of the History of the Sung Dynasty^ and soon succeeded in displaebg
him. Later on Hsia Ten was restored to &7oar and made use of
his position to bring grave charges against j^ j^ ^^'^^^ Shih-fiin,
the one-eyed, ball-necked son of his rival, subsequently executed
and commonly known as ]^ ^ . Father and son saved themsdves
by an abject appeal for mercy, and before very long, through the
machinations of the former, Hsia Yen perished at the hands of the
executioner.. Then followed a period of power, the scandalous abuse
of which caused Yen Sung to be known as the chief of the Six
Wicked Ministers of the Ming dynasty. Finally even the Emperor
wearied of him, and in 1562, at the instance of Hsii Chieh, he
was dismissed and his property confiscated. It was popularly asserted
that the Emperor sent him a handsome silver bowl with which to
go about and collect alms, but that no one would either give him
anything or venture to purchase the bowl, so that he died of
starvation while still in the possession of wealth.
2476 Ten Tsun H ^ (T. ^ ^). Ist cent. B.C. and A.D. A natite of Lin-chiung in Sstich^uan, who followed the trade of astrologer and fortune-teller at Ch^§ng-tu. As soon as he had taken 400 cash he would shut up shop and devote himself to the Canon of Changes. For a time the celebrated philosopher Yang Hsiung studied under him. A wealthy man of the neighbourhood offered him money with a view to an official career; but Yen Tsun declined, saying, '^Material wealth means intellectual poverty; for my soul to live, my body must die.**
2477 Ten Tun-fu ^^^ (T. ^^). Died A.D. 1140. Great grandson of Yen Shu. He graduated as chin shih^ and rose to be a Supervising Censor. He was a bitter opponent of the peace proposals of Ch4n Euei. The latter sent a hint to him that he would do well to be less virulent; but Yen replied, "Ginger and cinnamon get hotter with age." However ultimately he found him- self obliged to apply for a provincial post.
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