“_Trees grow, not alike, by the mound and the moat; Birds sing in the forest with varying note; Of the fish in the river some dive and some float. The mountains rise high and the waters sink low, But the why and the wherefore we never can know._” Another well-known poet who lived into the seventh century is HSIEH TAO-HÊNG. He offended Yang Ti, the second Emperor of the Sui dynasty, by writing better verses than his Majesty, and an excuse was found for putting him to death. One of the most admired couplets in the language is associated with his name though not actually by him, its author being unknown. To amuse a party of friends Hsieh Tao-hêng had written impromptu, “_A week in the spring to the exile appears Like an absence from home of a couple of years._” A “southerner” who was present sneered at the shallowness of the conceit, and immediately wrote down the following:-- “_If home, with the wild geese of autumn, we’re going, Our hearts will be off ere the spring flowers are blowing._” An official of the Sui dynasty was FU I (A.D. 554-639), who became Historiographer under the first Emperor of the T‘ang dynasty. He had a strong leaning towards Taoism, and edited the _Tao-Tê-Ching_. At the same time he presented a memorial asking that the Buddhist religion might be abolished; and when Hsiao Yü, a descendant of Hsiao Yen (above), questioned him on the subject, he said, “You were not born in a hollow mulberry-tree; yet you respect a religion which does not recognise the tie between father and son!” He urged that at any rate priests and nuns should be compelled to marry and bring up families, and not escape from contributing their share to the revenue, adding that Hsiao Yü by defending their doctrines showed himself no better than they were. At this Hsiao Yü held up his hands, and declared that hell was made for such men as Fu I. The result was that severe restrictions were placed for a short time upon the teachers of Buddhism. The Emperor T‘ai Tsung once got hold of a Tartar priest who could “charm people into unconsciousness, and then charm them back to life again,” and spoke of his powers to Fu I. The latter said confidently, “He will not be able to charm me;” and when put to the test, the priest completely failed. He was the originator of epitaphs, and wrote his own, as follows:-- “_Fu I loved the green hills and the white clouds... Alas! he died of drink._” [Sidenote: WANG CHI]