Jen Tsung he yentured to sabmit five rules of conduct: — Gaard your patrimony; value time; keep sedition at a distance; be oautiooi oyer details; aim at reality. But he was a zealous opponent of Wang An-shih and his ^innovations ;" and when in 1070 the Emperor refused to part with the latter, he resigned and went into private life at Lo-yang. He then gave himself op entirely to the great work of his life, the famous history of China, of which a part had already been submitted to the Throne as far back as 1064. It was completed in 1084, the period covered extending from* the 5th cent. B.C: to the 10th cent. A.D.j and was pablished under the title of ^VJ^M^- ^^ ^085 he determined to return to public life; but he had not been many months in the capital, labouring as usual for his country's good, before he succumbed to an illness and died, almost universally honoured and regretted. Especially was he loved by the people of Lo-yang, who were accustomed to speak of him with respectful familiarity as HJ J| ij/Q ^, and also as !j^ ^^^ ^^® People's Living Buddha. In his youth he was a devoted student, and used a kind of round wooden pillow, which roused him to wakefulness by its moveitieDt every time he began to doze over his work. He had a large libraiyt and was so particular in the handling of his books that even after many years' use they were still as good as new. He would not allow his disciples to turn over leaves by scratching them up with the nails, but made them use the forefinger and second finger of the right hand. On one occasion , in childhood , a small companion fell into a water-kong and would have been drowned but for the presence of mind of Sstl-ma Euang. He seized a huge stone, and with it cracked the jar so that the water poured out. In addition to his history, he was also the author of the j^ "^ ^ , an historical work covering a period from twenty-five centuries before Christ to ten centuries after Christ; of the dictionary known as the ||@j^r
