History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 35 My father taught me the *Erya*.

He announced the second question: "Write down five ancient Chinese words that mean 'old age and longevity'."

Cui Zhi was a precocious child. While studying the Book of Poetry, he was also studying the Erya with an elder in his clan. It was precisely because he understood the questions that he was puzzled. Logically, the questions should have started from the simplest and progressed to the most difficult. Why were they reversed? Moreover, Zheng Zun had clearly abandoned the questions he had prepared in advance and instead prepared questions on the spot.

To clear up his doubts, he went over to collect the papers this time.

"cough--"

Nine-year-old Cui Zhi felt for the first time that words could attack a person's eyes.

The correct answer to the second question should be: yellow hair, shivering teeth, hunched back, old, and frail.

"Yellow hair" refers to black hair that falls out and grows back yellow.
"Halosis" refers to the regeneration of finer teeth after the original teeth have fallen out.

"Taipei back" refers to the pattern of mackerel-like markings that appear on the back of an elderly person.

The characters “耇” and “老” need no further explanation; their original meaning has always been old.

The *Shigu* grouped these five ancient words together, interpreting the meaning of "longevity" from intuitive aspects such as a person's appearance and vitality. This method of explanation, using a combined approach, is remarkably easy to remember and learn. Wei Yao and her fellow disciples all wrote them correctly, but look at what the three young men from Changsun's side wrote!

Hu Yi'ao correctly wrote "yellow hair" and "old". He didn't know how to write the character "鲐" in "鲐背", so he circled it instead.

Changsun Chu did write five sets of words: "old age, longevity, long life, advanced age, advanced age," which shows he racked his brains. He clearly didn't even understand the basic philological knowledge that "single characters can form words."

Changsun Fuming probably had tinnitus; he misheard "old and long-lived" as "you're so old and long-lived," and wrote it down nonsensically the whole time! He wrote: "You're so old and long-lived, you're so old and long-lived, you're so old..."

The character “高” is missing a mouth radical, presumably because he saw that Ms. Wei was the first to raise her hand and hand in her paper, so he hurriedly stopped writing.

Cui Zhi handed the four answer sheets to Zheng Zun, taking the opportunity to look at the answer sheet for the first question. Wei Yao, a fellow student, immediately recognized the answer as correct, so Cui Zhi first looked at another sheet filled with writing…

"cough--"

My eyes hurt.

I'm not watching anymore!
Zheng Zun announced the third question, which was relatively the most difficult and was originally intended to be the last one. However, Zheng Zun suddenly became curious and wanted to know how well Ms. Wei had mastered the Erya. He said, "There are two sets of ancient words in the Shigu that explain the meaning of 'jin'. Please write them down from memory in groups first, and then explain their specific meanings using modern language."

Just like the previous two questions, he showed a piece of paper with the character "进" (meaning "advance") written on it.

Without hesitation, Wei Yao listened carefully to the question and began writing. She first categorized and summarized the differences between the two meanings of "进" (jìn): one meaning to introduce, promote, or enhance; the other meaning to present or utilize. Starting from the third column, she explained each word in language that was understandable in the present day.

The first character analyzed that has the meaning of "introducing" is "肃". The explanation should also be orderly. She first wrote down the original meaning of "肃" in "Shuowen Jiezi", which is "to hold things with respect". Then she cited the sentence "The host respectfully invites the guest in" from the first chapter of "Liji" (Book of Rites), which shows that the extended meaning of "肃" is to respectfully "introduce".

The second character that means "to introduce" is "延".

The third character is "诱" (yòu), and the fourth is...

The more focused she became on answering the questions, the more worried Changsun Wuzhuo and his gang of纨绔 (spoiled brats) became. "We're going to lose with the Erya! I should have known better than to sign the betting contract earlier."

"Wow—"

"Whoosh—" This noise came from Wei Mao using the contract in his hand as a fan.

With no other hope, the group placed even more hope in Changsun Fuming, because only he consistently displayed the same composure as Lady Wei, and he would immediately start writing down every question as soon as he heard it.

But Xi Jiao and Zhou Tai thought differently. Xi Jiao asked in a low voice, "Did your cousin ever rank in the top three in the joint entrance exam?"

"No. He usually doesn't study as well as my cousin Changsun Chu." Changsun Wuzhuo was very puzzled. Could it be that the test was a lucky one, and the question was about something his cousin knew?

Xi Jiao took a deep breath. Well, at least Zhou Tai managed to turn the tables on them with the Analects. He would give it his all for the rest.

Looking outside the screen, Lu Baozhen and He Rong were also uneasy. The latter paced back and forth, while the former frequently poked his head between the two screens to check on Wei Yao's condition. "I really didn't expect it! Miss Wei really knows the *Erya*!" If they could win this round, and if they could also win with the *Classic of Poetry*… no, no, no, let's not think about that now. Let's just pray that this round goes smoothly.

Only Wei Jing remained calm and composed. He believed that if Yao, a fellow disciple, dared to speak, he would definitely know the *Erya*. He had just finished eating when he went to watch Qiu Ruizhi paint.

This drawing... is so simple! With a flick of the pen, you draw a long vertical circle, then another, and another circle. The "circles" represent people. On such a large sheet of paper, with so much blank space, you cram over twenty circles into a space the size of two fists; at first glance, it really looks like a silkworm cocoon meeting.

The two "silkworm pupae" are easy to distinguish: the one with two towering double buns on top must be Wei Yao, and the one with twisted lines on top must be Hu Yi'ao.

The other silkworm-like figures either wore small crowns or had a thin horizontal line on their heads. Wei Jing compared their positions with the real people and understood that the thin horizontal line represented a hairpin.

When Qiu Ruizhi finished adding outer garments to each silkworm pupa, the Erya exam was finally over.

Zheng Zun first announced "Miss Wei wins," then asked the losing team's commander, "Does Young Master Changsun want to review the papers?"

"Read." Changsun Wuzhuo couldn't wait for the papers to be handed out and went straight over to look at them one by one. He didn't need to understand the Erya; anyone who could read knew that Changsun Fuming was talking nonsense! This bastard wrote dozens of "general idea"s for the first question. He was quite good at saving paper, putting the "standing" radical of each "idea" into the stroke of the character "big," so at first glance, each "idea" looked like it had been excreted from "big."

The second question was written in two and a half sentences... How old are you?
Got it, my God! Utter nonsense and deafness!

The third question was about "two groups entering", but this guy's answer was full of "two groups entering"!
No, staring at it for too long is making my eyes blurry and hurting. Changsun Wuzhuo looked for Hu Yi'ao's answer sheet. "Sigh—"

It's clear that Yi Ao has studied the Erya (a classical Chinese dictionary) thoroughly, but comparing his work with that of Lady Wei immediately reveals the difference in their abilities.

Changsun Wuzhuo turned around, his eyes narrowed into slits as he smiled at Wei Yao, having lost clearly. He asked, "Has the young lady always studied both the Book of Poetry and the Erya?"

Wei Yao rose and bowed politely: "My father taught at the Wei Clan Academy, where he taught the *Erya*, and I learned it from him." Of course, this wasn't entirely true. At this age, even with direct instruction, it was impossible to master both subjects, especially since calligraphy practice was also necessary. Her correct answers to the three questions were based on her past life's accumulation of knowledge and her recent intensive memorization through repeated reading.

"Stop wasting time," Wei Mao said, stopping the others from asking any more questions. "Let's move on to the next round!"

Outside the screen, Lu Baozhen was overjoyed, while Wei Jing was even more direct, carving three holes in the drawing paper himself.

The impartial examiner, Wang Ji, asked, "Have you decided to test us on the Analects next? If not, please come forward and sit down, and I will set the questions."

The moment of revenge has arrived! Zhou Tai stepped forward with great ambition.

After he sat down, Wei Yao returned to her previous exam seat.

Everyone was in an uproar!

齯 (ní) 齿鲐 (tái) 背耇 (gǒu)
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(End of this chapter)