Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/724

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A Chinese Biographical Dictionary
705


panishment,'* in which a criminal was fastened to a hollow pillar of copper with a fire inside. When taken prisoner by Wn Wang, her beanty was still so entrancing that no one could be fonnd willing to deal the fatal blow. At length T'ai Knng, the aged counsellor of Wu Wang, stepped forward, and covering his face with his hands, laid the enchantress low.

Ta-mo. See Bodhidharma.

Ta Nao ;^ ^ • A Minister who served under the Yellow Emperor, 1846 B.C. 2698, and arranged the sexagenary cycle.

Ta Tt See Sun Ch^Oan.

Ta Yti i^^. Died B.C. 2197. The Great YH. A native of ;5 )^ 1846 Shih-niu in modern Ssdch^uan. His family name was ^ (T. ^ ^)y and the name given to him at birth was ^ ^ . His father was Kun, and his mother, who bore him after 14 months* gestation, was ^ ^ Hsiu-chi. Among other things he is said to have had ears with three holes in them. When his father . had failed to drain the empire from the great flood, he was appointed by the Emperor Shun to undertake the work; and in B.C. 2286, four days after his marriage, he started upon this task, which he eventually accomplished after nine years' toil. He wore the very hair off his legs by his exertions, and never once entered his home, though he passed by the door and heard the voice of his infant son. For this service he was ennobled as ^"jQ or >^ ^, and in B.C. 2224 he was associated in the government with the Emperor Shun , whom he finally succeeded in 2205 after a mourning of three years* duration. He became the first Emperor of the Hsia dynasty, whence he is sometimes spoken of as ^ ^. T*a-Ch*i-pu ^ ^ ^ (T. :@ ^C). A.D. 1816-1855. A Manchu, 1847 who after serving in the Imperial Guards was promoted to be major for bravery shown at the defence of Ch^ang-sha against the T'ai-p'ing rebels in 1852. He thus attracted the attention of Ts£ng

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