History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 7 Three Questions

The ninth day of the lunar month.

Wei Yao was afraid the road would be even more slippery in the morning, so she left home much earlier than usual.

According to the new school regulations, the results of five schools studying the Book of Poetry must be ranked together. In her previous life, she only made it into the top three in the second assessment and was assigned to a private school run by the Zheng family in Xingyang.

It must be said that the strict academic atmosphere of the Han aristocracy was worlds apart from that of the Xianbei primary schools. She had studied diligently for two lifetimes; failing to get first place this time would be a failure!

“Wei Yao”.

In the darkness ahead, Wei Maogao, seated on horseback, called to her, accompanied by two servants on horseback.

She approached him: "You're up so early too?" Why is he taking this route? Is he just returning to the city?

"Just returned to the city, bought some breakfast outside Yongning Temple. The road is difficult to travel, so I mounted my horse."

Both servants dismounted; one knelt down on the spot, while the other helped Wei Yao carry her book box and helped her step onto the saddle.

Wei Mao handed over some food: "The vegetarian tofu is still warm. Would you like some more?"

In the entire city of Pingcheng, only the restaurants outside Yongning Temple never closed, and their various vegetarian dishes were renowned far and wide.

Wei Yao didn't answer: "I deliberately ate until I was stuffed because I was worried the exam would be long." One should always be wary; what if this guy gave her laxatives...?

Wei Mao turned around and stuffed the vegetarian tofu into his mouth.

Okay, she was being petty. "You haven't been to the academy in a long time, have you forgotten what you learned before?"

"It's alright, we have Qu Rong as a backup."

How should she respond to that? Wei Yao turned around and saw another servant leading the horse.

Wei Mao asked, "What are you looking at?"

"You changed your servant."

"Hmm. People I've known for a long time are better at understanding my thoughts."

Looking ahead, Wei Yao couldn't help but admire the other person's way of dealing with people. No wonder Wei Mao was able to enter the Censorate as an Inspector Censor later. He wouldn't have relied solely on his family background!
Today, all the students finally arrived, and Master Duan arrived earlier than usual. More than ten pairs of eyes were eagerly staring at the master. The water clock showed that it was almost half past Mao Shi (5:30 a.m.), so why hadn't he said what the test would be?

Also, there was an extra seat next to the teacher. Could there be other proctors?
Less than half a quarter past the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), Master Xue Zhiyuan of the university academy entered, followed by a servant carrying yellow hemp paper.

Master Xue spoke sternly: “Disciples, clear your desks and leave only your brushes, ink, and inkstones. The exam will begin at 5:30 a.m.! There will be three questions, which will be given to you before the exam. You will have half an hour to write each question, with a quarter of an hour in between.”

The atmosphere was a bit off, and the students started to get nervous.

The servants distributed three sheets of paper to each student.

Master Xue sat to the left of Master Duan, which meant that he was the chief examiner.

It's half past 5:00 AM.

Master Xue: "Listen carefully. This assessment is limited to the poems 'Zhou Nan,' 'Shao Nan,' and 'Bei Feng.' Answer one question per sheet. For the first question, following the correspondence of 'spring, summer, autumn, and winter,' choose four poems and write them out completely, clearly indicating the four characters that correspond to them!"

This time, the sealed examination papers were brought by a clerk from the prefectural government, and the chief examiners were all professors from the Imperial Academy. Even Professor Duan was unaware of the exam questions beforehand. He was secretly surprised; he hadn't expected the first question to be so difficult (for his students)!
Sure enough, apart from Wei Yao, the other fourteen students all had the same expression: first they were stunned... then they were stunned... and they continued to be stunned.

Shouldn't elementary school exams simply involve asking students to recite the beginnings of a few poems from memory?

Isn't it just about who knows more characters and writes them correctly?

What corresponds to spring, summer, autumn, and winter?
Does that mean we can't write about spring, summer, autumn, and winter?!

Wei Yao had taken too many exams in her previous life and didn't remember the questions for this one. She thought for a moment, then picked up her pen and began to write.

Spring, summer, autumn, and winter can be regarded as the seasons.

Then we can use the geographical terms "east, west, south, and north" or the human desires "joy, anger, happiness, and sorrow" to correspond to them.

The latter was simple in choosing a poem; she first wrote down the character "喜" (joy) and then chose the poem "Guan Ju".

Next is the poem of anger, "Walking Dew".

The poem of joy, "Plantain".

A poem of lament, "The Green Robe".

When she was writing her second poem, Wei Mao began to write.

Immediately afterwards, someone figured out what it corresponded to, but unfortunately, they couldn't find the right words among the poems they had memorized.

Halfway through the time had passed, Qu Rong and the others started guessing the questions; they couldn't just hand in a blank paper!
When the hour of Chen arrived, the palace servants collected the examination papers.

The students swarmed around Wei Yao, bombarding her with questions: "What are the four characters that correspond to you?" Wei Yao first asked the teacher, "Teacher, may I tell you?"

Master Xue: "Agreed."

A roar like boiling water quickly ripped the roof off: "Why didn't I think of that?"

Seeing that Wei Mao also looked confident, a student asked him, "What are the four characters that correspond to 'Mao Tongmen'?"

"Mountains, water, roads, and valleys."

Wei Jing, Wei Mao's best friend, shouted, "You're not as good as me! I correspond to basket, jar, scepter, and cauldron."

Wu Ji was extremely impressed: "How could I not have thought of that! These are four kinds of humble utensils, all encompassed in the poem 'Gathering Water Chestnuts'!"

Wei Jing stood proudly with his hands on his hips.

Master Duan felt utterly humiliated and, tapping his ruler, shouted, "Time's almost up, sit down!"

Wei Jing cried out, "Ah! I haven't gone to relieve myself yet!"

"What the hell are you doing here!" Master Duan rarely looked angry, and Wei Jing obediently sat back down.

As Master Xue spoke, the students fell silent: "The second question tests your knowledge of the interpretations of the preface to 'Zhong Feng'."

Zhongfeng?

Qu Rong, Wei Zhen, and Wu Ji were overjoyed. They must have asked Wei Yao about the knowledge of "the former Duke Zhuang" and "the latter Duke Zhuang"!

Master Xue: "Write a brief account of the experiences of the Dukes of Wei who were deposed before, during, and after the fall of the state."

Master Duan's eyelids twitched suddenly! He didn't seem to have mentioned this passage before.

If he is like this, then the students must be even more bewildered!

Briefly describe who, who, who?

As for the frustration of Qu Rong and the other two, it was like finishing the harvest only to find that they had cut the wrong plot of land.

Wu Ji decided to go to the rescue of his classmate alone: ​​"When we were studying 'Zhong Feng,' our teacher only talked about one deposed duke, not three."

Master Xue retorted, "You have fellow students who are already writing, why would she?"

The students were filled with grief and indignation, and had no way to express their suffering!

Master Xue was praising Wei Yao, of course. She was certain that Master Duan hadn't covered the content of this question, but since she already knew the experiences of all the rulers of Wei, she naturally wrote it down without thinking.

This assessment was far less challenging than the previous one; there was no room for fabrication, and the students who submitted blank papers lost all interest in making a fuss.

Wei Mao was also among those who submitted blank papers.

It's time for the third round.

Master Xue said, “The final test was simple: write out the complete preface to the Book of Poetry.”

It is through comparison that one can find contentment. Although I only memorized the entire preface about Wei Yao, Wei Mao, and Wei Zhen, I still know a little bit about them.

After the exam papers were collected, Master Duan looked a year older. Is this what you call an essay? Unfamiliar words were replaced with circles everywhere, and there were also smudged fingerprints.

As Master Duan escorted Master Xue to the courtyard, the sound of a schoolchild crying came from next door: "Waaah... the teacher hit me! Wait, I'll go back and have my father beat you!"

Master Duan sighed deeply. Master Xue, who had once taught at the elementary school, empathized with the situation and also left with a sigh.

Master Duan returned to the schoolhouse: "There is still some time, let's continue studying the Book of Poetry."

Wei Jing: "Master, I can't hold it in anymore, I need to relieve myself."

"Ah—" another student yawned.

Wei Mao tossed a ball of paper containing the frustration of not doing well on the test to Wei Yao. She moved forward slightly, and a second ball of paper flew over, hitting her squarely on the back of the head.

One more time.

He hit the back of the head again.

The friendship we had this morning, involving the borrowed horse, is now severed!
The chaotic classroom is back. On the ninth day, the examination results for the Weizu Classic of Poetry Academy were announced.

Xingyang: a place name. During the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Zheng family of Xingyang, the Lu family of Fanyang, the Cui family of Qinghe, and the Wang family of Taiyuan were the "Four Famous Clans".

Plantain (fú yǐ): plantain.

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(End of this chapter)