A.
[See also under O.]
1A-chiao 阿嬌. 2nd cent. B.C. The name of one of the consorts of the Emperor Wu Ti of the Han dynasty. When the latter was a boy, his father, the Emperor Ching Ti, asked him if he would like to be married. His aunt, the Princess 長 Ch'ang, who happened to be present, pointed to her little daughter, A-chiao, and enquired what he thought of her. "Ah," replied the boy, "if I could get A-chiao, I would have a golden house to keep her in."
2A-lao-wa-ting 阿老瓦丁. A Mahomedan, a native of Turkestan. In 1271 Kublai Khan despatched envoys to obtain persons skilled in the management of mangonels from his kinsman 阿不哥王 A-pu-ko-wang. The latter sent A-lao-wa-ting and I-ssŭ-ma-yin, together with their families, by post route to Hangchow, where they began by building large mangonels which they erected in front of the city gates. A-lao-wa-ting was subsequently attached to the staff of the general Alihaya, with whom he crossed the Yang-tsze, being present at the capture of many towns. He died in 1312, loaded with honours, and was succeeded in his dignities by his son 馬哈沙 Ma-ho-sha.
3A-lu-t'ai 阿魯台. Died A.D. 1434. A chief of the Tartars, who gave great trouble to the Emperor Yung Lo. In 1409 he set up the heir of the Yüan dynasty at Bishbalik, and ignored the Chinese demands for satisfaction for the murder of an Envoy in
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