History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 2 Ink Exchange for Characters in the Shuowen Jiezi

The setting sun bathed Pingcheng in a crimson glow.

Wei Yin carried his book box back to Chiyang Lane.

"Master Wei is back."

"You've just gotten home too."

As usual, Wei Yin greeted his neighbors. What was different was that his daughter ran over to greet him, her little hands trying to lift the book box to help lighten its weight. Although it didn't do much good, Wei Yin's fatigue from the whole day truly disappeared in that instant.

"What did A-Yao learn about Guan Ju today?"

"Yes."

Every year, the Wei clan primary school enrolls new students who can study the Analects, the Erya, and the Book of Poetry. Regarding the Book of Poetry alone, there are five dormitories for new students. Based on the depth of the teacher's knowledge, if Wei Yin hadn't been a teacher at the clan school, Wei Yao wouldn't have been able to get into the best dormitory.

Wei Yin asked, "Is Master Duan's teaching effective?"

"Good. Just as good as what Father taught."

"Haha."

As soon as the father and daughter entered the house, Zhao Zhi easily lifted the book box off her husband's back with one hand and carried it inside. Wei Yin went to check on the wild orchids he was cultivating by the wall, while A Yao and her mother set up the feast, carrying the table and serving the food. In August, as the summer heat subsided, if they made the most of the time, they could still finish their dinner in the courtyard.

As night deepened, Wei Yin opened his book box and began copying books.

The Great Wei Dynasty valued military prowess over literature, but since the establishment of the Imperial Academy, the acceptance of scholars from Hexi, and the worship of Confucius at the Temple of Confucius, it is clear that the court is determined to revitalize Confucianism! As a result, the various tribes hurriedly collected the books that had been lost in various places due to the war, repairing the damaged ones and copying the undamaged ones.

For a teacher like Wei Yin, who was good at writing, in addition to the reward of paper and ink, he would also receive rice and firewood for each book he copied.

Otherwise, how could Wei Yao's family have the confidence to continue supporting her education?

At the crowing of the rooster, Wei Yao opened her eyes and a smile bloomed on her face. How fortunate! She was still eight years old; she had truly been reborn.

To cultivate the character of young children, the elementary school stipulated that classes would begin at 5:30 AM. Walking briskly along the road, I saw smoke rising from every house, the sounds of spinning wheels, chickens scurrying about, and dogs barking all blending together. Even the old women washing clothes on the riverbank were finishing their work and heading home.

So, is studying hard?
It's tough. But not studying is tough too!
Just as she had suspected, Wei Mao arrived even earlier. He was sitting upright; there was definitely something wrong with him!

Wei Yao opened all the windows, letting in the light. She then looked at her desk and her seat, noting that it was a darker color than the others'. Upon lifting it, she found it was indeed damp.

Wei Maoju pretended to read the book, and then, laughing, he shrugged his shoulders slightly.

Wei Yao was puzzled, because in her impression the other party was sinister and had an unpredictable temper. How could he do something so stupid in the open? She took the wet mat out the door, stood it against the wall, and then opened the book box and took out the old mat that she was used to at home.

Wei Mao stared in disbelief: "You even brought something like this?"

She smiled gently: "Fellow disciple Mao has arrived very early."

"Good morning to you too." Wei Mao was too lazy to maintain his sitting posture, so he crossed one leg and bent the other, resting his left elbow on his bent left knee.

"Master Mao, do you think Master Duan will teach us new poetry today, or will he review 'Guanju'?"

"Of course, it's modern poetry."

"how do you know?"

"It's the usual practice! Didn't you inquire before enrolling?"

Wei Yao looked slightly embarrassed and began wiping the desk and arranging the writing brush and ink.

Wei Mao stared at her retreating figure, a surge of anger rising within him. He stretched out his leg and hooked her, causing her to tumble over. She turned back angrily, meeting his gaze—the same sinister look she remembered from her past life. Yes, the capricious Wei Mao was right.

Then the other students arrived one after another.

Qu Rong had just sat down at half past dawn when Master Duan arrived and began by saying, "From now on, the course will no longer follow the usual format. Instead, we will study one poem every two days. On the first day, we will memorize and explain the preface. On the second day, we will explain the commentary and recite the annotations."

An awkward expression shifted to Wei Mao's face.

Wei Yao smiled. Rebirth was her armor. Some things couldn't be done the same way as in her previous life, but the court's policies and measures would certainly remain unchanged.

His Majesty's ambition to honor Confucianism and promote Han culture and Han clothing surpasses the imagination of all Xianbei nobles! Furthermore, in the fourth year after the capital was moved, which is the present year, His Majesty adopted the opinion of the Han aristocratic families led by the Cui clan of Qinghe and added Zheng Xuan's "Annotations on the Book of Songs" to the primary school curriculum.

In the future, Xianbei school children will have to read the Book of Songs in the same way as Han school children. They will not only have to understand the poems, but also the preface.

"During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the Book of Poetry was revered as a classic. The preface to the Book of Poetry is divided into a major preface and a minor preface. There is only one major preface, which follows the minor preface to the poem 'Guanju'. Each poem has a minor preface, and each has a commentary explaining the meaning of the words, as well as a commentary explaining the commentary! Today we will discuss the major preface and the minor preface to 'Guanju', and tomorrow we will explain the commentary and recite the commentary." After summarizing this briefly, Master Duan first analyzed the minor preface, while taking in the students' individual performance.

One type is like Wei Yao, who had already learned many characters and was still diligent and willing to learn, taking notes quickly while listening;

One type is like Wei Mao, who knows quite a few characters, but like his elders, he prefers martial arts to literature. He comes to school just to get by, and his writing implements are just for show.
Finally, there's Qu Rong, who, either due to family circumstances or because he's not very bright, can't recognize many characters and keeps forgetting what he's saying while listening, scratching his head in frustration.

The break between classes was a quarter of an hour. Wei Yao used hemp rope to bind the bamboo slips together in order, and then copied them onto paper when she got home.

Wei Mao pushed his knees against the desk as he moved forward, and soon his knees reached Wei Yao's waist.

She carefully covered the bamboo slip with both hands before turning back to ask, "What is it, Mao Tongmen?"

"Could I copy down what the Master taught?"

"I use ash from the bottom of a pot to make ink, do you want some too?"

"Hmph, just say you want ink next time." He tossed two ink blocks over. "Is that enough?"

One large and one small, both exuding the aroma of herbs, are both top-quality pine soot ink.

Wei Yao replied, "That's enough. I'll copy it for you tomorrow morning, but just so you know, the best paper we have is hemp paper."

"Let's see how well you copy it. If the words meet my standards, I'll give you another box of fish roe paper."

The fish-egg paper is soft, smooth, and clean, with patterns resembling fish eggs. It is the most luxurious paper in the world! Wei Yao immediately smiled, but after a while, she sighed that poverty makes one lose ambition.

Classes end at noon every day.

Wei Mao's servant led the horse to the schoolhouse in advance. As soon as Master Duan announced the end of the lessons, the boy and two other members of the main branch of the family waved their whips and made a ruckus, following closely behind the master out of the schoolhouse.

Wei Yao slowly packed her things, and only came out after she was sure the plague god had left. Today was different from yesterday's anxiety. She was not in a hurry to go home, but went to the calligraphy and painting market in Dongsi Ward first.

Besides writing brushes and ink, the market mainly sold fragments of books and bamboo slips. Of course, finding genuine works was even more impossible than finding pearls in the sand!
Wei Yao only requires that the content is not fabricated or made up.

An hour later, she found what she needed. Yingju Bookstore had many fragments of the Shuowen Jiezi. She took out the small pine soot ink given to her by Wei Mao, put on an arrogant look, and said, "I want all the fragments of the Shuowen Jiezi. If you can exchange them, great; if not, I'll go to another store."

Just then, Qu Rong returned home. As soon as he entered the courtyard, his father shouted in a loud voice, "Why are you only getting back now?"

"I have a lot of homework today."

"Nonsense! I saw Young Master Mao on the street a long time ago!"

Qu Rong only dared to mutter softly, "Young Master Mao, Young Master Mao, all he ever does is talk about. What kind of status does he have? Does he even listen to the teacher? He has people copying his homework for him. How can I compare to him?"

(End of this chapter)