THE MARRIAGE MAKER 1 



CHARLES KLIENE, F.R.G.S. 



There's divinity that shapes our ends, 

 Rough-hew them how we will. 



Hamlet, Act. V, Sc. 2. 



Many, many years ago, in the distant days of the T'ang 

 Dynasty, 2 there lived in the Prefecture of Sungkiang a 

 young man named Wei Ku. In his youth, Wei Ku had 

 received a liberal education, the best that his town could 

 give; and as he grew up he became famed for his learning. 

 Sungkiang which the ancients called "Yiin-chien," or 

 "Abode in the Clouds," has always been noted for its 

 literary men. At an early age Wei Ku had mastered the 

 Classics, and could quote from all the famous poets, and 

 they were numerous, for poetry was in its golden age in 

 the T'ang Dynasty. But as his people were in easy circum- 

 stances they looked upon his future as already provided for, 

 and so never troubled to prepare him for any special calling 

 in life. 



One day W T ei Ku left his native town to visit some friends 

 who lived in the ancient city of Hangchow, in the neighbour- 

 ing Province of Chekiang. Now, the city of Hangchow 

 stands in one of the prettiest spots in China; the beauty of 

 its surroundings is only rivalled, they say, by Soochow, in 

 Kiangsu. The Chinese speak of these two places as terres- 

 trial paradises, for they say: "Shang yu T'ien-t'ang; hsia 

 yu Soo Hang," which means that while "those above have 

 Heaven, we below have Soo and Hang." Hangchow is 

 enclosed by a massive wall thirty-three li in circumference 

 with ten gates. It nestles in a natural garden where the 

 placid lake and verdant hills, from time immemorial, have 

 been the subject of many paintings and the theme of many 

 a poem. 



It was while there that Wei Ku strolled out one fine 

 moonlight evening, after the evening meal, to see the sights 

 in the principal streets. As he rambled along, passing from 



1 Read before the Society on 23rd December, 1920. 

 a T'ang dynasty A.D. 618—905. 



