Top Scholar

Chapter 175 A Tricky Exam
The students didn't know each other well yet, and Su and Lu might be expelled, so they chatted briefly before turning back to their studies.

Just as Mr. Liu said, they have to study with all their might and do well in the exams to avoid repeating a grade...

Su Lu and Zhu Zihe didn't take out their books; both had their eyes slightly closed, as if they were meditating. To the students of Zhengyi Zhai, this was probably because they hadn't expected such a big exam so soon, and they were adjusting their emotions.

After a short while, all the students had arrived.

A short while later, the gong sounded, and Mr. Liu Jiang, also known as Liu Dachuan, entered Zhengyi Studio carrying the scrolls.

Su Lu's first exam after entering Heshan Academy came without warning.

This is also a test that will determine whether he can stay or not...

~~
Mr. Liu announced that the exam would last two hours, which would be a little longer than that of the Dean of Taiping Academy.

When the exam papers were handed out, Su Lu saw that the question types were the same: the Classic of Calligraphy and the Meaning of Writing, plus an essay on the art of writing, but this time they were no longer divided into two sessions.

Moreover, the questions set by the teachers at Taiping Academy carried the refined, rustic charm of the mountains. Every single question here exuded the cunning and unfriendly nature of big cities. Su Lu finally understood where the headmaster's inhumane ideas came from…

For example, this dish—'______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, all are cooked.'

There are six blanks, and only three characters: "皆熟矣" (all are familiar with). Just go ahead and fill them in; I guarantee you'll be completely silent. Even if you've memorized all four books, there's a high probability you won't be able to fill them in. The sentences themselves are very obscure, and the given information is too limited, making it difficult to retrieve the relevant information from memory.

Moreover, even if you can recall that this sentence comes from "Mencius: Gaozi Part 1", you will most likely omit one or two of the many function words due to a weak memory, or even write the wrong character.

The standards for memorization here are much higher than elsewhere. Only students who have truly mastered the Four Books and can recall them as easily as reading the lines on the palm of their hand can answer accurately.

However, this was no challenge for Su Lu, a master of examinations. He glanced at the question, quickly located the original text in his memory palace, and began to write—

Now, wheat and barley are sown and sown in the same place at the same time, growing vigorously and ripening completely by the time the sun rises!
The remaining nineteen questions from the classics were equally difficult to answer. They were either sentences with very little information and no distinguishing features, obscure original texts with few annotations and ambiguous contexts, or easily confused sentences.

After you finally finish the twenty calligraphy questions, you look at the next section and wow, the interpretation of calligraphy is even more difficult...

For example, in the first question—does the "friend" in "有朋自远方来" and the "friend" in "燕朋逆其师" both refer to "friend"?
The answer is no. Because the pictograph of '朋' (péng) depicts two birds side by side, and its original meaning is 'like attracts like,' not 'friend.'

The "friends" in "friends come from afar" refer to "good friends who share the same moral principles," while the "friends" in "friends gathering together for meaningless entertainment" refer to "people who gather together for meaningless entertainment."

If test takers are unaware of the pictographic origin of the character '朋' (péng), they may easily mistakenly believe that both '朋' characters represent '友' (yǒu). Even if they manage to guess the answer correctly by carefully reading the question, they will still not receive any points if they cannot provide a proper reasoning.

That's still considered good; as long as you master one relatively obscure point of knowledge, you can answer correctly. But there are even more terrifying ones to come, like the last one—

The Doctrine of the Mean states, "From sincerity and enlightenment, this is called human nature; from enlightenment and sincerity, this is called education." Question: Does Zhu Xi's commentary, "Sincerity and enlightenment are one," contradict Cheng Yi's statement, "Sincerity and enlightenment are different"?
The answer is naturally not contradictory. Who would dare say that the two leading figures of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism contradict each other?
However, if one has not read the passage in "Questions on the Doctrine of the Mean" that says, "Sincerity and enlightenment are two, but sincerity is the essence of enlightenment, and enlightenment is the application of sincerity," one will not understand the difference between Cheng Yi's emphasis on essence and practice, while Zhu Xi emphasized that "essence and application have the same source." The two simply have different focuses.

Therefore, the correct answer is—

Chengzi's "distinguishing differences" aims to make ordinary people aware of the necessity of education. Since I am not a sage, I need to start with "clarity".

Zhu Xi's concept of "seeking common ground" enables scholars to understand the attainable goals of learning. Although one begins with "enlightenment," one can ultimately reach "sincerity" and become one with the sages.

Both contribute to the consistent exposition of 'sex education' and support each other, so they are not contradictory.

Answering this question was practically like writing a rigid, formulaic essay. It was even way beyond the scope of the curriculum—it's outrageous!

Moreover, since the two exams are combined into one, if you spend too much time on the study of calligraphy and painting, you will inevitably run out of time for the final, most important part – the composition exam.

In such a hasty situation, all reasoning and arguments are bound to collapse.

In short, do whatever it takes to be completely inhuman...

Even Su Lu took a full half hour to complete the twenty questions on calligraphy and the ten questions on ink interpretation. He then spent another fifteen minutes neatly copying the answers onto the answer sheet before turning to the last major question—

'Zi Kuai is not allowed to feast with others.'

Su Lu's consistent habit was to look at the last question as soon as he received the exam paper. He didn't need to think deliberately; when answering the earlier questions, his brain would retrieve relevant information in the background and even perform simple preprocessing.

That way, when he actually does the problems, he won't have to rack his brains to figure them out; he can get right to it!
This sentence comes from *Mencius*, Book 2, Part 2 (Gongsun Chou). It's a typical "single-sentence truncated sentence" question, so it requires elaboration within the context of the surrounding text. Simply discussing the title will result in an incomplete essay, and even the best writing will not earn points. The full text reads: "Zi Kuai was not allowed to feast with others, and you were not allowed to receive feasts from Zi Kuai."

It tells the story of how King Kuai of Yan abdicated in favor of his prime minister, Zizhi, which led to the invasion of Qi, the killing of King Kuai, and the capture of Zizhi.

Mencius was criticizing both the King of Yan and his ministers, one of whom dared to abdicate and the other dared to take over. Therefore, when addressing this issue, we must consider both sides and not just criticize the King of Yan.

With this thought in mind, the article took shape in Su Lu's mind.

He couldn't help but be somewhat surprised; the question was so balanced and moderate that it allowed each candidate to fully demonstrate their abilities.

Compared to the previous tricky and bizarre questions on calligraphy and ink interpretation, these seem like they were created by a completely different person...

Perhaps it wasn't created by just one person.

He focused his mind and quickly wrote down his thoughts on the draft paper. Then, he methodically revised the text, parallelism, meter, and allusions, with every step as precise as a clock.

When he finished checking the copying, all the students in the dormitory were still engrossed in their writing...

Mr. Liu saw the new student already packing up his stationery and couldn't help but feel sorry for him; it seemed the child didn't know much...

Alas, these students from other schools see transferring schools as a shortcut to getting into Heshan Academy.

But you couldn't get in before because you weren't good enough. Now that you've transferred, are you sure you're good enough? You'll still lose all your confidence and be kicked out quickly.

Unfortunately, Su Lu was resting with his eyes closed, so he couldn't see Mr. Liu's expression, let alone understand his rich inner thoughts...

A quarter of an hour later, Mr. Liu saw another new student put down his pen... Sigh, this one should know more, but still only a limited amount.

~~
Two quarters of an hour later, the sound of the clapper rang out in the courtyard.

Although all the students had put down their pens, Mr. Liu, who was used to following the rules, still said as usual, "Stop writing."

Then Deng Zhaizhang got up to collect the papers, neatly stacked the thirty answer sheets, and handed them to the teacher.

Because Su Lu was sitting in the last row by the window, his test paper was stacked on top.

Mr. Liu glanced at the exam paper, but instead of the large blank spaces he expected, he saw rows of neatly spaced, impeccable Jiang-style handwriting. Yet, unlike printed text, it wasn't rigid and lifeless; rather, it resembled the most orderly sorghum stalks, with even line spacing, disciplined lines, and a subtle, vibrant life force!
This prompted him to examine the calligraphy closely. He saw that the individual characters had a strong and vigorous structure, as if they could stand against the wind; the strokes were as graceful as new sorghum leaves, spreading out naturally yet with a sense of restraint; and the ends were slightly sharp, as neat as the tips of leaves!
Viewed as a whole, the characters resemble rows of sorghum stalks, each displaying its own posture yet connected by a shared spirit. They are slender and firm yet gentle, vigorous yet elegant. They possess both the strength of Northern stele inscriptions and the charm of Southern calligraphy, exuding a sense of solemnity and expansiveness amidst the fragrance of ink.

Mr. Liu certainly knew that even the official script, once practiced to a certain level, would still develop its own style. In fact, almost all the students in the academy came from families with a long tradition of calligraphy and had practiced diligently since childhood, but they were all bound by the conventions of their predecessors. It was extremely rare to find a young man like this who could develop his own unique style from such a rigorous approach.

Those who practice calligraphy often imitate model texts, learning each character from the ancients, but very few can truly express their own style. Without imitating the ancients, there is no structure; without self-expression, there is no style. Calligraphy cannot stand without structure, nor can it be accomplished without style. However, 'establishing structure is easy, but achieving style is difficult,' which is why many people write well, but very few truly become masters…

Mr. Liu is one of the many who have style but lack substance. However, his writing is always just imitation, not original creation that expresses his own personality!

This vibrant, naturally beautiful font is something many calligraphy masters yearn for but cannot achieve. Given time and refinement, it can reach a higher level and develop its own unique style…

"Sigh, I'm so envious..." Mr. Liu sighed, feeling like crying. Why is it that the things he longs for always seem to happen to those around him, but never to him?
Even just once, let me taste the sweetness of success...

Seeing that their teacher was lost in thought again, the students didn't urge him, but just waited quietly for him to come to his senses.

Only Su Lu and Zhu Zihe looked at each other, completely bewildered. They wondered what was going on with this group of teachers and students. Should they perhaps try to revive their teacher?
After a while, a commotion arose outside the door. A student from Chengxinzhai peeked inside and teased from outside, "Mr. Liu is daydreaming again!"

"Hahaha!" The laughter of a group of kids finally brought Mr. Liu back to his senses.

Seeing that he had embarrassed himself in public again, Mr. Liu felt terrified. He feared that if things continued like this, he wouldn't even be able to retain his last shred of dignity…

"Sir, ignore them," the students from Zhengyizhai said all at once. "You just have insomnia; a good night's sleep will do the trick!"

"Oh, get out of class is over..." Mr. Liu felt no comfort at all, but instead became even more sorrowful, and fled in panic with the test paper in his arms.

As soon as Mr. Liu left, Abbot Deng slammed his fist on the table, rushed out of the dining hall, and angrily shouted at the student who had just provoked Mr. Liu:
"Li Zongsheng! If you dare to provoke our teacher again, I'll risk abandoning my studies to beat you up!"

(End of this chapter)