of the Song dynasty. He occupied himself wholly in weaving
perfidious plots. He died in exile at Mo-tcheou. Sometime after,
while the Emperor was hunting, there fell a heavy rain, which
obliged him to seek shelter in a poor man's hut. The thunder rolled
with violence; and the lightning killed a man, a woman, and a
little boy. On the backs of the man and woman were found red
characters, which could not be deciphered; but on the back of the
little boy the following six words could be read, written in
Tchouen (_antique_) characters:
TSÉ-TCH'IN-TCHANG-TCHUN-HEOU-CHIN,--which mean: "Child of the issue
of Tchang-tchun, who was a rebellious subject."--_Le Livre des
Récompenses et des Peines, traduit par Stanislas Julien_, p. 446.
PAGAL.--The ankle-ring commonly worn by Hindoo women; it is
also called _nupur_. It is hollow, and contains loose bits of metal,
which tinkle when the foot is moved.
SAN-HIEN.--A three-stringed Chinese guitar. Its belly is
usually covered with snake-skin.
SIU-FAN-TI.--Literally, "the Sweeping of the Tombs,"--the day
of the general worship of ancestors; the Chinese "All-Souls'." It falls
in the early part of April, the period called _tsing-ming_.
TA-CHUNG SZ'.--Literally, "Temple of the Bell." The building at
Pekin so named covers probably the largest suspended bell in the world,
cast in the reign of Yong-lo, about 1406 A.D., and weighing upwards of
120,000 pounds.
TAO.--The infinite being, or Universal Life, whence all forms
proceed: Literally, "the Way," in the sense of the First Cause.
Lao-tseu uses the term in other ways; but that primal and most important
philosophical sense which he gave to it is well explained in the
celebrated Chapter XXV. of the _Tao-te-king_.... The difference between
the great Chinese thinker's conception of the First Cause--the
Unknowable,--and the theories of other famous metaphysicians, Oriental
and Occidental, is set forth with some definiteness in Stanislas
Julien's introduction to the _Tao-te-king_, pp. x-xv. ("Le Livre de la
Voie et de la Vertu." Paris, 1842.)
THANG.--The Dynasty of Thang, which flourished between 620 and
907 A.D., encouraged literature and art, and gave to China its most
brilliant period. The three poets of the Thang dynasty mentioned in the
second story flourished between 779 and 852 A.D.
"THREE COUNCILLORS."--Six stars of the Great-Bear constellation
([Greek: ik--lm--nx]), as apparently arranged in pairs, are thus called
by the Chinese astrologers and mythologists. The three couples are
further distinguished as the Superior Councillor, Middle Councillor, and
Inferior Councillor; and, together with the Genius of the Northern
Heaven, form a celestial tribunal, presiding over the duration of human
life, and deciding the course of mortal destiny. (Note by Stanislas
Julien in "Le Livre des Récompenses et des Peines.")
TIEN-HIA.--Literally, "Under-Heaven," or "Beneath-the-Sky,"--one
of the most ancient of those many names given by the Chinese to China.
The name "China" itself is never applied by the Black-haired Race to
their own country, and is supposed to have had its origin in the fame of
the first _Tsin_ dynasty, whose founder, Tsin Chí-Houang-tí, built the
Great, or "Myriad-Mile," Wall, twenty-two and a half degrees of latitude
in length ... See Williams regarding occurrence of the name "China" in
Sanscrit literature.
TSIEN.--The well-known Chinese copper coin, with a square hole
in the middle for stringing, is thus named. According to quality of
metal it takes from 900 to 1,800 _tsien_ to make one silver dollar.
TSING-JIN.--"Men of Tsing." From very ancient times the Chinese
have been wont to call themselves by the names of their famous
dynasties,--_Han-jin_, "the men of Han"; _Thang-jin_, "the men of
Thang," etc. _Ta Tsing Kwoh_ ("Great Pure Kingdom") is the name given by
the present dynasty to China,--according to which the people might call
themselves _Tsing-jin_, or "men of Tsing." Williams, however, remarks
that they will not yet accept the appellation.
VERSES (CHINESE).--The verses preceding "The Legend of
Tchi-Niu" afford some remarkable examples of Chinese onomatopoeia.
They occur in the sixth strophe of _Miên-miên_, which is the third chant
of the first section of _Ta-ya_, the Third Book of the _Chi-King_.(See
G. Pauthier's French version.) Dr. Legge translates the strophe thus:--
... Crowds brought the earth in baskets; they threw it with shouts
into the frames; they beat it with responsive blows; they pared the
walls repeatedly till they sounded strong.--_Sacred Books of the
East_; Vol. III., _The She-King_, p. 384.
Pauthier translates the verses somewhat differently; preserving the
onomatopoeia in three of the lines. _Hoûng-hoûng_ are the sounds heard
in the timber-yards where the wood is being measured; from the workshops
of the builders respond the sounds of _tông-tông_; and the solid walls,
when fully finished off, give out the sound of _pîng-pîng_.
YAO.--"Porcelain." The reader who desires detailed information
respecting the technology, history, or legends of Chinese
porcelain-manufacture should consult Stanislas Julien's admirable
"Histoire de la Porcelaine Chinoise" (Paris, 1856). With some trifling
exceptions, the names of the various porcelains cited in my "Tale of
the Porcelain-God" were selected from Julien's work. Though oddly
musical and otherwise attractive in Chinese, these names lose interest
by translation. The majority of them merely refer to centres of
manufacture or famous potteries: _Chou-yao_, "porcelains of Chou";
_Hong-tcheou-yao_, "porcelains of Hong-tcheou"; _Jou-yao_, "porcelains
of Jou-tcheou"; _Ting-yao_, "porcelains of Ting-tcheou"; _Ko-yao_,"
porcelains of the Elder Brother [Thsang]"; _Khang-hi-nien-t'sang-yao_,
"porcelains of Thsang made in the reign of Khang-hi." Some porcelains
were distinguished by the names of dynasties, or the titles of civic
office holders; such as the celebrated _Tch'aï-yao_, "the porcelains of
Tch'aï" (which was the name of the family of the Emperor Chi-tsong); and
the _Kouan-yao_, or "Porcelains of Magistrates." Much more rarely the
names refer directly to the material or artistic peculiarity of
porcelains,--as _Ou-ni-yao_, the "black-paste porcelains," or
_Pi-se-yao_, the "porcelains of hidden color." The word _khi_, sometimes
substituted for _yao_ in these compound names, means "vases"; as
_Jou-khi_, "vases of Jou-tcheou"; _Kouan-khi_, "vases for Magistrates."
[Illustration: Chinese calligraphy]