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249.

are called the Five Dynasties,
Ch'êng1

wu3

tai4

Entitle five dynasty

Ch'êng see line 186.

Wu see line 15.

Tai is composed of 人 jen man as radical, and 弋 i a stake, to shoot with bow and arrow. It means to exchange, in place of, dynasty, etc., and must be carefully distinguished from 伐 fa (line 195).

250.

and there was a reason for the establishment of each.
Chieh1

yu3

yu2

All have cause

Chieh is composed of 白 pai white as radical, and 比 pi to compare.

Yu see line 14.

Yu is not given in the Shuo Wên dictionary. It means cause, source, because, from, by, etc. [Eitel quite misses the point of this line and translates by "All of them having their origin one in the other." It has been suggested to me that this line may mean that these Five Dynasties were all named in reference to earlier dynasties mentioned in lines 228, 239, 226, 216, and 199. The commentary however of Ho Hsing-ssŭ gives 五代皆有所來者也, which puts the question beyond doubt.]

251.

Then the fire-led House of Sung arose,
Yen2 sung4 hsing1

Fiery sung rise

Yen is 火 huo fire doubled to convey an idea of intensity. There is no term by which this word can really be translated in this connection. The meaning is that the Sung dynasty ruled under

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