Page:Elementary Chinese - San Tzu Ching (1900).djvu/153

 李泌 Li Pi, A.D. 722—789, a famous scholar and bibliophile.

Ch'i see.

Sui see.

Nêng see.

Fu is composed of 貝 pei pearl-oyster as radical, with 武 wu martial as phonetic. It originally meant to collect, and then came to mean to spread out, and is also the name of an irregular kind of metrical composition. It here refers to a short epigram composed impromptu, at the command of the Emperor, on the characteristics of the game of 圍碁 wei-ch'i in which his Majesty was indulging.

Ch'i is composed of 石 shih stone as radical, with 其 ch'i that as phonetic, and stands for wei ch'i or the game of war. [Père Zottoli renders fu by "explanare," which would be unsatisfactory but for his accompanying note. Eitel has "Was able to present an essay written on the spot when beholding a game of chess." What he presented was a four-line epigram, based upon the squareness of the board, the roundness of the pips with which the game is played, their movements when alive, their quiescence when dead.]

Pi see.

Ying is composed of 禾 ho grain as radical, with 頃 ch'ing the head awry, a land measure of about 15 acres, just now, etc., as phonetic. It originally meant the sharp tip of an ear of grain.