History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 260 Poetry Contest with Li Yin

At this point, Wei Yao began to analyze the poem. The interpretation of "明明" in the first line of the first chapter of "Da Ming" differed between the commentary and the annotation.

The commentary says that the word "Mingming" praises the virtue of King Wen, but Zheng Xuan's commentary believes that "Mingming" praises the virtue of both King Wen and King Wu.

Wei Yaoxian firmly articulated the direction of the school of thought inherited from her teacher: "The interpretation in the commentary is reasonable. Zheng Xuan's intention was to use this sentence as the general outline of the entire poem..."

Next, following Zheng's commentary, she first summarized how the poem should be interpreted, not as the commentary stated, using the sixth line, "the eldest son is upright," as the dividing line, with all the praise before the line referring to King Wen and all the praise after the line referring to King Wu.

The Wenya Academy has not yet officially accepted students. The Confucian scholars who come to listen to the lectures are almost all those who went to the ruins of the Imperial Academy to copy the stone classics. They only came to see it after hearing that there were lectures here.

Li Yin and other members of the poetry society sat down on one side, listening and whispering among themselves: "Following the interpretation of the 'Annotations,' how is what she said different from what we learned? This kind of content is only admired by some poor scholars who lack the guidance of famous teachers."

"She's better than me, she's thick-skinned. If I only knew this much about the interpretation of the texts, I wouldn't dare to sit in front of so many people and talk so confidently."

"Miss Li, what do you think of her speech?"

Li Yin: "She did indeed follow the interpretation of the 'Annotations', but I understand her. The court promoted the interpretation of the classics written by Zheng Xuan. If she did not speak in this way, she would not be able to gain a foothold in Luoyang."

"In other words, we can also give lectures?" The person who made this sarcastic remark was surnamed Ji, and was a disciple of Li Yin's father.

He Lan sat behind Li Yin and said, "There are many small private schools in the suburbs of Luoyang, and they all teach the Book of Poetry. I have compared them, and none of them are as profound as Lady Wei's teaching."

Ji Rusheng: "You've only compared a few?"

Just as He Lan was about to answer, her cousin He Erhun glared at her, so she had no choice but to continue listening to the lecture.

Although Li Yin didn't know the teaching standards of the small private schools in Luoyang, he had never heard of any successful private schools from his father in all these years, so he knew that what He Lan said was true.

Wei Yao was merely a student at Wenya Academy, yet she could surpass the older teachers in private schools when it came to poetry. This shows that Wenya Academy must have intended to establish the first well-known private school in Luoyang.

The young man lectured, half lecturing and half debating.

The foundation of debate must first be based on the principles of learning, and the purpose of debate is to use one school of thought to suppress another.

Therefore, the process of debate is a war among intellectuals!
After Wei Yao finished explaining the first chapter, he asked all the Confucian scholars, "Do any of you have any doubts about your interpretation of this chapter?"

Someone has to step up now!

Li Yin was very nervous, counting her heartbeats. If no one asked any questions or made any arguments after three breaths, then she would speak.

A scholar asked, "Just now, the young lady explained that the 'Three Luminaries' mentioned in the 'Notes' refer to the sun, moon, and stars. I rarely have the opportunity to read ancient books, and I would like to ask the young lady to tell me in detail the sources of the 'Three Luminaries' in classical texts."

Wei Yao nodded with delight and said, "The most corroborating source for this interpretation is the second year of Duke Huan in the Zuo Zhuan. The original sentence is 'The three celestial bodies are depicted on flags with bells to signify their brightness.' The Han scholar Fu Qian annotated this sentence, meaning that the sun, moon, and stars were painted on flags with bells to signify their brightness."

The scholar bowed and said, "Thank you for your guidance."

Wei Yao noticed that the clothes on the woman's clothes were faded and she couldn't bear to throw them away. Her own family had also gone through hardship in the past, so she continued to explain in detail: "I will interpret the theory of the three luminaries in the Zuo Zhuan and the Benjingxun chapter of the Huainanzi. The original sentence is 'The sun and moon are clear and bright, and the five planets follow their orbits without losing their course.' This means that when the sun, moon, and stars follow their orbits in accordance with the seasons, it is because the ruler's virtue moves Heaven, and Heaven then bestows upon the people the orderly seasons of heat and cold."

The group of people from the Hongchi Poetry Society fell silent.

Because regarding the interpretation of "Three Stars," they only know the Zuo Zhuan, not the Huainanzi.

Wei Yao asked again, "Regarding the first chapter of 'The Great Ming,' which scholar has a different opinion?" Ji Rusheng coughed lightly, reminding Li Yin, "Junior sister, junior sister?"

Li Yin's thoughts were in disarray. What her father had taught her was almost identical to what Wei Yao had said. She had no different opinions at all, so she couldn't just spout nonsense, could she?

Fortunately, at this time, a Confucian scholar from another direction presented his own theory.

Ji Rusheng used his mask to hide his anxious expression and whispered to Li Yin, "I found out the time of Miss Wei's lecture in advance and gathered so many people from the poetry club here to cheer on my junior sister in the debate. If you back down today, I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to compete with Wei Yao in the future!"

Li Yin knew her family was struggling financially. It wasn't that she didn't want to contribute to the family's prosperity, but she lacked the confidence to compete with Wei Yao in poetry. "If I lose..."

You cannot lose!

"But……"

Ji Rusheng was extremely disappointed. He closed his eyes briefly and then said, "Then I will do it."

As a woman from a prominent family, Li Yin pinched her palm hard with her nails to calm herself down: "No need. When my father became famous, her teacher was still some remote place in Lu County."

Just then, Wei Yao finished answering the scholar's question.

Before Wei Yao could even glance at him, Li Yin took the initiative to ask, “The last line of this chapter, ‘使不挟四方’, is interpreted in the commentary as ‘浃’, meaning ‘to reach’. Could you please explain the origin of the meaning of ‘浃’ to us, so that we can understand the meaning of ‘to reach’?”

Without even thinking, Wei Yao replied, "The 'Autumn Official and Grand Minister of Justice' chapter of the 'Rites of Zhou' records... On an auspicious day in the first month, when the weather is harmonious, the sun is eclipsed, and the harvest is gathered."

"From this sentence, we can see that '挟' is interchangeable with '浃'. It means to circle around and return, so it is extended to mean 'to reach'."

Li Yin pressed further: "Since it involves going around in circles, which two characters can be used to represent '挟'?"

Wei Yao: "Hey! Zha!"

The Confucian scholars whispered among themselves.

Because “匝” is easy to understand, everyone understands “绕树三匝” in “短歌行”, but the character “迊” is not commonly used in books. Where does it come from? This character is rare, and most Confucian scholars have never heard of it!

In fact, Li Yin could have stopped there, because if Wei Yao knew the character “迊”, she would definitely know its interpretation in the Shuowen Jiezi. But Li Yin did not continue to ask, and the rest was even less difficult for Wei Yao.

However, when Li Yin asked again, he used a trick: "As far as I know, the Shuowen Jiezi explains that the character '帀' means 'circle'. The ancient character '之' written upside down is '帀', which may be the origin of the character '迊'. So, tracing the etymology, may I ask Miss Wei, is there a source for the meaning of '帀' as 'circling around'?"

Wei Yao smiled; she had guessed it. The woman asking the question must be Li Biao's daughter, Li Yin. This question was quite interesting, implying that Miss Li herself knew the answer and was simply testing her.

So, if she answers, it's pointless; if she doesn't answer, it's embarrassing.

Wei Yaoxian explained the answer: "The 'Spring Official's Record of Auspicious Symbols' in the 'Rites of Zhou' states... The king presented the large jade tablet, held the tablet, and spun five colorful silk threads to greet the sun."

"It means that the king wore a jade tablet at his waist, held the jade tablet in his hand, and placed a silk mat on the jade tablet, which was wrapped with five colors five times, before worshipping the sun and offering sacrifices."

"Five is called 'five circles', five turns, five cycles."

After explaining, Wei Yao asked, "Does the young lady understand? Is there any scholar who still has questions about the first chapter of 'The Great Ming'?"

This statement immediately shattered Li Yin's ulterior motives, turning the other party's initial intention of testing her into the other party's lack of understanding and seeking her guidance.