Han Wên-Kung

“ But as years went on, the light of Imperial virtue began to pale; the circle of the empire was narrowed; and lands once subject to the divine sway passed under barbarian rule. Hence, the region of Ch‘ao-chou, distant many hundred miles from the capital, was then a fitting spot for thee, O crocodile, in which to bask, and breed, and rear thy young. But now again the times are changed. We live under the auspices of an enligtened prince, who seeks to bring within the Imperial fold all, even to the uttermost limits of sea and sky. ”

“ The Son of Heaven has confided this district and this people to my charge; and thou, goggle-eyed, by disturbing the peace of this river and devouring the people and their domestic animals, the bears, the boars, and deer of the neighbourhood, in order to batten thyself and reproduce thy kind,―thou art challenging me to a struggle of life and death. ”