knight-errant of the Han dynasty. His father had been put to death under the Emperor W6n Ti, and he himself in his youth was a bloodthirsty ruffian, slaying every one who crossed his path. He was also a coiner of base money, and used to break into tombs and commit sacrilege. In his mature age he became a reformed character, and went about seeking only to do good and to redress wrongs. He gained great credit by declaring that the murderer of his sister's son, a yoang man who was wont to force drink upon strangers, was justified in doing what he did. The slaughter by his followers of an opponent caused his mother to be arrested; whereupon he surrendered and was executed, together with his family, as a public nuisance.
1064 Kuo Hsin ||{ ^ (T. |^^). A.D. 1688-1715. A native of ^ ^ Ghi-mo in Shantung, who used to live on herbs in the remote recesses of the hills and to study all night by a fire of brashwood. Graduating as chin shih in 1670, he was sent in 1680 as Magistrate to ^ ^X. Wu-chiaug in Eiangsu, a place with the worst possible reputation; yet in seven years he made it the pride of the south-east. In 1686 he became a Censor, and successfully denounced Chin Fu, i|^ ^ Ming Chu, and Eao Shih-ch4. But he himself was soon driven from office for an alleged piece of personal spite; and in 1690 he was sentenced to banishment on the false plea that his father, for whom he had sought posthumous honours, had been a rebel. His sentence however was remitted; and the Emperor E^ang Hsi, meeting him while on tour in 1699, appointed him Viceroy of Hunan, in recognition of his courageous and independent spirit. In 1691 he came to Peking to have audience, and seized the opportunity to vindicate his father's character. On his expressing a fear that the promised remeasurement of taxable land in Hunan would reduce the revenue, the Emperor replied, ^Trovided that the people benefit, no reduction, however great.
