Top Scholar

Chapter 183 The Right to Interpret Scriptures

Su Lu accepted the return gift, bowed again in thanks, and then stood with his head bowed on the west side, listening to the teacher's instructions and teachings, establishing the principles of learning.

"For oneself, the Book of Rites is a mirror for self-cultivation. Confucius said, 'Without learning the Book of Rites, one cannot stand.' From the emperor down to the common people, all must regard self-cultivation as the foundation.' The core of self-cultivation is 'restraining oneself and returning to propriety.' Therefore, self-cultivation, family harmony, governance, and peace all require the Book of Rites as a model."

"For a nation, rites are not only the blueprint for its founding but also the guiding principle for its governance. 'Rites are the order of heaven and earth.' China is a land of rites and etiquette. When the ruler and his subjects are righteous, the officials are disciplined, and the people are courteous, the nation can function in an orderly manner!"

"For China, rites are the torch of civilization. The magnificent robes and ceremonial attire are called 'Hua,' and the great nation is called 'Xia.' What are these magnificent robes and ceremonial attire? They are rites. Without rites, there would be no China, no restoration of China after our dynasty expelled the Tartars!" Mr. Gangshan said solemnly.

"Therefore, the imperial court had the Ministry of Rites, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Court of State Ceremonies, the Hanlin Academy, the Court of the Imperial Clan, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Imperial Academy... and all sorts of other ceremonial institutions. Now do you understand how important the Book of Rites is?"

"Yes, student understands," Su Lu replied respectfully.

"Okay." Mr. Gangshan nodded slightly.

"Alright, that concludes our lesson on etiquette!" Zhu Jie said with a smile. "Your teacher has already covered so many upright and honorable things; let me tell you something that can only be understood implicitly and not explicitly..."

Zhu Zhang glanced at Zhu Jie: "Isn't it a bit premature to talk about those things?"

Zhu Jie shook his head and said, "Hongzhi is an extremely intelligent child. It will be good for him to explain things clearly as soon as possible."

Zhu Zhang then fell silent.

"That is—we set the rules for this world, and everyone must operate within the scope we have defined; no one can escape them!" Zhu Jie exclaimed in a startling voice.

“We say ‘the law does not apply to high-ranking officials,’ so that they can enjoy unparalleled privileges! We say ‘the three-year mourning period,’ so that they must obediently observe the twenty-seven-month mourning period!”

"So how did we do it? It's because we can provide authoritative interpretations of the 'rites' in the Three Rites, Four Books and Five Classics, which cover all aspects of the court and the common people!" Although Zhu Jie was only wearing a scholar's round collar, his tone was incredibly arrogant.

“The power of interpretation…” Su Lu said softly.

"Shijingquan, your summary is excellent, spot on!" Zhu Jie exclaimed. "I knew it! Hongzhi truly has great wisdom!"

"In court, the Ministry of Rites establishes the rites based on the classics, which are then formalized into laws by other institutions. Outside the court, we, the people in charge, use the rites to educate and guide, ensuring that the operation of both the court and the public does not deviate from the Confucian classics!" Zhu Jie said with a faint smile.

“This is immense power. If it’s not complicated and profound enough, leaving no stone unturned, wouldn’t everyone be able to chime in? Wouldn’t the power then be out of our hands?”

"Therefore, it must be profound, and it must be explained more and more profoundly, and its rules made more and more complicated, so that everyone is intimidated and dares not speak rashly! Of course, the threshold for learning is also getting higher and higher, and only a few people can learn it..."

Su Lu thought to himself, "That's great! I avoided studying medicine and law in my past life, and I've made up for it all in this one."

"That's why officials who aren't from the Ministry of Rites aren't allowed into the cabinet! If you're not formally trained, you simply won't understand it, and you'll find it impossible to move an inch!" Zhu Jie said with great pride and excitement.

"Just listen to what your second senior uncle says, don't take it too seriously," Zhu Zhang said, frowning.

"Although we both studied the same classics, he belonged to the school of classical interpretation, while I belonged to the school of expedient means, so it's inevitable that our views differ," Zhu Jie said with a smile.
"Alright, I'm leaving now. I won't disturb your class anymore."

"Yes." Su Lu and the other two saw Zhu Jie out. After returning, Zhu Zihe, who hadn't dared to utter a sound, finally complained:

“My father was always like this. In his view, etiquette and morality were nothing more than a banner for literati and officials to use as a pretext.”

"Hehehe..." Su Lu couldn't agree more.

"It's disrespectful for a son to talk about his father behind his back." Zhu Zhang glared at his nephew and said, "Stop gossiping. You've wasted so much time; you need to make up for today's lessons!"

Another afternoon spent smoking with the pen tip...

~~
By the time Su Lu dragged his weary body home, it was already completely dark. Manager Tian was still waiting at the gatehouse, warmly inquiring about his well-being and taking meticulous care of him.

Of course, what comforted him most was that sumptuous dinner. After so much time, Su Lu had stopped talking about the people's hard-earned money... People, indeed, don't hate privileges, but rather the inability to enjoy them themselves.

And only at this time could the two brothers have a chance to chat and talk about their experiences that day. However, it was mainly Su Tai who did the talking, as Su Lu was so exhausted by Mr. Gangshan that even speaking felt like a struggle...

“They didn’t make any mistakes this morning, but when the teacher was writing down the meaning of the scriptures, I made five mistakes. I thought I was going to get a beating, but the teacher praised me and said that I made the fewest mistakes.”

"Did She Yunluo write it too?" Su Lu asked curiously. "She's a close friend of Miss Huang, so she must be quite learned, right?"

“She got eight wrong, second place…” Then Su Tai said smugly, “We two are still far ahead, the other teachers have counted how many right.”

"Well, Miss Huang is really something. A gentleman is harmonious but not the same. You don't have to be like me when it comes to making friends..." Su Lu couldn't help but exclaim, "I should learn from her."

"We were talking about ourselves, how did it turn into Miss Huang?" Su Tai asked, puzzled.

"Oh, go on." Su Lu couldn't help but secretly remind himself, Qiu Ge'er, women will only affect your study progress! "Lunch was still very good, a big lion's head meatball for each of us, as big as your fist!" Su Tai said with shining eyes.

Su Lu was about to say, "Why didn't you say it was your fist?"... but seeing his second brother's large, fan-like hand, he nodded and said, "Alright."

“The lion’s head meatballs were so big that even She Yunluo couldn’t finish them, so I ate half of one for her,” Su Tai added.

"..." Su Lu's mind flashed back to the night of the Lantern Festival, the scene of the couple eating heartily from their rice bowl. Although the woman's rice bowl was indeed a bit smaller than the man's, it could still easily hold three or five lion's head meatballs...

Can't finish it? Hmph, are you trying to bribe my brother?
Seeing that Su Tai was in high spirits, Su Lu didn't spoil his mood and listened as he continued:
"After finishing, I took a nap, and continued practicing riding and archery in the afternoon. That horse was much more docile this time, but it kept shaking. I don't know if it was hungry or sick?"

Su Lu thought to himself, "I should say I don't know if it's fear or pressure that's causing this..."

"We finally got to practice sparring today, but none of them wanted to spar with me. They kept yelling that it hurt and asking to be replaced after just a few moves," Su Tai said dejectedly. "Guess who ended up sparring with me?"

“She Yunluo…” Su Lu has already figured out the pattern. Whenever his second brother asks him to guess, there is no other answer.

"Hehe, you guessed right." Su Tai's face showed three parts distress, six parts helplessness, and a hint of smugness. "With her small body, would I dare to shoot? Wouldn't I just pierce her through in one shot? Later, I changed to avoiding shooting at her so that I could continue practicing, but it wasn't very satisfying... So when I was practicing, I doubled the weight and practiced until it got dark before I exhausted all my strength."

"Was she there when you were practicing your moves?" Su Lu asked, looking at Su Tai's trembling hands, which were even having difficulty picking up food.

"Hmm, how did you know?" Su Tai nodded.

"I knew it..." Su Lu chuckled. His second brother was worried that he wasn't getting enough to eat, so he added dog food to his diet.

~~
A good meal restored Su Lu's energy.

After dinner, the two brothers continued reading under the lamp.

Listening to his second brother's snoring, Su Lu spent an hour organizing his class notes, which was equivalent to reviewing the afternoon's lessons again.

It took another half hour to finish the academy's homework when the third watch drum sounded from the drum tower in the distance.

Su Lu, however, remained energetic. Sleeping little was a natural trait of the King of Scrolls; he only needed two and a half hours of sleep to sustain him through a full day of intense mental work.

But in the eyes of the Corsican dwarf, this was barely enough to be considered a woman's standard...

There's no way around it; there's always someone better in every situation, and people's innate abilities can't be generalized.

Moreover, in the quiet of the night, without any disturbances, one's mind is actually sharper, making reading and writing much more effective than during the day...

So even though he knew staying up late was bad, Su Lu still couldn't resist the temptation of the night. He tidied up his books and homework, leaving only a sheet of cotton paper on the table. This kind of paper is delicate and white, with clear ink, absorbs water and dries quickly; it is the official paper used by the government for documents.

The other day, Steward Tian brought over a box, saying it had gotten damp in the warehouse and couldn't be used for writing official documents anymore. It would be a shame to throw it away; young master, you can use it as scrap paper to practice your handwriting.

Su Lu readily agreed, but almost a third of them had already been used, and not a single one had become damp or even yellowed...

Clearly, this was another thoughtful gesture from Steward Tian.

Su Lu sat upright at the table, his eyes slightly closed, recalling the old mountain master's teachings from that morning, and then followed his method to find the 'uncontrollable urge' in his heart.

But he helplessly discovered that, as a realist, he had reached a state of "saying, 'What a fine autumn day!'" Moreover, as his living conditions improved, the resentment in his heart lessened, and he couldn't even recall what he could "unable to hold back" anymore…

This made Su Lu break out in a cold sweat and even feel apprehensive. He realized he was too worldly and sophisticated; he read the classics every day, filling his head with their knowledge, but none of it had truly entered his heart.

Mencius said, "When poor, one should cultivate one's own virtue; when successful, one should benefit all under heaven." Although he himself has not yet achieved prominence, it is clear that he will only "not be able to restrain himself" when he encounters injustice, while turning a blind eye to the injustices suffered by others.

He said he would help the world after he became famous, but he himself didn't believe it...

He is currently a commoner, which is understandable. However, he is studying to become an official, and it would be shameful if he continued like this after becoming an official.

So the old mountain chief's lesson came at just the right time!

The most urgent task now is to rediscover our original aspirations, our true feelings, and our childlike innocence.

Returning to our original aspirations doesn't mean returning to the heart we had when we first arrived, but rather returning to the heart we truly had when we were young. That warm heart, that heart that believed in light and hoped to bring warmth to others…

He finally found the urge to 'react' and picked up his pen to write his first ever heartfelt essay, "Metamorphosis"!
After finishing writing, Su Lu felt all the pent-up emotions in his chest dissipate, and he felt refreshed again.

He looked out the window and saw a sky full of bright stars, as if the old abbot had said, and he was getting closer to his original aspiration.

(End of this chapter)