years' wandering, he is said to have gone to Peking, and lived in seclusion in the palace until his death. He was recognised by a eunuch from a mole on his left foot, but the eunuch was afraid to reveal his identity. Fang Hsiao-ju absolutely refused to place his services at the disposal of the new Emperor, who ruled under the year-title of Yung Lo. For this refusal he was cut to pieces in the market-place, his family being as far as possible exterminated and his philosophical writings burned. A small collection of his miscellanies was pre- served by a faithful disciple, and afterwards republished. The following is an extract from an essay on taking too much thought for the morrow :

" Statesmen who forecast the destinies of an empire ofttimes concentrate their genius upon the difficult and neglect the easy. They provide against likely evils, and disregard combinations which yield no ground for sus- picion. Yet calamity often issues from neglected quarters, and sedition springs out of circumstances which have been set aside as trivial. Must this be regarded as due

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