Top Scholar

Chapter 107 Proclamation Against the Rat
Su Lu was stunned: "If I don't pass the exam, I'll be letting down the name my father gave me."

"Hahaha, of course!" Su Youcai laughed loudly. "But my son will definitely pass the imperial examinations one after another, sweeping away your father's bad luck!"

Su Lu noticed that as life became more promising, Comrade Youcai laughed more and more, and his laughter grew louder and louder.

"Alright, let's start class." Su Youcai smiled, cleared his throat, and said, "I've been teaching you for half a year now, from the first lesson on prosody to now."

"Time flies." Su Lu couldn't help but sigh. It had indeed been a full six months since he started taking classes in February. In the past six months, his father had taught him to be familiar with rhyme books, to understand tones and rhymes, to practice antithesis, to refine words, and to fill in the blanks with musical scores... He had really learned a lot.

My father also played a part in helping me overcome my weakness in parallel prose and get first place this time.

"I've already taught you the rules of prosody and rhyme, but if you want to write decent poetry, you still need to 'learn the hard way,' it will take a lifetime of effort." After saying this, the old man looked at Su Lu with great anticipation.
"So? Has your impression of poetry changed now?"

"Yes," Su Lu nodded in acknowledgment, "It is indeed quite fun."

"Then let your father teach you regulated verse and quatrains, both ancient and modern styles, and let's learn them in more depth?" Su Youcai looked at him expectantly.

Su Lu shook his head and said, "It's not the right time yet. Let's ask Father for advice after we've completed our studies."

"You're just trying to appease me." Su Youcai pouted and then changed his tune, saying, "Actually, it's not that your father insists you learn to write poetry, but writing poems and lyrics in your spare time can not only cultivate your character and relieve your depression, but also allow the rules of rhyme to seep into your bones. In the future, you can write whatever you want, and the rhythm of poetry will naturally follow."

"Then I can definitely learn it." Su Lu agreed.

"Hehe." Su Youcai finally succeeded and said happily, "Then next, I will teach you advanced rhythm lessons."

"This is divided into beginner and intermediate levels?" Su Lu asked in surprise.

"Of course. There's no end to learning, kid!" Su Youcai said proudly, but then he looked worried: "If you live at school from now on, I can only teach you once every ten days. It'll take forever."

“That’s easy,” Su Lu said with a smile. “The academy opens its doors for two hours every day after school so that teachers and students can go home. That’s enough time for me to go to my godmother’s shop and study with my father.”

“That’s a good idea.” Su Youcai was quite interested, but also a little troubled. “But if I’m delayed like this, what time will I be able to get home? It’s not good to keep my whole family waiting for me.”

He was also a little scared to walk alone at night...

"It's too late, why don't you stay here?" Su Lu suggested sincerely. "My godmother keeps wanting me to stay here for company. I suppose she's scared at night. If Dad stays here, it'll give them some courage."

"Hiss..." Su Youcai was even more tempted, his old face blushing as he said, "Let's discuss it again, let's go to class first."

~~
Su Youcai wasn't lying to Su Lu; today's lecture was indeed about advanced content.

"As you can see, the meter and form of poetry are not actually complicated, but why is the experience that poetry gives people so rich and diverse?" When talking about his beloved poetry, he was radiant and his whole being seemed to glow.

"Besides the choice of words and sentence structure itself, many other factors contribute to the diverse experiences. For example, tone patterns—the soothing nature of level tones and the vigorous nature of oblique tones can be used to create different atmospheres."

"Let's start with the level tone. The level tone can create a sense of openness," Su Youcai said, giving an example:
"For example, in Wang Wei's poem 'A lone plume of smoke rises straight in the vast desert, the setting sun sinks round over the long river,' the rising tone of 'a lone plume of smoke rises straight' (平平仄) and the falling tone of 'the setting sun sinks round' (仄仄平) perfectly match the scene of a lone plume of smoke rising in the vast desert and the setting sun sinking, instantly outlining the tranquility and grandeur of the desert."

"Oh, really." Su Lu nodded in agreement. He had always felt that Wang Wei's two lines of poetry were so vividly descriptive that they transcended the words themselves. Today he finally understood why; it turned out that something beyond the words themselves was indeed helping.

"In addition, level tones can also create a sense of relaxation. We also use Wang Wei's poem 'After the rain in the empty mountains, the weather turns autumnal in the evening' as an example. Its rhythm and tone resonate perfectly with the fresh and tranquil autumn mountains."

"The first three characters of the first line, all in level tones, are of great merit—'empty' is like a wide valley, 'mountain' like a continuous mountain range, and 'new' like the fresh air after rain. The long, drawn-out pronunciation of the three consecutive level tones presents the reader with a soothing and expansive distant view of empty mountains..."

Su Lu was stunned. His first reaction was that Cai was making things up, but upon closer inspection, it actually made a lot of sense. For example, the pronunciation of 'kong' (空) uses nasal resonance, which can indeed give people the feeling of being in a valley; and the retroflex consonant of 'shan' (山) does indeed give people a sense of continuity...

Su Youcai added, "Furthermore, the last two characters of the second line, 'lai' and 'qiu,' are both level tones. The former has a long, drawn-out ending sound, like the gradual arrival of autumn, while the latter has a light, gentle closing sound, like the autumn breeze. The final lingering tone makes the poem's aftertaste linger long..."

He glanced at Su Lu smugly and said, "How about it? Eye-opening, isn't it?"

“Indeed.” Su Lu nodded. He hadn’t expected that the Tang poems he had memorized since childhood had so many intricacies. No wonder they seemed so simple, yet they represented an insurmountable peak.

"Try changing these four lines of poetry to oblique tones and see what the difference is," Su Youcai instructed. "First, change 'A lone plume of smoke rises straight from the desert, the setting sun is round over the long river.'"

"Yes." Su Lu then tried rewriting the two lines of poetry, and sure enough, whether it was—

The desert is desolate, shrouded in cold mist; the long river reflects the chilling setting sun.

still--

"A lone plume of smoke rises far into the vast desert, while the setting sun hangs close over the long river."

When there are too many oblique tone characters, the mood will turn into a desolate and bleak atmosphere.

"Right, revise it again: 'After a fresh rain in the empty mountains, the weather turns autumnal in the evening,'" Su Youcai instructed. Su Lu nodded, pondered for a moment, and changed it to—

The sudden rain has ceased on the precipitous peaks, and twilight deepens in the cold forest.

The original poem's soothing tone was instantly shattered, replaced by the stark and desolate atmosphere of a cold autumn mountain forest.

"Now you understand that the use of tones isn't just for memorability, right? It's the same in writing. If you want to deliver a passionate speech, you'll naturally use more oblique tones. If you want to expound on a principle of moderation and harmony, you'll naturally use more level tones," Su Youcai said with a smile.

"Why not give it a try? You can write a short essay in the oblique tone to condemn rats."

With Su Lu's current skill level, creating a game-like piece naturally wouldn't take much effort. After a moment's thought, the "Proclamation Against the Rat" was completed in one stroke:

"The rat is a creature of darkness, a scourge that roams the night! It grinds its teeth and sharpens its claws, disturbing the quiet of the night; it steals fat and oil, ruining the year's manuscripts. It tears paper, pierces boxes, and disturbs nothing; it gnaws at cotton and gnaws at clothes, and will destroy any gap it finds."

We hate their stubbornness and arrogance, we are enraged by their viciousness and cunning! They grind their teeth and steal grain, relying on their hidden pride; they break through walls and cellars, taking advantage of our vulnerability to commit violence. We must strike their lair with clubs and punish their tyranny; we must burn their nests with torches and annihilate them! We vow to eradicate them completely, leaving no trace, and to sweep away their evil influence and cleanse their hearths!

Su Youcai stood to the side, initially intending to playfully tease his son as he read his "Declaration Against the Rat," but he was stunned after reading only half of it! He never expected that this kid could write such a sharp, powerful, and imposing article without even a draft!

When he got to the end, his jaw dropped, because he discovered that all ninety characters in the entire piece were oblique tones, with not a single level tone used.

In the Hongwu Zhengyun dictionary, characters such as '之', '阴', '清', '骄', and '虚' are all classified as oblique tones, and their pronunciation differs from that of later generations...

By using the short and forceful oblique tone, the whole text is powerful and resounding, like an overwhelming force, fully expressing the resentment towards rats!
"No, you've already reached this level?" Although it wasn't hot at night, Su Youcai still wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"It's just a poorly cobbled-together play, what level of skill can you possibly see?" Su Lu said without a hint of arrogance, as this was much simpler than the scripts he had prepared at the academy. After half a year of rigorous training, this kind of thing was indeed no challenge for him.

"You really memorized the entire 'Hongwu Zhengyun'?" Su Youcai's voice was weak.

“I memorized it a few months ago,” Su Lu said. “Memorizing it really works. With this book in my head, I can basically avoid problems with tones and rhymes.”

"..." Su Youcai closed his eyes and looked up for a long time. Was this really a student he could teach?

After a long while, he opened his eyes and looked at his son as if he didn't recognize him, saying, "How have you improved so much in just half a year?"

“It’s about learning every day,” Su Lu said. “Many small things add up to something great, and many small things add up to something great.”

"Why don't you teach me instead?" Su Youcai said with a wry smile.

"What does Father want to learn?" Su Lu asked.

"I was just kidding." Su Youcai didn't possess Zhang Yanqiu's virtue of being willing to ask questions; he still couldn't bring himself to be a father. He coughed to smooth things over and then instructed, "Write another short essay titled 'A Calm Mind Brings Coolness' in Level Tones..."

Having warmed up earlier, Su Lu was in even higher spirits and soon wrote another piece titled "A Calm Mind Naturally Cools Down":
In my secluded study by the window, the gentle breeze has ceased. I burn incense and sit quietly, all worldly thoughts subsiding. Dewdrops cling to banana leaves, and the shade of paulownia trees covers the pillars. Bamboo sways its verdant shadows, and the lotus leaves carry the sound of cicadas.

When the mind is undisturbed, the body finds peace. Books sit quietly on the desk, tea simmers in the cup. Though the heat is intense, the summer heat is hard to bear. With focused mind and tranquility, coolness arises naturally.

After finishing writing, he compared the two articles and found them to be as turbulent as a stormy sea and as gentle as a breeze. The different functions of level and oblique tones were presented to him in this most extreme way and became part of his blood.

Su Lu sincerely bowed to Su Youcai and said, "Thank you for your teachings, Father. I have benefited greatly from them today."

"Hehe, that's good..." Su Youcai was still wiping his sweat. He finally realized the real reason why he couldn't pass the imperial examination.

"It seems there's not much I can teach you anymore." After a long pause, he gave a wry smile and said, "From now on, you'll need to rely more on renowned teachers for guidance."

“My father was my first teacher, and he taught me music. He was my first teacher in this life, and that will never change,” Su Lu said solemnly.

"Haha, of course." Su Youcai finally composed himself, put his arm around his son's shoulder, and said with a smug look, "Your writing will definitely surpass your father's, but so what? You still have to call me Dad, don't you?"

"I wasn't planning on ordering anything else either," Su Lu said speechlessly.

"Hahaha!" Su Youcai burst into laughter.

"What are you wailing about in the middle of the night? Aren't you going to sleep?!" This naturally drew a scolding from the eldest aunt.

P.S. The "Proclamation Against Rats" was written with the help of Deepseek. The process involved me writing it and then having it find the level tone characters in the "Hongwu Zhengyun" dictionary, which I then replaced one by one.

There's one more chapter that hasn't been checked yet...

(End of this chapter)