Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 198 The results are announced in the South Courtyard, and the notices are reviewed.

After the exam papers for the sutras were handed out, Zhang Dai quickly glanced through the questions and found that none of them were particularly obscure texts; he had a general recollection of them all, which put him at ease.

The "Selection" section of the "Tongdian" records: "The 'Tiejing' is made by covering both ends of the scripture one has studied, leaving only one line in the middle, and cutting the paper into a 'Tie'. Each 'Tie' has three characters, which can be added or removed at any time. The number of characters can vary, and those that can be four, five, or six are considered 'Tongjing'."

In short, it's a fill-in-the-blank test of the scriptures. The exam format is very simple. If you can know the scriptures and commentaries by heart and recite them fluently, then the scripture exam will be a piece of cake and no problem at all.

Therefore, sometimes, in order to increase the difficulty of the exam, examiners will search for obscure and uncommon scripture commentaries to create questions, thus making things difficult for the candidates.

However, such a situation is still frequently criticized in the mainstream of the literati at that time. Firstly, the imperial examination has not yet developed to the point where there are no questions to be asked. Secondly, in the Tang people's view, even these Confucian classics have distinctions between major meanings, minor meanings, and elaborate and concise meanings.

Students study classics and arts to understand the big picture and the greater good. If they are forced to devote a lot of energy to trivial matters, the great principles of teaching and educating people and selecting talents will be lost. Only rigid and inflexible rote learners will be selected.

Yan Tingzhi was clearly a supporter of this view, so the exam questions he set were not obscure. Even Zhang Dai, who had not been studying the classics for long, found the questions quite memorable.

Of course, it's also because he has an outstanding memory and a high aptitude for learning. During this period, he was cramming and memorizing things, which is when the impression was most profound.

Even so, when he actually picked up his pen to fill in the blanks, he was still somewhat hesitant and unsure, needing to rack his brains to think and consider. Looking at the others in the examination hall, some were also frowning and thinking like him, while others had already started writing furiously.

Not long after the exam papers were handed out, some students in the other exam booths had already finished answering the questions and were preparing to hand in their papers.

At this time, there were fewer restrictions on personal space in the imperial examination hall. After finishing their papers, candidates could choose to hand them in and leave, and even move around freely in the examination hall, provided they did not disturb others. If a fellow candidate reported someone for harassment, they would be punished.

Therefore, some candidates chose to leave immediately after finishing their exams, while others stayed to engage in other artistic creations, such as composing poems in the examination hall or writing poems of humility to the examiners.

Yes, the examination halls in the Tang Dynasty were indeed very relaxed. Candidates could not only write "I was here" on paper, but also pass notes to the examiners. Perhaps a sudden inspiration or a brilliant line could impress the examiners on the spot and earn them their favor.

The exam questions for the *Tiejing* (帖经) include ten questions on the *Tiejing* itself, and six questions on the *Laozi* (老子) with commentary. If one is already quite proficient, the exam can be completed in less than half an hour.

Zhang Dai first finished the copybook of Laozi, and then began to seriously ponder the text. While he was still answering questions, someone peeked past outside the examination hall. He looked up and saw Wang Changling grinning at him.

"Sixth Brother, you have great ambition! I have already cleverly solved the problem of the Book of Poetry and have finished answering. I will take my leave now, and we will meet again another day!"

Wang Changling seemed to have answered the questions quite smoothly. He first smiled and said something, then looked at the empty examination room in the Zuo Zhuan examination room with envy and said, "This place is indeed a peaceful place. In the Poetry examination room, students sat side by side, and countless ink stains were spilled on the mats. Fortunately, I got out early and avoided being stained!"

After saying this, he took his exam paper and walked towards the examination hall. As he turned around, Zhang Dai saw a large ink stain on the back of the man's robe, which the man seemed completely unaware of. Zhang Dai immediately burst out laughing.

In the imperial examinations, the written examination was merely a formality, intended to test candidates' basic knowledge of the classics, and was much simpler than the written examination for the Mingjing (Classics). The Mingjing examination, which required knowledge of the Three Classics, Five Classics, etc., often had hundreds of questions, making it a truly ruthless test-taking machine.

Moreover, after the written examination, candidates for the Mingjing examination had to be questioned by examiners about the meaning of the scriptures. In addition to the written examination, there was also an oral examination. The whole process was extremely difficult and demanded a high level of memory. However, there was no corresponding assessment of creativity, so their talents could not be displayed, and they were therefore inferior to the Jinshi candidates.

Zhang Dai was deep in thought, having only answered half of the question, when a piece of paper flew from the table next to him and covered his exam paper. Immediately, he heard Li Yi's laughing voice: "Sixth Brother, you are so talented, could you help me correct these twenty rhymes presented to Master Yan?"

"Have you finished your trial?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai was immediately surprised. Although there were many students handing in their papers outside, no one in the Zuo Zhuan examination hall had gotten up yet. He had assumed that everyone was working hard to answer the questions like him, but he did not expect that someone had already started writing a sycophantic poem.

Upon hearing this, Li Yi smiled and said, "Master Yan is kind and doesn't make things difficult for us. It's just a basic course, something to be done casually, but getting seven or eight points is enough. There's no need to force a top score. Sixth Brother's dedication is truly admirable!"

In the early Tang Dynasty, passing both the classics and policy essays in the imperial examinations was considered a top-ranking achievement. However, the addition of miscellaneous essays to the examinations later increased the difficulty, to the point that many top-ranking candidates were not awarded their titles and their names remained in vain. It wasn't until the Kaiyuan era that records of top-ranking Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest level of the imperial examinations) were recorded. However, the standards were extremely strict, requiring candidates to be of the caliber of Yan Zhenqing.

To pass the imperial examination with top honors, the first and foremost requirement was mastery of both the classics and policy essays, followed by excellence in miscellaneous essays. If one could not master all the required essays, then naturally one would not be able to pass with top honors.

Hearing Li Yi say this, Zhang Dai felt a little embarrassed. Was he working so hard to answer the questions just to try and get the top score? Was it just to avoid being rejected and to have a chance to pass the exam? He picked up Li Yi's poem and admired it for a while, and found that it was actually quite good. It was clear that this top student of the Imperial Academy in the Eastern Capital did have some real talent.

Li Yi continued to ramble on, "Liu Lang's old poem 'Lantern Festival' is truly a wonderful piece. Its tender sentiments are admirable. Could you perhaps borrow its charm to refine my own poem?"

Hearing this, Zhang Dai became even more annoyed. Seeing the armored soldiers patrolling outside approaching, he grabbed Li Yi's poem and waved it out, preparing to report the guy for harassing him while he was answering questions.

Seeing this, Li Yi hurriedly snatched back his poem, ran back to his examination booth, packed up his stationery to hand in his paper, and as he left, he passed by Zhang Dai and muttered, "The king commands the princes, their ranks and positions differ, and so do the courtesies; one cannot extend courtesies to others..."

Zhang Dai had been stumped by this question for a while. He had just realized what was happening when the guy had already left. So, with a feeling of gratitude, he quickly filled in the scripture.

He looked up at the guy's departing figure and thought to himself, "Next time we meet, I'll not only revise your poem properly, but I'll also take care of your epitaph!"

This is another sure thing, and combined with the answers Zhang Dai had given himself that he was relatively confident about, he can at least guarantee a 50% success rate. If he's being optimistic, a 100% success rate isn't impossible. After all, there are two questions he wasn't entirely sure about, and although he guessed, who knows, he might just guess right?

With this in mind, Zhang Dai checked the exam paper several more times, and when he realized that he really couldn't think of anything new, he simply got up and handed in his paper.

Inside the examination hall, the exam papers were collected according to their respective scriptures. Yan Tingzhi sat upright at his desk, took the exam paper from Zhang Dai, and glanced at it casually. Zhang Dai, of course, stared intently at his expression, but couldn't discern any change in his demeanor.

"The results will be announced in two days from now, and the essay test will be held in two more days. Now, go!"

Yan Tingzhi picked up a seal, stamped it on Zhang Dai's name on the right side of the exam paper, and then waved his hand and said to him.

Zhang Dai thought of Li Yi's poem of flattery earlier and was preparing to do the same on the spot, but then another candidate came up to hand in his paper, so he had no choice but to take his leave.

When he walked out of the examination hall, it was just past noon. The examination box he was carrying was very heavy. After going around the long fence, Ding Cangcai and his servants hurriedly came forward to greet him.

Seeing that the bottom of the examination box was not opened, Ding Cang quickly asked, "There are steamed noodles and new rice in the lower steamer. Did you not eat in the examination room, Alang?"

Zhang Dai looked up at the sun, which had just begun to tilt westward, and casually replied, "Not hungry yet. Don't bring so many items for the next match; they're too heavy."

"The next session will be essay writing, which will take from morning till night and will be extremely demanding on one's mental and intellectual capacity, so it's best to bring it along!"

Upon hearing this, Ding Cang hurriedly added, and kicked Ding Qing, who was standing next to him, saying, "My son is tired from taking the exam, why don't you carry him out quickly!"

Zhang Dai wasn't so tired that he couldn't walk. He patted Ding Qing on the shoulder to indicate that he didn't need to, and then instructed, "The results will be released in two days at the South Courtyard. Don't forget to come and see them then."

At this time, candidates walked out of the examination hall one after another, but none of them had the relaxed expression of having passed the exam. This was because the written test was the easiest one, and even if one failed, one could apply to redeem the paperwork. However, the next test, the essay section, would test one's true abilities and would eliminate a large number of candidates.

Zhang Dai and his party did not linger outside. After leaving the examination hall, they went straight home, had a simple lunch, and then went to their rooms to catch up on sleep.

Two days later, early in the morning, Ding Qing and the others rushed to the south courtyard of the Ministry of Personnel to wait anxiously. As soon as the list of successful candidates was posted, they checked their sons' results and then rushed home to announce: "My son has passed the seventh level of the imperial examination and has passed the written test. He will soon be in the next stage of the examination!"

Zhang Dai was also listening intently. Upon hearing this, he first breathed a slight sigh of relief, then sighed with some disappointment, "There's no hope of passing the imperial examination."

"It's already very good, very good! Ah Lang will achieve fame and glory, bringing honor to our ancestors. If my wife knew this in the afterlife, she would be overjoyed!"

Yingniang and her daughter Aying had been waiting outside the study for a long time. When they heard that Alang had succeeded in his first exam, Yingniang immediately wiped away tears of joy and smiled.

In the stable, Wang Shouzhen also got up early and first fed all the horses. Then he hurried to the front yard and squatted down. When he heard that Zhang Dai had passed the examination, he immediately went back to the stable with a disappointed look on his face.

He secretly hoped that Zhang Dai would fail the exam, so that he could immediately notify his father to arrest the boy and send him to work at the North Gate. Then he would make the boy taste all the suffering he had endured in the Zhang family!
(End of this chapter)