THE SHUH COUNTRY 59 



much to improve the district of P'u Kiang (ft ft) bv his 



skill m controlling and guiding the floods. ' There are still 

 ferries at P eng Hsien (& B) and Ts'ien Wei (« ft) which 

 bear his name, thus giving some idea of the wide influence 

 ne exerted. 



™ At ,S a t Per ^° d a11 the native P rinces st yled themselves 

 Wang (3E) but Yii Fu (ft ft) only styled himself expectant 

 .King. 



Whenever floods came and got out of his control he at 

 once began to think of abdication in favour of a more 

 competent person. 



About this time a certain man named Pih Ling (flg fg) 

 came to Shun from Kin Cheo (ffi >M) in Hupeh. He opened 

 the Yii Lui (iil) gorge, which is situated near what was 

 then called Mien Ch'i Hsien (|g ffi M) below the present 

 city of Wen Ch'uan (i£ Jl|). When Yii Fu (ft ft) saw the 

 work accomplished, by Pih Ling (81 fg) and heard of his 

 wonderful powers over the surging floods, he abdicated in his 

 favour and retired to Feng Tsieh Hsien (^ fS U) situated in 

 the Kingdom of Pa (EL) ; where his descendents were known 

 as Yii Fu P'u (ft H «§). Thus the ancient line of Kings left 

 Shuh (3fj) and were succeeded by the descendents of Pih 

 Ling (H M). It is popularly believed that Yii Fu (ft ft) left 

 Shuh in the spring season when the T'ien Chii'en (H H) or 

 goatsucker, was at the height of its spring crying. It is 

 believed that this bird is calling the farmer in the very early 

 morning to hurry up to work by calling K'uai K'uai Huang 

 (#6 1& M), "I ripen quickly." This refers to the wheat and 

 barley which make up the spring crop. From this time 

 onward the goatsucker was called the Tu Chiien (*fc II) and 

 P'i Hsien ($1$ &&) his former capital the city of the Tu Chiien 

 (tt II) a poetical name which marks the city down to the 

 present day. 



It is said that when Pih Ling (SI H) ascended the 

 throne of Shuh that he took the title of K'ai Ming Shi 

 (ffl W A) with the Dynastic title of Ts'ong Ti (1 ffr), and 

 his line of Kings continued to govern the country for nine 

 generations, his capital was later set up in Ch'en tu. It is 

 said that a temple to the memory of Pih Ling still exists 

 near Liang Lu K'eo, some 17 li from P'i Hsien. 



About the close of the Cheo Dynasty, and in the 5th 

 year of the reign of Emperor Chen Ts'ing {U WL) (320 B.C.) , 

 the Kings of Shuh and Pa went to war with each other. 

 Later the Ts'in (*) Emperor Ts'in Huei Wang (i* Jg3E) 

 sent two of his Generals, Chang Ni (3£ ^) and Si Ma Ts'o 

 (5J m H), to subdue the country of Shuh and bring it into 



