A Chinese Biographical Dictionary/Ch'ên Li

by Herbert A. Giles

232 Ch'ên Li 陳櫟 (T. 壽翁) A.D. 1252-1333. A native of 休寧 Hsiu-ning in Anhui. At three years of age his grandmother taught him to repeat by heart the Canon of Filial Piety and the Confucian Analects; at five he was reading the Canon and general history; at seven he was qualified to take his chin shih degree; and at fifteen he was regarded as the greatest literary authority in the neighbourhood. He declined to hold office under the Mongols, and devoted himself to teaching, being known to his disciples as 定宇先生 from the name he gave to his house. Author of the 歷朝通畧, an historical work covering the period from Fu Hsi down to the close of the Sung dynasty.