History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 49 Grass Bead Bracelet
Xue Nixia looked around and recited the first question, which was as hard and cold as his jawbone: "Peach and plum, peach and plum, the beauty of princesses and princes."

The schoolchildren were furious!

They had already marked the character "关" in the poem "关雎" with dots beforehand, but the first question wasn't the example question!
Upon seeing "peach and plum" for the first time, Wei Yao knew the title came from "How lush they are!" After writing down the poem title, she wrote down the line containing the characters "peach and plum": "As beautiful as peach and plum blossoms."

Wei Mao was a step behind, and came up with the answer when Senior Brother Xue read "peach and plum" for the second time. While dissatisfied with himself, Wei Mao also gained some experience in answering questions. He should not have thought about the source of the poem from the word "peach" first, but should have thought about "peach and plum" together. Then there was only one answer: "How lush it is".

Wei Puti was a step too slow. When he heard "princesses and grandsons of kings," he hurriedly wrote it down. He was quite clever and knew that it was too late, so he first wrote the character "襛" and waited for the opportunity to complete it.

But even this single word was not enough for him to finish writing.

Wei Daozi read out the second half of the question: "Xie, Zang..."

Wei Yao's mind raced: Which "意"? Which "牂"?
There were too many characters pronounced "yi," so she skipped them without hesitation and only guessed the pronunciation of "zang." No, she ruled out "zang" first! This character appears in the "Chen Feng" chapter, which she hadn't learned yet.

Wei Daozi read it a second time: "Xie, Zang..."

Zang! It's Zang! Wei Yao knows the source of the poem!

During Wei Daozi's interpretation of the character "泄" as "flying and flapping its wings," Wei Yao wrote the poem title "Male Pheasant."

She kept writing: her brushstrokes were loose and delicate.

Wei Daozi's announcement continued without pause: "Zang means good conduct."

Why not be good... Wei Yao's answer ends.

Xue Nixia: "Piyi, Piyi..."

The northern city, the state academy.

Which "skin" and which "guard"? Only on the second set of questions, Xi Jiao's thoughts were already a complete mess. He rubbed his eyes, and a dark mark immediately appeared under his eyes. Yes, actually, he could just use his hearing, but if his ears weren't enough, wouldn't he have to use his eyes, teeth, and hands all at the same time?

Which one is "tired" and which one is "not yet"?
Alas, it was too late. Xi Jiao's shoulders slumped, and she was forced to give up.

West City, Cui Academy.

The second half of the second group's questions: "Photo, cover, photo, cover..."

Haiye Ren, pressing his throbbing lips, cursed inwardly, "What a load of crap! Can't I just find a dog instead?!"

"Zhao, Mao? Which Zhao, which Mao?" Yuan Heng racked his brains and even held the brush upside down. From the start of the second round of testing, there was more ink on his face than on the paper.

Dongcheng, Weizu Academy.

Wei Daozi: "Zhao, Mao, Zhao, Mao, Zhao... the brilliance of the sun and moon, Mao... is the same as Zhao."

"You naughty senior brother!" Wu Ji rolled his eyes.

Wei Jian was lost in thought and found himself laughing.

The four students, Wei Yao, Wei Mao, Wei Puti, and Wei Zhen, all answered this question correctly. The poem's source is "Sun and Moon" from the "Bei Feng" section, and the corresponding line is: "Shining down on the earth, the earth is covered."

However, the price for the latter two to answer correctly was that they had to give up the next question from Senior Brother Xue.

Xue Nixia: "My house, my house, the sparrow flying through the house seems to have horns."

Starting with the third set of questions, the intervals between sentence truncation, word truncation, and annotations were even removed!!
Wei Yao's hands and mind moved at the same speed, writing: "The dew is falling, why does it penetrate my house?"

"Xing Lu" is the title of the poem, and "He Yi Chuan Wo Wu" is the line containing "Wo Wu".

Wei Mao was very excited; he had an idea! His hand and mind raced as he wrote: Okay…

He wrote just one character, and Wei Daozi read it aloud: "The harmonious sounds can be heard far and wide, and the grass is lush and verdant."

Those reading the questions didn't hold back, but those answering them did! Immediately, a series of "ah" sounds filled the school dormitory.

Before Wei Jing and the other unlucky kids could even catch their breath, another senior brother started again!

“Shufu Shufu Shuzi Shouye Tunshuye…” No, Xue Nixia was short of breath and needed to catch his breath before he could continue.

"Son--"

All fourteen students in the schoolhouse, except for Wei Yao, along with the elderly Master Duan, involuntarily took a breath. Their collective gasps sounded remarkably like something called a "skyrocket" a thousand years later.

“Fuzhu Jiang Ancient State was the land of the Jiang clan, also known as Fu State.”

In fact, the explanations of "戍" and "甫" can be simplified to two characters, but that would leave insufficient time for students to write.

Wei Mao belatedly realized that "Shu Fu" was from the poem "Yang Zhi Shui" that they had just studied! Those two lousy senior brothers! They made him hold his breath and forget about answering the question!

Time passed in a blur of holding one's breath, inhaling, and exhaling, until the second round of torture finally ended. Governor Yuan was already at the Wei Clan Academy; he had no interest in inspecting the exams, and besides, he hadn't come to the East City specifically for that. He held in his hand Wei Yao's first-round answer sheet. During the brief break, all the students were outside getting some fresh air. Thank goodness the exam was only half an hour, or they would have suffocated!

In the large courtyard of the state academy, where eight branches are located, Xi Jiao and Zhou Tai meet under a tree.

Zhou Tai asked, "Are the titles in your Book of Songs difficult?"

"Disaster."

"Hey? Xi Jiao, what happened to your lips? They're a bit purple."

"It's difficult."

In the west of the city, at the Cui Academy's training school.

All nineteen students were breathing exercises in the courtyard to clear their minds. Both tests had gone poorly, but it was over; they shouldn't be discouraged.

Cui Shang shouted, "Fellow disciples, let's all work harder together!"

Guo Yun chimed in: "We are the Xunyi Academy, and we are the strongest in poetry!"

"The strongest!"

"The strongest!"

"The strongest!!"

It's almost 1:00 AM.

In the east of the city, at the Wei Clan Academy.

Wei Yao's second examination paper was sent to Governor Yuan.

Then the students returned to their dormitories.

Master Xue described the third exam: "Just like before, there is no reminder of the word 'asking for questions.' There will be no more set questions. Each of you, Senior Brother Xue and Senior Brother Wei, will read a line of poetry, either a preface or a line from Zheng Xuan's commentary. You will then write down the title of the poem based on the excerpt."

"There is no time interval between each question, so try to avoid spending too much time thinking about one question. If you have any questions, ask them now. The exam will start at 9:00 AM sharp."

The exam begins...

The exam begins...

Wei Yao, the exam is coming up...

Exams are coming up...

"Ah." In the darkness, Wei Yao suddenly opened her eyes, breaking free from the nightmare of exams that were a mix of her past and present lives.

The joint entrance exam during the day took a lot of her energy, because the format of the second exam was something she had never experienced before in her previous life! It can be said that she and her fellow students, including Wei Mao, racked their brains to come up with the answers to each set of questions in the second exam.

It should get full marks, right?

I heard that Governor Yuan came to the Wei Academy today. If it's true, and if he's here to inspect the examinations, why would he travel across the city to the farthest Wei Academy?

Wei Yao didn't think much more about it. Feeling thirsty, she reached for a glass of water. When she placed her hand on the side of her pillow, she touched the grass bead bracelet that she had entrusted to her mother for safekeeping.

The mother threaded the bracelet back onto the string and tied it with a lucky knot.

This bracelet had been blessed by a high-ranking monk. Presumably, her mother felt that the Eid al-Adha festival was approaching, so she quietly placed it by her pillow so that she could wear it again during this period.

"Xi Jiao." She called his name in her heart, and then murmured aloud, "It's almost March, you'll be leaving for Luoyang soon, won't you?"

North of the city, the Xi residence.

Xi Jiao was depressed all day after failing his exam and finally fell asleep. He carefully hung the inspirational drawing with holes above his desk in the outer room. A candle was always dimly lit on the nearby beam, and the light passing through the drawing created several small circular shadows, which at first glance looked like a string of beads.

襛 (nóng): meaning lush and abundant. In this poem, "peach and plum" are used to praise the appearance of both men and women.

泄 (yì) and 臧 (zāng): 泄 (yì) refers to flying slowly and freely. 臧 (zāng) refers to goodness.

The character 牂 (zāng) is defined in the Shuowen Jiezi (a Chinese dictionary) as "a three-year-old ewe." Therefore, 牂 is extended to mean strong or robust. In the Book of Songs, the poem "The Willow Tree at the East Gate" contains the line "its leaves are lush and green," referring to the abundant foliage of the tree.

埤遗 (pí wèi): means to thicken or increase.

喈 (jiē), 萋 (qī): In the poem, "喈喈" refers to the sound of birds singing in harmony. "萋" means lush and verdant.

Shu Fu: Fu was the name of an ancient state. Shu Fu means to guard the state of Fu.

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(End of this chapter)