Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 245 Teaching him the method of mourning should be humble.
This competition, being a contest between the Imperial Academy and the National University, focuses on the team's total score rather than individual performance.

Lu Beigu, Cheng Hao, and Cheng Yi knelt behind three low tables on one side of the Imperial College, where writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were prepared.

On the Imperial Academy side, three people, led by Liu Ji, also emerged.

Liu Ji's gaze swept over Lu Beigu and the other two, but he didn't take them seriously. The two outstanding students from the Imperial Academy beside him also looked arrogant, as if victory was already in their grasp.

Yang Anguo sat upright beside the main seat, his fingers moving under his purple robe, his eyes sweeping over Lu Beigu and the other two.

Ouyang Xiu and Hu Yuan, who were standing next to him, both looked very calm.

Ouyang Xiu and Hu Yuan were clearly rivals who considered each other their greatest enemies in terms of writing style at this time, but the two did not show any conflict throughout the entire process.

Let's choose a topic.

The old scholar in charge of the judging gave a call, and several scholars from the Hanlin Academy, doctors from the Imperial Academy, and doctors from the Imperial University stepped forward together. In front of everyone, they began to draw, open, and confirm the questions from the question box that had been jointly set by several parties over the past two days, and ordered the clerks to quickly make several copies.

Lu Beigu could clearly hear his own steady heartbeat. He looked down at his nose and focused his mind on his heart, immersing himself in a state of clarity.

Zhou Dunyi's "quiet exercise" was very effective, allowing him to achieve complete inner peace in a very short time.

The three days of intensive study in the Imperial Academy's library and the generous instruction from Song Tang had brought him to his peak performance in the examination.

Soon, the copied scripture questions were distributed to both parties.

Unlike the ten questions on classical texts in a normal imperial examination, today's exam has a much larger number of questions—a full fifty—in order to allow both sides to fully demonstrate their abilities.

Lu Beigu's eyes flashed like lightning as he quickly scanned the questions.

Thanks to his almost uninterrupted morning reading since his transmigration, he could automatically recall the missing texts in his mind the moment he saw the blank space for these questions from the Analects.

Lu Beigu picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and with a steady wrist, lines of neat and clear regular script flowed onto the paper at an astonishing speed.

He hardly needed to pause to think, like a skilled craftsman carving patterns he already knew perfectly well.

One question after another, Lu Beigu's pen moved swiftly and steadily.

Occasionally, when he encounters one or two slightly obscure characters, he only needs to concentrate for a moment before accurately putting pen to paper.

Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi both wrote very quickly, clearly demonstrating that they had extremely solid basic skills.

Meanwhile, the students from the Imperial Academy on the other side were also quite fast.

Liu Ji possessed a photographic memory; he wrote down the answer almost as soon as he saw the question. The two students next to him, though not as effortless as Liu Ji, were also focused and writing furiously.

The eyes of the prominent figures in the capital swept back and forth between the two, trying to judge who was better based on the speed of their answers and their demeanor.

Time slips away in this silent contest.

Both parties finished writing in just over half an hour.

The spectators held their breath, waiting for the result.

According to the rules, the result of each round of the competition must be determined before proceeding to the next round.

The elderly scholar and several bachelors and doctors quickly reviewed the papers and exchanged ideas in hushed tones.

Soon, the results of the first round of questions on the classics were announced.

“At the Imperial Academy, Cheng Hao answered fifty questions, Cheng Yi answered forty-eight questions, and Lu Beigu answered fifty questions.”

"At the Imperial Academy, Liu Ji answered fifty questions, Chen Shu answered forty-nine questions, and Wei Gongda answered forty-nine questions."

"It's a draw."

Upon hearing this, a gasp of surprise erupted from the audience. The three students from the Imperial Academy had actually managed to achieve such a high accuracy rate, matching the elite students from the Imperial University!

To be honest, this was completely beyond the expectations of the onlookers.

For the first time, a slight smile appeared on Yang Anguo's tense face, and his back seemed to straighten a little more.

Hu Yuan remained calm, but her gaze lingered on Lu Beigu and the other two for a few more seconds.

Liu Ji frowned almost imperceptibly, then regained his composure. He couldn't control his teammates' mistakes, but for him, that wasn't a problem.

He was confident that he would be invincible in the next round of the Ink Theory competition.

Upon hearing the result, Cheng Yi initially appeared somewhat surprised, and then became a little nervous.

Cheng Yi took this competition very seriously and made extensive preparations beforehand. He barely slept last night. Now, when he thought about how Lu Beigu, whom he had repeatedly reminded, hadn't let him down, but instead it was he who had, he felt as if his heart skipped a beat.

The next step, selecting topics based on the meaning of the ink, follows the same process as in the post-writing classics.

Questions were randomly selected from a question bank composed of questions created by different people, and then handed over to a clerk to transcribe them into exam papers, which were then distributed to a few people.

Compared to copying classic texts, the difficulty of interpreting calligraphy is significantly increased.

After all, the questions of the Mohist school not only require explaining the original meaning of the words and sentences in the scriptures, but also citing authoritative commentaries, and even analyzing the views of different commentators and explaining their significance in the system of scriptural interpretation.

The expressions of the participants in the competition became noticeably serious.

The first question on the meaning of ink was quite challenging.

"The Spring and Autumn Annals, Duke Zhuang, Year 7: 'Stars fell like rain.' The Gongyang Commentary explains, 'What does "like rain" mean? It means it is not rain. If it is not rain, then why is it called "like rain"? The Unrefined Spring and Autumn Annals says: "The falling stars do not reach a foot below the ground before returning." The Guliang Commentary says: "If it falls above and is seen below, it is called rain; if it falls below and is not seen above, it is called falling." What is the meaning of the distinction between "falling" and "rain" in these two commentaries? What does the phrase "Unrefined Spring and Autumn Annals" mean?"

After a moment of contemplation, Lu Beigu picked up his pen and wrote.

The Guliang Commentary analyzes the difference between "fallen" and "rain," intending to reflect the sage's meticulous editing, taking only the reality of "fallen" and discarding the abstract meaning of "rain" to correct misconceptions. The two commentaries, though different in approach, arrive at the same conclusion: both aim to reveal the sage's subtle intentions and clarify the distinction between name and reality.

The *Gongyang Commentary* clarifies the phrase "like rain but not rain," aiming to emphasize the rigor of classical records and refute popular misinterpretations. It cites the saying "rain stars return before reaching the ground" from the *Spring and Autumn Annals*, implying that the original account was even closer to the supernatural. Confucius, in compiling the *Spring and Autumn Annals*, removed supernatural and fantastical elements to align with common sense.

This competition is clearly designed to widen the gap as much as possible, starting with the skill of ink.

Therefore, the questions get more difficult as you go further in the series.

Until one question from the Book of Rites stumped Lu Beigu.

"The Book of Rites, Tan Gong I: 'At the funeral of the mother-in-law of Nangong Tuo's wife, Confucius instructed her on the style of her hair, saying: "Do not be too high! Do not be too wide!"' Zheng Xuan's commentary: "'To be too high' means to be very high; 'to be too wide' means to be very wide. He taught her that the way to wear a mourning hairpin should be humble and modest." What kind of hairstyle is "hairpin"? What does Confucius's admonition of "Do not be too high" and "Do not be too wide" mean in accordance with the rites?

Lu Beigu was able to answer the first part, simply writing down, "The so-called 'tiao' refers to the style by which women tie their hair with hemp when they are in mourning." However, for the second part, Lu Beigu put down his pen and pondered for a long time, unable to come up with a perfect answer.

Finally, fearing he might waste time, he organized his thoughts and wrote down, "The Master's admonition 'Do not follow blindly' and 'Do not be overbearing' is not merely a rule of appearance, but contains profound meaning. The grief and respect of the bereaved are expressed outwardly from within, and a humble and restrained style is precisely to suppress the ostentation of outward adornment and match the inner sorrow. This subtle admonition perfectly reveals the essence of ancient rites, namely, restraint to show sincerity and respect, and restraint to show true feelings. Too much is as bad as too little; even in a sorrowful expression, one should not go astray and become affected."

The questions on the meaning of ink were extremely difficult, so much so that both sides wrote until the last quarter of an hour, and there was no situation like the questions on the classics that were finished in advance.

In fact, some people on both sides hadn't finished answering the questions by the time the papers were collected.

The results of the second round of the ink-writing question also took a long time to be graded before they were announced.

"At the Imperial Academy, Cheng Hao answered forty-two questions, Cheng Yi answered thirty-nine questions, and Lu Beigu answered forty-four questions."

"At the Imperial Academy, Liu Ji answered forty-nine questions, Chen Shu answered forty-two questions, and Wei Gongda answered forty-one questions."

"The Imperial Academy wins."

(End of this chapter)