Chilly spring, a drop of icy rain.
Zhu Ping'an had just finished writing his second eight-part essay when he saw a drop of icy rain hitting the ground outside and the soldiers outside shivered their necks.
It's raining!
Zhu Ping'an looked up and took a closer look at his cell. Well, it was not bad. Although it was a smelly cell, the structure of the house was good, especially the top floor which had just been renovated. The rainproof layer was also well arranged, so there was no need to worry about leaks.
So, Zhu Ping'an took out the umbrella he brought from his bag, reached outside, pointed his umbrella at the soldiers who were shivering outside, and then put it on the wall outside the barracks.
It’s up to you whether to use it or not.
After putting down the umbrella, Zhu Ping'an stopped caring and continued to do the questions.
This is the last question about the Meaning of the Four Books. The title is also quite standard, coming from a sentence in Mencius: "Confucius climbed the eastern mountain and looked down on Lu."
This sentence is very simple, which means that Confucius climbed up the East Mountain, looked down, and felt that the State of Lu was small. It is simple, but it is not so easy to write a smooth eight-part essay based on this sentence. If you really want to write based on the surface meaning of this sentence, you can't write a travelogue of Confucius climbing the East Mountain.
This topic should be understood in the context of the full text. The full text of this sentence is as follows: Mencius said: "Confucius climbed the Eastern Hill and looked down on Lu; climbed Mount Tai and looked down on the world. Therefore, it is difficult for one to see the ocean as water, and it is difficult for one to speak of the door of a sage. There is a way to see water, and one must see its waves. The sun and the moon are bright, and their radiance must shine on them. As for flowing water, it will not flow unless it is full; as for the aspirations of a gentleman to the Way, it will not reach its destination unless it is complete."
When Zhu Ping'an saw this sentence, he thought of Zhu Xi.
Zhu Xi, when reading this chapter of Mencius, made a note in the corner: "This chapter says that the way of the sage is great and has its roots, and those who study it must follow the rules of learning and progress step by step, so that they can reach the lofty realm of Confucianism established by the sage." What Zhu Xi meant was that the Confucianism established by the sage is lofty and broad, and has its roots. Those who study it must follow the rules of learning and progress step by step, so that they can reach the lofty realm of Confucianism established by the sage.
What Zhu Xi said was not just any old saying. It was the golden rule in the imperial examination. In the second year of Hongwu (1369), the imperial examination was based on the "commentary of Zhu Xi and others".
Zhu Pingan pondered for a moment and came up with an idea. He would follow Zhu Xi's words as a starting point and start his argument.
The rain outside gradually intensified, the sound of "crackling crackling" became heavier and heavier, bringing the remaining chill of winter, and driven away by the howling north wind. The rain was dripping sadly, like crying and complaining, and everywhere in the Imperial Examination Hall, it was overwhelming and venting.
The invigilator outside was holding the umbrella that Zhu Ping'an had given him. He was feeling very fortunate as he watched his colleagues nearby shivering in the wind and rain. He was extremely grateful to Zhu Ping'an who was sitting in the smelly room, and his eyes were filled with gratitude as he looked at Zhu Ping'an.
However, Zhu Ping'an was completely immersed in his own ink-stained world, causing the soldier to waste his grateful look.
Zhu Ping'an dipped his pen in ink and wrote the opening sentence of this eight-part essay:
"The holy way is great and has its roots. Students must gradually reach it."
After solving the problem, Zhu Pingan wrote the eight-part essay without adding any punctuation. He elaborated on Zhu Xi's words and promoted Confucianism. He compared Confucianism to the lofty Mount Tai, the vast ocean, and the shining sun and moon. Of course, they all have roots and sources. Then he emphasized that those who seek to learn should start from the beginning and proceed step by step. This is basically how he wrote the eight-part essay.
Here we go. The three eight-part essays on the Four Books have been completed. The remaining four questions should all be eight-part essays on the Five Classics. The eight-part essays on the Five Classics are relatively simple. This is Zhu Ping'an's experience in writing eight-part essays. This is entirely a matter of personal preference.
Zhu Ping'an opened the test paper and continued reading.
There were no unexpected circumstances, and the remaining four questions were all about the Five Classics. They were not difficult either. Zhu Ping'an read the four questions in one breath, and his thoughts spread along with the sound of dripping rain outside.
The rain fell on the eaves, dripping, and there seemed to be some joy in the crisp sound... Zhu Ping'an's thoughts also left with it. The dripping sound of the rain deeply stirred up ripples in his literary thoughts, which spread out quietly and silently.
His thoughts flowed smoothly, so Zhu Ping'an continued to work on it.
Just like this, in the rain, a young man wearing a mask was tirelessly painting.
On rainy days, the smell in the toilet was even stronger. There were many other people like Zhu Ping'an in the Imperial Examination Hall. Most people were choked by the fumes and vomited. Another person couldn't hold on any longer and was sent to the Mingjing Building by the invigilator. The rest who were still holding on were all pale and on the verge of collapse.
However, Zhu Pingan wore a mask and seemed to be unaffected by the smelly toilet next door. He wrote with great fluency, as if he was surrounded by birdsong and flowers. Every candidate who passed by Zhu Pingan while using the toilet was always shocked by the figure of Zhu Pingan writing in the smelly toilet.
"Swinging an axe under the bed, making a temple in a screw shell."
Most people feel this way, just like playing with an axe under the bed, or performing a magic in a river snail, feeling powerful but with nowhere to use it. Because the eight-part essay strictly limits the format and number of words, each sentence has a fixed pattern, such as parallelism, etc.
However, at this moment Zhu Ping'an felt that he had mastered the skill, and his thoughts and writings were all in perfect harmony with the requirements of the eight-legged essay.
Zhu Ping'an finished writing two eight-part essays on the Five Classics in one breath before he stopped writing. His stomach began to churn again.
So, Zhu Ping'an raised his hand, took the "toilet card", and hung a piece of tarpaulin as a door curtain in front of his room to prevent wind and rain from blowing into his room and wetting his test paper when he went to the toilet. He put all his test papers and straw paper into the test paper bag and hung it on the wall. Then he left the room and went to the toilet next door.
Although I wore a mask, I still couldn't help but smell the unpleasant smell when I entered the toilet.
Of course, if you don't have a mask, it will stink. The toilet is also very dirty. It's not like our modern toilets, with flush toilets or something. It's a squat tunnel, and you can't flush it. Anyway, it's unbearable to look at it.
There was also toilet paper inside, the kind of rough straw paper.
Zhu Ping'an solved the problem at the fastest speed in his life and returned to his room.
It was around four or five in the afternoon at this time. The sky outside was getting darker and darker, and the rain was getting heavier. A water curtain almost formed outside the dormitory, and the dormitory was almost turned into a water curtain cave.
Just then, a shrill howl was heard outside.
"Crap! There's a leak! Where's my paper?"
Then, an examinee was seen shouting and jumping around outside the examination room like a madman. Three or five buglers couldn't hold him down. Finally, it took six or seven buglers to control him. Then he was escorted to the Mingjing Building to await punishment.
The unlucky child must have had his test paper wet because of a leak in the dormitory. If the test paper is wet, there will be marks, and then the test paper will be invalid, and the current test will be invalid, and the joint examination will also be invalid. So, it is inevitable that this child will be like this.
From this point of view, the stinky number doesn't seem to be so unlucky. Zhu Pingan wore a mask and smiled self-deprecatingly. (To be continued.)