“_Southward, in all the panoply of cruel war arrayed, See, our heroic general points and waves his glittering blade! Across the hills and streams the lizard-drums terrific roll, While glint of myriad banners flashes high from pole to pole.... Go, scion of the Unicorn, and prove thy heavenly birth, And crush to all eternity these insects of the earth; And when thou com’st, a conqueror, from those wild barbarian lands, WE will unhitch thy war-cloak with our own Imperial hands!_” The courtesans of ancient and mediæval China formed a class which now seems no longer to exist. Like the _hetairæ_ of Greece, they were often highly educated, and exercised considerable influence. Biographies of the most famous of these ladies are in existence, extending back to the seventh century A.D. The following is an extract from that of Hsieh Su-su, who flourished in the fourteenth century, and “with whom but few of the beauties of old could compare”:-- “Su-su’s beauty was of a most refined style, with a captivating sweetness of voice and grace of movement. She was a skilful artist, sweeping the paper with a few rapid touches, which produced such speaking effects that few, even of the first rank, could hope to excel her work. She was a fine horsewoman, and could shoot from horseback with a cross-bow. She would fire one pellet, and then a second, which would catch up the first and smash it to atoms in mid-air. Or she would throw a pellet on to the ground, and then grasping the cross-bow in her left hand, with her right hand passed behind her back, she would let fly and hit it, not missing once in a hundred times. She was also very particular about her friends, receiving no one unless by his talents he had made some mark in the world.” * * * * * [Sidenote: CHAO TS’AI-CHI--CHAO LI-HUA] The poetical effusions, and even plays, of many of these ladies have been carefully preserved, and are usually published as a supplement to any dynastic collection. Here is a specimen by CHAO TS’AI-CHI (fifteenth century), of whom no biography is extant:-- “_The tide in the river beginning to rise, Near the sad hour of parting, brings tears to our eyes; Alas! that these furlongs of willow-strings gay Cannot hold fast the boat that will soon be away!_” Another specimen, by a lady named CHAO LI-HUA (sixteenth century), contains an attempt at a pun, which is rather lamely brought out in the translation:-- “_Your notes on paper; rare to see, Two flying joy-birds bear;[34] Be like the birds and fly to me, Not like the paper, rare!_” These examples sufficiently illustrate this small department of literature, which, if deficient in work of real merit, at any rate contains nothing of an indelicate character.