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A Chinese Biographical Dictionary
85

time of the Emperor Yao, B.C. 2357. As he grew old he began to seek shelter among the branches of trees, and removed still farther from contact with the world. Yao offered him the throne, but he declined, and immediately went and washed his ears to free them from the defilement of such worldly contamination. Another story runs that when the throne was offered to Hsü Yu, and the latter washed his ears in a brook, Ch'ao Fu would not even let his calves drink of the water.

201 Ch'ao Kung-so 晁公遡 (T. 子四). A celebrated poet of the 12th cent. A.D. He graduated as chin shih in 1138, and rose to high rank in the public service. See Ch'ao Kung-wu.

202 Ch'ao Kung-wu 晁公武 (T. 子止. H. 君齊). 12th cent A.D. Elder brother to Ch'ao Kung-so. From 1165 he was Prefect at Hsing-yüan in Shensi, and so endeared himself to the people that he received the sobriquet of 昭德先生.

203 Ch'ao Pu-chih 鼂補之 (T. 無咎. H. 景遷). A.D. 1053—1110. A native of 鉅野 Chü-yeh in Shantung, and son of Ch'ao Tuan-yen. An official and poet of the Sung dynasty, who when quite a boy attracted the notice of Wang An-kuo. At the age of 17 he accompanied his father to Hangchow, where the great Su Shih was stationed. There he produced such an exquisite poem on the beauties of Ch'ien-t'ang that Su Shih said: "I may now lay down my pen!" Graduating first on the list of chin shih, he entered upon a public career, in which he rose to high office. On one occasion he was degraded for a mistake in the biography of the Emperor Shên Tsung. He built himself a residence which he called, from T'ao Yüan-ming's famous poem, "Home Again!" and gave himself the sobriquet of 歸來子. Author of the 雞肋篇. Regarded as one of the Four Great Scholars of the empire (see Chang Lei).

204 Ch'ao Ts'o 鼂錯 or 晁錯. Died B.C. 155. A native of