CHINESE POETRY AND ITS CONNOTATIONS 115 



1. — Ch'iung T'ai |f£ §§g : the Terrace of Red- veined Marble, built 

 1786 B.C. by Chieh Kuei of the Hsia dynasty for the very beautiful 

 and very wicked Mo Hsi, his concubine. 



2. — Yao T'ai f£ j|| : the Terrace of Green-Jasper ; built in Honan 

 1142 B.C. by Chou Hsin of the Shang dynasty for the infamous T'a Chi 

 who is regarded as perhaps the most depraved woman in history. 



3.— Feng Nu T'ai JH, -fr g : built in Shensi 645 B.C. by Ch'in 

 Mo Kung one of the ancestors of Shih Huang Ti to celebrate the 

 flageolet playing of his daughter Lung Yu who, having learnt her art from 

 the divine youth Hsiao Se, (whom she eventually married), was able to 

 attract the Feng Huang to the Terrace where she and Hsiao Se lived 

 for a year before they became immortals. 



4.— Ku Su T'ai & & S : Terrace of the Ku Su Hill, built in 

 Kiangsu (Soochou) 493 B.C. by Fu Cha King of Wu for the lovely 

 Hsi Shih, ,who had been sent to him by the King of Yueh and who 

 eventually caused his downfall. 



5. — Ch'ing Ling T'ai ff ^ §5 : Terrace of the Green Sepulchre, 

 built at K'ai Feng-fu, Honan 321 B.C. by Kang Wang of Sung, (the 

 Six Dynasties "Sung"). It has a most romantic history. It was not 

 large but was very high and was built so that Kang Wang could look 

 down into the home of his Official Han Peng who had a most lovely 

 wife. 



6. — Po Liang T'ai jfa ^ ?g : The Cedar Beam Terrace, built 

 108 B.C. by Han Wu Ti. When it was finished the great men of the 

 Empire were invited to a feast. This was the occasion upon which the 

 first 7 character "lu" was written, the Emperor himself giving the first 

 line, which was then capped by various officials in turn. 



7. — Tung Tso T'ai $1] ^ j§£ : Bronze Wood-pecker Terrace, built 

 in Honan A.D. 217 by Ts'ao Ts'ao, for the use of his concubines. 



Q.—Chin Hu T'ai & j% gg : Gold Tiger Terrace, built by Ts'ao 

 Ts'ao for use of his concubines. 



9. — Ping Ching T'ai ^ ^S : Ice Well Terrace also built by 

 Ts'ao Ts'ao for same use. 



10. — TAng Hsiao T'ai *{& |jt[ ?g : Rising Mists Terrace, built on the 

 Huang Shan ^ Uj Yellow Mountains, Anhui, A.D. 420 by Wu Ti of 

 Sung (Six Dynasties) as a summer residence for his best loved con- 

 cubine whom he took there to avoid the heat. 



11.— Feng Huang T'ai JgJL Jj& H : built in Nanking A.D. 439 by 

 Wen Ti of Sung (Six Dynasties) to celebrate the appearance of these 

 fabulous birds which were supposed to have been seen near the South 

 Gate of the City. 



12. — Yii Hua T'ai jjg ;f£ «§ : Rain Flowers Terrace, built in 

 Nanking A.D. 543 by Wu Ti of Liang to celebrate an occasion when 

 a Buddhist priest chanted a sutra and "Heaven rained flowers." 



There are perhaps no people in the world who are more 

 passionately fond of nature than are the Chinese, and in 

 addition to their large homes, the rich often indulged in 

 Pieh Shu M M or country villas set in most beautiful and 

 peaceful surroundings; scholars who were unable to afford 

 such luxuries contented themselves with tiny dwellings 

 among the hills to which they retired and lived a life of con- 

 templation. 



Sociology. 

 Home Life. — Having seen the manner of house in which 

 the people of China lived let us consider for a moment the 



