Yen

jli, the feudal state which occupied the extreme north-east boundary of the Chou empire, and which was given by Wu Wang to his half brother, Shih, the Duke of Shao (v. Legge, Shu Chinrj, pp. 346, 352, 420, 474, 545), who, when administering the affairs of his duchy, sat under a pear tree, which the grateful people therefore refused to allow woodmen to tamper with. (Legge, Shih Ching, 26). There is practically nothing of note in the history of the state till we come to the last chapter. It was the heir-apparent of the last prince who almost succeeded in getting an a a in to murder Ch'in Shih Huang Ti. The failure of the plot in the very act of its being carried out, caused the immediate destruction of Yen, B.C. 221. Being so far north it was never of great political weight and though it is spoken of as abounding in horses it remained a comparatively feeble State even in its best days. Peking is situated in the very heart of old Yen; the name is still used as a lite i-ary designation of that neighbourhood.