RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 64 GÖRAN AIJMER A chronicler of Yuanjiang2 states that people used cut paper 'to hang money on the mountain'. This was called 'to drink wine on the grave and hang up.' The chronicler goes on to say: If it is graves of newly buried, then there is affection. On Earth God Day and earlier, one suspends and sweeps. The proverb says: For the new graves one does not pass she. For old graves one suspends when thirty nights have passed.14 A record of local customs in Yiyang tells us that at Qingming to sweep the graves were repaired. This was called sao mu 'the graves'. Paper money was suspended on the graves. This was called gua shan 'to hang up on the mountain'.15 From Baling we learn that, in the Qingming solar period, women hung up cut paper strips on the graves. It was called gua fen 'to hang on the grave'. Paper money was burnt and wine poured out. It is said that this practice gave rise to much mournful thought 哀思.16 In Anxiang it was the practice that 'scholars' and 'commoners' swept their grave mounds: Officials arrange money, prepare cattle, and arrange in order wine. Thereby are made ji sacrifices.17 In Hanzhou the graves were swept and there was much offering.18 In Jingshan the graves were visited, there were ji offerings, sweeping, and suspension of paper money on them.19 Similarly, in Wuchang, the old graves were swept and paper money hung up on them. Here people encircled the grave wailing loudly.20 In Chongyang everyone made ji offerings at the graves. People used 'top branches' with paper money on top of the graves.21 In Yingshan it was the practice to construct offering tables in front of the graves. This was called 'to welcome (the ancestors?) to return'. This celebration was continued up to the end of the moon.22 I said above that Qingming is a period of about fifteen days. When our sources mention visits to the graves we may assume that these were spread out over this duration. It may well be that the visits were initiated on the Qingming day, the first day of the solar period: I will soon provide some evidence for the importance of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 GÖRAN AIJMER for wine are used, jiu H, and it's 'sweet wine'. It is hard to tell from the data whether different kinds of wine were used on different occasions. More generally, we may remember that wine is manufactured from rice; in fact, it is rice transmuted into liquid form. 7. Food Food was sacrificed and eaten on the graves after they had been swept. Again, the lack of detailed data makes it difficult to interpret the presenting of food as a ritual act. Some notes could be observed here. In Yiyang people ate 'stalks and grass', which, being unusual food, probably signified 'non-rice' or 'non-food'.65 We are told that in Anxiang officials prepared 'cattle'. The term may have a more narrow sense of 'beef'. Meat seems to have been paired with rice wine in many sacrifices throughout the area: on the Lantern Festival (in the first moon) in Jiangling, on Earth God Day in Wuling and Zhongxiang,7 on the Dragon Boat Festival (in the fifth moon) in the Yozhou prefecture (around Baling), and Yunmeng #,68 on Zhongyuan (in the seventh moon) in Wuling,69 and on Churia, New Year Eve, in Jiangling, Hanzhou, Jingshan, Chongyang, and Yingshan.70 Again, in the temple dedicated to General Goan in Mienyang, mentioned above, the offerings on the 13th day of the fifth moon consisted of 'cattle' meat and sweet wine. A chronicler mentions that in Tauyuan, at mourning, there was an 'excess' of slaughtering.71 If we assume that the wide category of sheng-cattle-indicates that cows, oxen and buffalos, and such bovine animals were of primary interest as slaughtering animals on Qingming (although pigs may have been included in the category), it may be interesting to associate that circumstance not only with the excessive slaughtering which was part of the mourning practices in Tauyuan, but also with the display of a clay oxen at the Lichum 'Establishment of Spring' festival around the 5th of February in the solar calendar.72 In Chongyang the 5th day of the fifth moon was called niu ri ✈ a Ox Day. Then the buffalos or cows were fed, and it was not allowed to whip the beasts or swear at them on this day.73 These practices seem all to have a close link with agriculture.74 The fact that cattle was modelled in clay seems to indicate that the nature of cattle was earthly. The breaking of the clay oxen may, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 74 GÖRAN AIJMER connection between the rice growth cycle, the agricultural activities and the grave ancestors, a connection suggested already by the information from Wuchang and Chongyang, quoted above, that grave worship was conducted on She ri. 9. Willow Twigs. In Wuling people inserted willow twigs over their doors and also carried willow twigs in their hair. There was a term for this custom: neng pixie 'ability to punish evil'. The same convention was observed in other places in the Dongting area, like Taoyuan,80 Hanzhou,81 Jingshan,82 Chongyang, where it was called 'nun lo'83 'tender willow', and Yingshan.84 It seems as if the twigs were protective and their function was to guard the house, or doorways, and the individuals living behind them. It is hard to say against what willow provided protection. It is interesting, though, to note that willow twigs were used in Jiangling on the full moon day of the first moon when, again, they were inserted above the doors.85 10. Strolling in the Wilderness and Treading on the Green. Several chroniclers report that Qingming was an occasion for strolls and wanderings away from built-up areas. These excursions may well be seen in connection with the visits to the graves, the latter being situated outside the villages. Such ramblings in the countryside are recorded from the prefecture Changde (around Wuling),86 Hanzhou,87 Chongyang,88 and Wuchang.89 From the latter two places it is also reported that men and women 'tread on the green', ta qing, in connection with their strolls in the 'wilderness'. The latter term seems to be a name for strolling and eating al fresco. Earlier I have interpreted this practice as a feature which stresses periphery as contrasted with centre, the latter being emphasized, for instance, at Duanwu. It is interesting to note that the chronicler of Changde says that there were no such customs in that area as ta qing or qui qian 'swinging'. Swinging is reported as part of the Lantern Festival in Zhongxiang,91 Swings are referred to in a Liang dynasty calendar, Jingchu suishi ji,92 in connection with the Cold Food festival. Ta qing was part of the Flower Dawn celebrations in Zhongxiang,93 in this area generally observed on the second full moon of the lunar year. It is probable that a number of notions were expressed in such 90 Page 90 Page 91 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 QINGMING FESTIVAL IN CENTRAL CHINA 81 39 See Maurice Freedman: Geomancy. Proceedings of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland for 1968. London 1.15. 40 Aijmer, A Structural Approach...p. 95, 41 GJTSJC VI:1223 *** 126. 42 Maurice Freedman, Chinese Lineage and Society: Fukien and Kwangtung. London School of Economics Monographs on Social Anthropology No. 33. London: Athlone Press, 1966. 1* For instance, Lewis Hodous provides an account in his Folkways in China, London: Arthur Probstain, 1929, p. 92. Hodous draws mainly on his long Fujian experience. 44 Aijmer, A Structural Approach p.96. 45 Aijmer, The Dragon Boat Festival, p. 77f. 46 GJTSJC VI:1193, &$ 26. 47 GJTSJC II:51, 6a. A Similar arrangement occurred in Youxian, GJTSJC II:51, 19b. 48 Aijmer, The Dragon Boat Festival, pp. 78f. 49 There were probably several kinds of paper money in use. The yellow kind referred to above was in all likelihood the 'gold variety. As our sources do not carry information in detail on this subject we must leave such further implications aside. 50 I have notes from Gongan (GJTSJC VI:1193, * 36), Hanzhou (VI:1130, 風俗长 Ib), Zhongxiang (VI:1142: #6# 1b, 2b), Jingshan (VI:1142, & 3a) Chongyang (VI:1120 † 4a, 5a), and Tongshan (VI:1120, Afb† 6a). 51 I have found notes from Baling (GJTSJC VI: 1223, K## 2b, ennt juan 11:6a), Wuchang (GJTSJC VI:1120, ✩ 26), Chongyang (VI:1120, £#* 46), Tongshan (VI:1120, ### 6b) and Yingshan (VI:1166, BB‡ 4b). 52 Freedman, Chinese Lineage and Society. pp. 140f. 53 Other names for this festival used in the region are Yulan dahui, 王蘭大會 Yulan penhui 盂蘭盆會,and Duwang dahui 度亡大會 All are Buddhist terms. 54 I have, at present, no information from the Dongting area on the handling of paper money at funerals, for instance. 55 GJTSJC VI:1223, # 2b. 56 GJTSJC VI:1193, £&$ 26. 57 GJTSJC VI:1142, R&* 3a. 58 GJTSJC VI:1193, # 2a. 59 GJTSJC VI:1259, 6 2a. 60 GJTSJC VI:1130, &‡ 2a. 61 GJTSJC VI:1120, K✩‡ 4b. 62 GJTSJC VI:1166, ### 46. 63 GJTSJC VI:1142, ‡ 4a. 64 GJTSJC VI:1142, &* 2ab. 65 mm, juan 2:96. 66 GJTSJC VI:1193, R 2a. 67 GJTSJC VI:1259, ✩ lb; 1142, * 2a. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 82 68 GJTSJC II:51, 19b. GÖRAN AUMER 69 GJTSJC VI:1259, RG 2a. 70 GJTSJC VI:1193, 風俗考 26; 1130, 風俗考 2a; 1142, 風俗考 38; 1120, 風俗考 5a; 1166, 風俗考 5a. 71 GJTSJC VI: 1259, + 2ab. For two interesting discussions on foodstuffs as part of offering rituals, and in terms of cooked and raw food, see Emily M. Ahern, The Cult of the Dead in a Chinese Village. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1973, pp. 167-170, and Arthur P. Wolf: Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors, pp. 131-182 in Arthur P. Wolf (ed.), Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society, Stanford, Cal.: Stanford University Press, 1974. 72 Chroniclers report this custom from Hanzhou (GJTSJC VI:1130, 1b), Jingshan (VI:1142, 3a), Zhongxiang (VI:1142, 6b), Chongyang (VI:1120, 4a), and Yingshan (VI:1166, 3b, 4a). 73 GJTSJC VI:1120, 4a. 74 A local tradition from Daye (GJTSJC VI: ... 17a) tells of a persecuted jiao dragon that turned itself into an ox island in a river; this was henceforth called Bull Island. A similar transmutation is mentioned in a legend referring to the Yuan River; see E. T. C. Werner, A Dictionary of Chinese Mythology, Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh Ltd. 1932, p. 116f. 75 In Tongshan, there was an idea of a pair of Earth Gods, She Gong and She Mu. I have no other evidence for ideas of a female counterpart in the Dongting area; GJTSJC VI:1120, 6b. 76 GJTSJC VI:1193, 2a. This may be compared to the use of a mixture of rice and red beans, sometimes contained in a pot, on other ritual occasions; see Aijmer, The Dragon Boat Festival, p. 76. 77 GJTSJC VI:1259, 1b. 78 GJTSJC VI:1142, 2a. 79 GJTSJC VI:1259, 1b. 80 #Ma juan 3: 8a. 風俗考 81 GJTSJC VI:1120, 4b. 82 GJTSJC VI:1142, 4b. 83 GJTSJC VI:1120, 3a. ## 4b. 84 GJTSJC VI:1166, 4b. 風俗考 85 GJTSJC VI:1193, 2a. 荆楚歲時記 Seasons in Jing and Chu. Auth. Tsung Lin 86, juan 13:4a. 87 GJTSJC VI:1130, 1b. 風俗考 88 GJTSJC VI:1120, 4b. 89 GJTSJC VI:1120, 2b. 90 Aijmer, A Structural Approach... p. 95. 91 GJTSJC VI:1142, 1b, 2b. 92 荊楚歲時記 7b. 風俗考 16, 2b. M16 93 GJTSJC VI:1142, 2a. 94 loc. cit. 95 GJTSJC VI:1166, 5b. Records of the ... Ed: MELAR‡ n.d. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 25 Item Table 5 Xu Run's Investment in Modern Enterprises Company Amount (T) % Place China Merchants' Steam Navigation Co 480,000 33.44 Shanghai Yun Wo Insurance Co. 100,000 Shanghai Chi Wo Insurance Co. 50,000 10 45 Shanghai Kaiping Coal Mines 150,000 Tianjin Guichi Coal Mines 100,000 Anhui Sanshan Silver Mines 60,000 Rehe Pingchuan Copper Mines 60,000 Jinzhou Mines 50,000 Other Mines 10,000 29 96 Shanghai Cotton Mill 50,000 Shanghai Shang Jinglun Cotton Mill 170,000 Shanghai Craseman & Hagen's Filanda (Yantai Saosi Ju) 10,200 Yantai Paper Manufactury 20,000 Shanghai Chinese Glass Works Co. 30,000 Shanghai Shanghai Dairy Farm Co. 30,000 Shanghai Hong Kong Liyuan Sugar Refinery 30,000 Hong Kong Tianyi Land Reclamation Co 5,000 Jinzhou Taggu Cultivation Co. 30,000 2.44 Tianjin Zhongshan Tongyi Ranyuan Cultivation Co 1,000($) Guangdong Total 1,435,200 99.99 (+$1,000)* * Mexican dollars have not been added in the total or calculated in the percentage Source: Xu Run, Qing Xu Yuzhi Xiansheng Run Zixu Nianpu. but educated in Hong Kong. He first came to Shanghai as an interpreter in the Chinese Maritime Customs in 1859. It is believed that he was introduced by an officer named Horatio Nelson Lay whom Tang had met in Hong Kong. Tang was recruited as a comprador by the Jardine, Matheson & Co. in 1863 but he left in 1872. During the decade of his compradorial career, he invested, planned, organized and assisted in the sale of stocks of a number of enterprises. These enterprises were called modern because they had adopted a new form of ownership, organization and management. Moreover, some of them such as steam navigation and insurance companies were the first to take place in China. Unlike Xu Page 45 Page 46 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j Table 6 Zheng Guanying's Investment in Modern Enterprises 29 Item Amount (taels) Place Union Steamship Navigation Co. ? Shanghai China Merchants' Steam Navigation Co. 1,200 Shanghai Yuehan Railway Co. ? Canton Renhe Insurance Co. Shanghai Cotton Mill A Paper Manufactory A Glass Work A Dairy Co. ? ? 50,000 ? ? Shanghai Shanghai ? ? Shanghai A Silk Filature ? ? Tongwen Book Co. 14,000 Shanghai Ma'an shan Coal Mines ? ? Jinzhou Coal Mines 100,000 ? Jilin Gold Mines Xuancheng Coal Mines Shandong Mines Pingchuan Gold Mines Mianning Gold Mines Jianping Gold Mines Chefoo Coal Mines Yongping Gold Mines ? ? several thousand 36 shares + 4,320 20 shares + several thousand ? several thousand ? Shanghai ? ? ? ? ? Pingxiang Coal Mines Hupei Nantaiwu Shan Coal Mines Fujian Chengping Silk several thousand ? Kaiping Canton Land 5,000 Canton Tianjin Kutang Land Reclamation 3,000 Tianjin A Nacre Co. ? ? A Reclamation Project in Malaya ? Malaya Tianjin Peihailou ? Tianjin A Gambling Co. 5,000 ? Total 232,520+? Sources: Wu Chang-chuan, Cheng Kuan-ying: A Case Study of Merchant Participation in the Self-strengthening Movement (1878-1884): Xia-Dongyuan, Zheng Guanying Zhuan. early development of modern Chinese enterprises. As shown in the case of Xu, Tang and Zheng, they not only provided funds to modern ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 185 high standards, and took care to employ good teachers. The school must always have had several teachers - the building is just too big to have been feasible for just one. In 1923 there were five teachers. Three were Shap Yeuk area people. One, Chan Kan-cheung, from Luk Keng, was a returned student from USA - he taught English and Physical Education. Another teacher from Luk Keng was Chan Ping-long, a graduate from Canton. He taught "the new books". The third teacher from the Shap Yeuk area was Lau Woon-kwong, from Keng Hau (Jinghou) in the Chinese part of the Shap Yeuk area. He taught classical Chinese and Music. The other two teachers were outsiders: Lei Wai-lau was a Sau Tsoi from near Yuen Long, a Punti speaker - he taught classical Chinese. The fifth teacher, Wu Fan-ng, was from Shaoguan in the north of Guangdong. He had lived for many years in Sha Tau Kok, and spoke and taught in Hakka. He, like Chan Ping-long, was a graduate from Canton, and taught "the new books". Right down to the 1930s, the desire to keep their school one of the best and most advanced in the region was a major aim of the elders of the Shap Yeuk. In the 1920s, the standard of the school was as advanced as the Government schools which the Hong Kong Government had started to open in the major centres of the New Territories. By having this group of well-educated and cultured men living in the market, the elders of the Shap Yeuk demonstrated that their town and district comprised a full and viable community - not only having artisans and labourers and merchants, but scholars and gentry as well. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 28 sparse evidence we have from local chronicles. In Gong'an Magistracy (in Jingzhou Prefecture) people hoped for rain on the She day as this was a good omen. In the same vein we find a note from Tongshan Magistracy (in Wuchang Prefecture) to the effect that if it rained on the She Day, it was said: 'She Weng yu rain of the Worthy She'. A rustic proverb had it that 'She Gong Mr. She'--and 'She Mu Lady She'--'do not drink old water'. The metaphor here was that the fresh water of the spring rains was drunk by the earth. It is interesting to note that the proverb insists on a female counterpart to the She. In Yingshan Magistracy there were si offerings to the She; these were spoken of as qi gu 'prayer for grain'. Similar offerings, but this time described as jiao libations, occurred here in Yingshan on the third day of the third moon, later on in the spring. On the She Day we encounter offerings taking place in Zhongxiang Magistracy, the capital in Anlu Prefecture, and here we get some more detail concerning the rustic population. The chronicler describes how the celebration engaged wu and xi male and female sorcerers-who appeared with drums and singing, thus welcoming the shen spirits. With 'arms joined' they were stamping on the ground, all this being a ge jie ji 'an offering of rhythmic singing'. Everyone drank She wine and shared She meat. The wine was supposed to cure deafness. Sacrificial meats (sheng) and sweet wine (li) are also mentioned from Wuling Magistracy, the capital of Changde Prefecture. From Jiangling Magistracy, the capital of Jingzhou Prefecture, we get a description of She fan 'She food' -which was a mixture of pork and mutton put inside a pumpkin. The magistracy of Suiyang is said to have been a place where four neighbourhoods combined to ji offer to ben jing She shen 'the local She spirit'. People shared out delicacies 6 古今圖書集成, 1888. VI, 1193: 風俗考 3b. 7 古今圖書集成, 1888. VI, 1120: 風俗考 6ab. 8 古今圖書集成, 1888. VI, 1166: 風俗考 4a. 9 古今圖書集成, 1888. VI, 1166: 風俗考 4ab. 10 古今圖書集成, 1888. VI, 1142: 風俗考 2a. 11 古今圖書集成, 1888. VI, 1259: 風俗考 1b. 12 古今圖書集成, 1888. VI, 1193: 風俗考 2a. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 30 spring within the wider New Year duration." At Li Chun ritual acts signalled various agricultural tasks. The She festival was more timely in relation to actual agrarian operations starting up at this season, but rituals did not directly depict the cultivation of the earth. Shamanistic activities were common at several ritual celebrations in the area under scrutiny here. A chronicler from Hanzhou Magistracy in Hanyang Prefecture says that the people along the Jiang and the Han18 love wu sorcerers and regard demons as important.19 Singing, dancing and drumming wu and xi contributed to the efficacy of the rituals in that they summoned the shen spirits. The mention here of both wu and xi is best understood as indicating that the shamanistic acts were performed by officiants recruited from both genders—but we cannot be sure. What kind of shen spirits were invited by their activities is, again, not clear. If in the singular, the word might refer to the She, if in the plural, it might have been spirits in general, or, perhaps, the spirits of the dead. We have seen above that sometimes the She was connoted with death and the dead. Invoking and inviting the dead—should that be the correct understanding—would then, no doubt, have had further agricultural connotations.20 What speaks in favour of the former interpretation is a note deriving from Yiyang Magistracy (in Changsha Prefecture), but which actually refers to a practice of the third day of the third moon, a day called Shang Si E or 'Upper Si'. On this day there were splendid processions in the country villages by the She altars where people sacrificed to the du shen 'the earth spirit(s)'. Droning drums were prominent instruments in these processions. This was called qi nian—'to pray for the year'.21 A similar report, already mentioned and referring to the same day, is found in the records of Yingshan where it is said that people worshipped the She by jiao libations. 17 We may note that there was another occasion for celebrating the Aijmer 2002, Chapter. 15. 18 Hanzhou is situated by the confluence of the River Yangzi (the Jiang) and the River Han. 19 古今圖書集成. 1888. VI, 1130: 風俗考 1b 20 古今圖書集成, 1888. VI, 1142: 風俗考 2a 21 益陽縣志. 1874. 卷 24b. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 50 Li Deyu died in exile in 849, in Hainan some 57 years before the end of the Tang dynasty. He was born in AD 787, the son of a minister of state, and rose to become a great minister. In his heyday he was pre-eminent in China serving six emperors faithfully, including being chief minister to Tang emperor Wu Cong. Impeached as the President of the Board of War he was banished to Hainan where his spirit withered. He was not only a fine scholar but also favoured Daoism in the rivalry with Buddhism to influence the Court. He would appear to have had a comparatively close friendship with the Mao Shan sect of Daoists and is even thought to have encouraged the persecution of Buddhism and the imperial eunuchs. He was also an untiring opponent of eunuch influence. His achievements as a poet were recognised as was his contribution to horticulture. Li Guang was born in Fujian province in 1085 and died in a monastery in Hangzhou in 1140, having been an Imperial Censor and Minister of State. He is renowned for his opposition to the encroachment of the Jin Tatars and in particular the peace proposals by which Qin Gui earned his unenviable notoriety. In 1126 he commanded troops defending the capital and succeeded in defeating the Jin Tatars with great slaughter. He was impeached in 1127 after only a matter of months as Minister of State for irregularities in connection with the purchase of horses and levies of troops, and was exiled for a while before moving to a monastery where he lived out the rest of his life. Li Guang [1077-1159] was born in Yuezhou in Zhejiang. He was also a scholar-official, but of the earlier Northern Song. He also appears to be feted in Hainan for sharing Hu Quan's rigorous opposition to any kind of accommodation with the Jin invaders and his dislike of Qin Gui. The latter earned him demotion to Jianning military district, and later still another demotion. He was, however, rehabilitated to his original position in 1158 but died the following year while travelling to Jiangzhou. Hu Quan [1102-1180] was a scholar-official of the Southern Song from Luling in Jizhou, Jiangxi province, who received his appointment in the second year of Jianyan emperor. Before taking up his duties, the Jin armies crossed the River and Hu raised his own army to defend the area. He too is famous for his stubborn opposition to any kind of peace dealings with the Jin invaders. He petitioned for the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 31 execution of Qin Gui, the famous "traitor," as well as Wang Lun and Sun Jin, and the hanging of their heads in the streets to show to the public. For this, he was demoted to a post in Fuzhou (in 1138), from where he was transferred to Xinzhou in Guangdong province in 1142. Six years later, he was falsely accused by a man called Zhang (a member of Qin Gui's 'Death clique'), because of a couplet he wrote called Haoshijin, and was moved to the Jiyang military district. He retired to the Pearl Cliff to write a manual for officials, and set up a school. After the accession of the new emperor, he returned to the fray, holding a number of important posts before retiring in 1171. He died in 1180 at the age of 78. Zhao Ding was a Minister of State and a steadfast opponent of Qin Gui and his policy of making peace with the Tatars, for which he was banished to various places. He was born in Shanxi and died in a distant post at Jiyang, on the south-west tip of Hainan, in 1147. b] The Three Marquises, San Gong, is a separate group of deities, scholar-officials of the 9th and 10th centuries AD whose images or tablets have only been seen on altars in Hainanese temples on Hainan Island. The three are Li Deyu [one of the Five Marquises: q.v.], Lu Duoxun 廬多遜 and Ding Wei 丁謂, The second of the Three, Lu Duoxun, also a senior official exiled to Hainan, died some 136 years after Li Deyu. He was born in Henan province and he too became President of the Board of War in 979. La served a later dynasty, the Northern Song, and was also banished to Hainan following court intrigue. His poetry achieved the distinction of being remembered and quoted. The third, Ding Wei, was also a high official of the Song and the only one of the three to survive his banishment. He returned home from Hainan to die in 1040. Ding was born in Jiangsu province and rose to become a Minister of State. He was degraded and banished following accusations of witchcraft and of oppressive rule. He also wrote a large collection of poems whilst in Hainan. c] Su Shi is probably better known as Su Dongpo, and is referred to in Hainan as Su Gong. He is one of the eight famous men of letters of the Tang and Song eras and lived from AD 1036- ================================================================================