Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

After the results of the discussions in the imperial court were announced, the candidates' emotions quickly stabilized.

In truth, they all knew that traditional Confucianism had reached its end, and the imperial court's determination to develop new learning was unwavering.

Prior to this, the School of Mind had already greatly impacted the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism. The imperial examinations included questions on interpretations of Yangming's School of Mind and Laozi and Zhuangzi, causing considerable confusion.

The imperial court is now using new annotations to standardize the content of the imperial examinations, which is welcomed by most students.

It was only because the older scholars were no longer able to study that some people stirred things up and wanted to cause trouble.

Now that they learned the court was giving a way out to scholars of the old classics, reserving all one hundred Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) for them, their emotions quickly calmed down, and they stopped worrying about academic matters.

For many, both the new and old schools of Confucianism are merely stepping stones. As long as it doesn't interfere with their path to becoming officials, they pay no attention to changes in the academic world.

Only those who have thoroughly studied and memorized the classics will stubbornly uphold Neo-Confucianism. However, since they cannot even pass the imperial examinations, they cannot make much of a difference in their voices.

Many candidates began to turn their attention to the subjects of law and mathematics.

Those candidates who were over forty years old almost all signed up for the special imperial examination.

Clearly, they knew that the court's preferential treatment would not last forever. Once scholars who studied the new Confucian classics became the majority, they would certainly propose abolishing the preferential treatment given to the old Confucian classics.

These older scholars were eager to leave the imperial examination system and avoid worrying about future changes in the system.

Zhu Youjian was overjoyed to see the number of people signing up for the special imperial examination steadily increasing.

Because the special imperial examination was a special favor, it was a measure taken by the emperor to bestow favors upon scholars. The large number of people participating in the special imperial examination indicated that he was recognized by the scholars and that his rule was well-established.

Seeing that many of the candidates participating in the special imperial examination were elderly, Zhu Youjian, recalling previous events, discussed the matter with Liu Zongzhou and Dong Qichang:
"In the Song Dynasty, those who passed the imperial examinations ten to fifteen times were granted official status, and those who passed the Jinshi examination six times or other examinations nine times were allowed to be recommended for official positions."

"Do you think that the imperial examinations in this dynasty treat older candidates with the same preferential treatment?"

Liu Zongzhou was speechless upon hearing this, and then tactfully advised the emperor:

"When selecting candidates for the imperial examination, talent and learning should be the primary considerations."

“If we select officials based on seniority, I fear that there will be redundant officials.”

The "three redundancies and two accumulations" were important aspects of criticizing the Song dynasty. Zhu Youjian nodded in agreement upon hearing this, acknowledging Liu Zongzhou's statement.

After thinking for a moment, he said again:
"I am well aware of the harm caused by redundant officials."

"But now the imperial court is expanding overseas and beyond, and needs more officials."

"Moreover, after the promotion of the new Confucian classics, those older scholars who studied the old Confucian classics may not be able to keep up."

“We must find a way out for these people and prevent them from complaining about the new Confucianism.”

"Soothing these people's emotions will greatly benefit the promotion of the new Confucianism."

"As the person in charge of collating and annotating the Four Books and Five Classics, you must take this into consideration."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zongzhou pondered for a moment, and his attitude began to change.

Promoting the new Confucian classics was something he valued equally, because all his knowledge was dedicated to it.

With the successful advancement of the revision of ritual music and the prospect of making meritorious contributions, his concern shifted to whether he could successfully establish his own doctrines and pass on his knowledge.

Moreover, interpreting the revised ritual music with new annotations is also conducive to the consolidation of the new ritual music system.

Then, establish a benchmark of virtue and cultivate morality, thus becoming a saint who achieves immortality in three aspects.

Therefore, upon hearing that Jia En was an older scholar and that this would be beneficial for promoting the new Confucian classics, he was immediately moved and said:
“The opening up of overseas vassal states and the establishment of new protectorates on the frontiers certainly require the education and guidance of people.”

“If any scholar is willing to serve overseas or in the border regions, I believe he should be granted a special post.”

Zhu Youjian was very pleased to see that he approved, and then said to Liu Zongzhou:

"Therefore, the teacher set up a Mingjing class at the Imperial Academy to recruit and train those who participated in the special imperial examination but did not pass, but were willing to serve in overseas or border regions."

"Those who pass the training and obtain teacher qualification certificates or other certificates can be specially granted the title of Mingjing graduate and are allowed to become officials."

"The quota is tentatively set at four hundred, not exceeding the number of candidates who passed the imperial examination."

"The specific training methods will be discussed between the Master and the Hanlin Academy, with the Six Arts of a Gentleman being the priority."

"Mr. Dong can also participate and teach calligraphy, one of the Six Arts."

Dong Qichang happily agreed, and Liu Zongzhou was even happier.

Because he was in charge of teaching, he could transform all four hundred people into supporters of the new Confucianism.

Moreover, there are definitely more than 400 people participating in the training, which means that there are even more people supporting the new economics.
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Wanting to gain more supporters, Liu Zongzhou proposed:

“Annotating the Four Books and Five Classics is not something that can be done in a day.”

"I believe we should first proofread and determine the punctuation of the Four Books and Five Classics."

“A stone tablet modeled after the Xiping Stone Classics was erected in the lecture hall of the Imperial Academy.”

“Those who participate and make meritorious contributions may be specially granted the title of Mingjing (a degree in the imperial examination system).”

This suggestion was approved by Zhu Youjian, who said with great pleasure:

"The Han Dynasty had the Xiping Stone Classics, the Tang Dynasty had the Kaicheng Stone Classics, and the Song Dynasty had the Jiayou Stone Classics."

"It is indeed a pity that our dynasty did not have this before."

"Nowadays, Mr. Liu is in charge of collating the classics and Mr. Dong is in charge of writing the inscriptions. The Chongzhen Stone Classics should indeed be erected."

"I have approved this matter. The inner court will fund the erection of stone classics in the Biyong Grand Lecture Hall of the Imperial Academy."

"After the annotations are completed, another copy will be engraved and placed next to Tsinghua University in the University Town."

The engraving of the Chongzhen Stone Classics was permitted, and two copies were to be engraved.

Liu Zongzhou originally intended to offer only one piece of advice, without wasting manpower and resources.

However, considering that it was funded by the inner court, the versions with and without annotations could be considered two different versions, so it was ultimately left unsaid.

Preparations for the Biyong Stone Classics and the Tsinghua Stone Classics began at this time.

Later, Zhu Youjian bestowed stone classics upon academies in several cities and published and printed them, making the Chongzhen Stone Classics widely known.

Because it was the officially designated version, the Chongzhen Stone Classics were very popular. Zhu Youjian did not lose money on the printing of the Chongzhen Stone Classics; on the contrary, he made a considerable profit.

One of the key contributors was Dong Qichang, whose meticulous calligraphy made the Chongzhen Stone Classics extremely exquisite.

Moreover, he was very happy at this time, because it was a great honor for the emperor to have him write the stone scriptures. His calligraphy would be passed down like that of Cai Yong.

At this moment, he was grateful that he had gone to the capital early and had not left after retiring from office. Otherwise, if he had been far away in his hometown, how could he have had this opportunity?

Zhu Youjian was also very satisfied with Dong Qichang, because in the past few years, Dong Qichang had painted pictures such as "Along the River During the Qingming Festival in the Capital", "Grand Review of the Jisi Year", "Banquet at Qionghua", and "Portraits of Meritorious Officials in the Purple Pavilion" according to his instructions, which can be described as hard work and effort.

These images were kept in the imperial treasury, and future emperors could simply put them up for auction if they needed money.

Now, he also wants Dong Qichang to leave behind a legacy as the official font.

He asked Dong Qichang:

"How is your calligraphy practice going, sir?"

"Have you figured out how to write horizontally and punctuation marks?"

Dong Qichang immediately replied:
"I have figured out how to write calligraphy with a pen."

"But the quality of fountain pens is not good enough now, we need to use gold dip pens."

"The artisans of the Ministry of Literature and Art have made many improvements and are now able to write various styles of calligraphy, including regular script, clerical script, running script, cursive script, and seal script, using different types of dipped pens."

"If you use quick-drying ink, you can also write vertically, both top and bottom, for everyday writing." As he spoke, he presented a memorial, which was written with a dip pen.

Zhu Youjian was pleased to see that the text in the memorial was beautiful, elegant, and very clear, and said:
"Sir, you have truly put in a lot of effort to make such progress."

"It seems the chief examiner of the Ming Dynasty examination made the right choice."

How is the quality of the quick-drying ink? Is it waterproof?

"If it is preserved for a long time, it will be used for archival writing later."

"Compared to brush pen, pen shorthand is faster and easier to use."

Dong Qichang answered each question, believing that the current dip pen was already comparable to the brush pen.

If the ink-filling fountain pen is perfected, it can even replace the calligraphy brush.

In fields such as archives and shorthand, dip pens can be used.

Zhu Youjian instructed him to train personnel for trial implementation, to continue developing fountain pens and ink, and further arranged:
"The text of the Chongzhen Stone Classics needs to be written by you, sir."

"I give you a task: to write out all the standard characters using both a brush and a pen."

"To facilitate the collection of characters in the future for use in carving stone tablets."

Dong Qichang wanted to say no, that he could write the scriptures in order, which would be smoother to read.

But considering my age, I finally agreed.

After all, he's nearly eighty years old now, and no one can say for sure how much longer he can live.

If Liu Zongzhou and others were slow in collating and annotating, he would have already passed away by then. The glory of writing the stone scriptures should be given to others.

This was something he was even less willing to see, so he promised to write out the standard characters so that they could be collected and engraved on a stone tablet.

After he agreed, Zhu Youjian was very pleased and continued with the arrangements:

"Not only should we use the official script to write standard characters, but we should also write out all the other scripts we can, such as seal script, clerical script, running script, cursive script, large regular script, medium regular script, small regular script, semi-cursive script, and Wei stele script."

"We need both calligraphy brushes and pen, both horizontal and vertical, so that the stone tablet can be printed and published after it is carved."

"In the future, your calligraphy will be the standard script used by the imperial court."

"If a warrior expands the territory and wants to inscribe his achievements on stone but cannot write well, then use your calligraphy."

"The same applies to all government offices; since no one else can write the inscriptions on the plaques, they use the gentleman's calligraphy."

"The same applies to the printing of official documents by the imperial court."

"This is a very important matter, sir, you must take it seriously."

This approach treats Dong Qichang's calligraphy as a public domain font, a public font that everyone can use.

In later generations, Dong Qichang would certainly have demanded copyright fees, but at this moment, he was simply happy.

He was delighted that his calligraphy could be disseminated and promised the emperor that he would write it out.

He even planned to write not only standard characters, but also variant characters and other characters that had been used in the past, so that his font could be used when printing ancient books in the future.

Thus, the renowned Dongti font library was born.

Dong Qichang wrote it several times over the next few years, and continued to refine the character set until his death.

During the Ming Dynasty, official documents began to use the Dong style of calligraphy. And with the invention of the typewriter, its application became increasingly widespread.

Many calligraphers also followed Dong Qichang's example by creating character sets for their own styles, making it easier to compile characters into works.

Font copyrights have also been gradually established, bringing benefits to calligraphers.

Following the study of classics and history, the calligraphy world of the Ming Dynasty also broke free from its old ways and began to flourish.

Zhu Youjian also treated Dong Qichang, who pioneered this practice, well. After the Chongzhen Stone Classics were completed, he bestowed a noble title upon him.
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Dong Qichang's contributions extend beyond calligraphy.

Because of the criticisms made by some officials regarding the Ming Dynasty calligraphy examination a few days ago, Dong Qichang felt deeply that the status of calligraphy needed to be maintained. After discussing with Chen Jiru and others, he proposed:
"Your Majesty's establishment of nine ranks of officials, nine ranks of soldiers, and nine ranks of artisans is a decision I wholeheartedly agree with."

"Calligraphy, as a skill, can also be graded, making it easier to determine the abilities of those recruiting clerks."

"For the first to third levels of the beginner level, only brush or pen calligraphy is tested, and the writing of commonly used characters is required."

"The requirements for intermediate and advanced levels gradually increase, including writing in the official script, clerical script, etc., until one develops one's own style and becomes a calligrapher, and passes the imperial examination for the Ming Dynasty."

"In this way, there will surely be more people learning calligraphy, and scholars will be able to make a living through calligraphy."

This was the conclusion he reached through discussions with Chen Jiru, Zhang Pu, and others. Dong Qichang initially scoffed at the suggestion that calligraphers should be treated as mere craftsmen. However, after being persuaded by Zhang Pu, he eventually accepted it.

While this approach may not necessarily produce calligraphers, it can cultivate a large number of calligraphy enthusiasts.

It could also make calligraphy a skill for making a living, making scholars value it more.

This is crucial for maintaining the status of the Mingshu examination. Only with sufficient support from scholars can the Mingshu examination be prevented from being abolished.

Zhu Youjian was very pleased to hear these words, because he thought of the calligraphy grading system in later generations.

He hadn't paid attention to such trivial matters before, but now that Dong Qichang had taken the initiative to suggest it, he was naturally delighted.

This incident, in particular, signifies that his ranking system is beginning to have an impact and is permeating more areas.

So he readily agreed:

"The matter of classifying calligraphy was started by the teacher after the Ming Dynasty calligraphy examination."

"Establish a calligraphy association, subject to the supervision of the Education Committee, and establish a membership system and grading regulations."

"From now on, when the government offices recruit clerks, those with high calligraphy skills will be given priority."

He agreed to Dong Qichang's suggestion and told him to go ahead and do it.

In fact, to elevate the status of calligraphy, he thought of the flamboyant writing of some physicians and instructed them to:

"Let the Education Committee pass a law stipulating that all official documents must be legible and unambiguous."

"If any disputes arise as a result, the writer will be held responsible."

"In particular, doctors' prescriptions should be standardized."

After standardizing weights and measures, the prescriptions were further standardized.

If there had been a typewriter available, he would have definitely asked for a printout.

Dong Qichang was very pleased to hear this, because it broadened the scope of application of calligraphy.

However, considering that some doctors are older and have difficulty correcting their handwriting, he inquired further:

What if I can't change it?

"Prevent them from practicing medicine?"

"That is clearly impossible," Zhu Youjian said.
“They should be assigned assistant doctors who can write in the official script.”

"This way, the prescriptions written by the doctor can be written by the assistant doctor and signed by the doctor for confirmation."

"The same applies to other industries; any industry that requires written evidence must abide by this rule."

Modeled after the typists who wrote prescriptions for doctors in later times, they were paired with assistants who were skilled in calligraphy.

Students skilled in calligraphy now have another way to make a living: they can study medical knowledge and work as assistants.

Dong Qichang was naturally delighted with this. He planned to discuss it with Qian Qianyi, who was in charge of the Education Committee, to allow calligraphy to permeate more fields. (End of Chapter)