History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 147 Thinking
Wei Mao guessed the reason. Bu Xuezi's departure from the city at this time was probably because the Wei Zhen family and the Bu family had communicated. Never mind, don't make a sad person even sadder. Wei Mao asked, "If you want to say goodbye to your fellow student Yao in person, let's ask for leave for one class. I will accompany you to Cui Academy to find her."

Wei Zhen nodded, pouting.

Wei Mao continued to comfort him: "Once Bu Yanzhen returns to the city, I'll help you explain to him."

Wei Zhen nodded again and took out a carved wooden box. "Fellow disciple Mao, I'll have to trouble you to give this to him for me."

"I can't just pass my personal items around; you have to let me know what they are."

“It’s a fragrance…” Wei Zhen opened the wooden box, only to be dumbfounded – it was empty!

There was nothing inside except for the double-layered white brocade that served as a padding layer!

"Huh?" She hurriedly rummaged through her book bag, but the sachet hadn't fallen in. "I remember clearly, I put the sachet in the wooden box, how could it be missing?"

Your parents must have taken it. Wei Mao said, "Give me the box. To Bu Yanzhen, it doesn't matter if it's a box or a sachet, as long as it's something you gave him."

To Wei Zhen's and Wei Mao's even greater regret, they no longer needed to ask for leave to go to Cui's Academy. After the first class, Wei Zhen's father sent someone to pick her up.

In youth, we all say that parting is commonplace, but some encounters, once missed, can last a lifetime.

Cui Xueguan, Xunyi Xueshe.

The new poem we learned today is "Quan Yu," the last poem in the "Qin Feng" section.

“For me, the summer house is spacious and spacious. Now, every meal is left with nothing. Alas, I have not inherited the original principles.”

“In my time, I used to eat four bowls of food at each meal. Now, I am never full after each meal. Alas, I have not inherited the original tradition.”

This poem is very short, with only two chapters, and the poem's preface and the interpretation of the verses are consistent. It aims to satirize Duke Kang of Qin for his treatment of virtuous ministers, failing to inherit the courtesy and respect shown by his predecessor, Duke Mu of Qin.

The poem's meaning is quite simple and clear. The key point to grasp is the period from the height of Qin's power during the reign of Duke Mu to its decline during the reign of Duke Kang, and the famous historical events that occurred during that time. Understanding this historical background and the experiences of these prominent figures allows one to truly empathize with the lament and sense of loss expressed in the concluding line, "not inheriting the beginning of power."

The poem meticulously depicts how Duke Kang of Qin's incompetence led to a significant decline in the treatment of virtuous officials. However, modern readers of ancient poetry need to consider this from multiple perspectives. While the virtuous officials lamented the loss of the traditional four-basket feast, didn't these same high-ranking ministers also fail to fulfill the duties of assisting the state that their predecessors should have possessed?

Before the get out of class ended, Master Guo summarized: "The decline of the nobility is never one-sided. One must be strong to bring prosperity to the country and gain the attention of the ruler. The same applies to our personal honor and disgrace. One must be strong to be truly respected from the heart. How long can one flaunt one's ancestors' achievements and wealth?"

Erzhu Rong had been drowsy all morning, but Master Guo's last sentence had put him into deep thought. He had lived a carefree life in Xiurongchuan, used to his freedom, but after coming to Pingcheng, he had to constantly be mindful of others' opinions. This showed that outside of Xiurongchuan, no one respected him as the young master of the Qihu tribe.

Erzhu Rong wasn't afraid of fighting; he didn't care if he lost or got beaten. What he hated most was people talking behind his back about the Qihu people as "rebellious barbarians," inferior people subservient to the Xianbei! "Hmph," he thought, "Confucius is right. Strength and weakness depend entirely on who becomes stronger in the future, not on whose ancestors were more powerful. He was determined to become powerful himself, making the current high-ranking nobles tremble at his feet!"

The school had a kitchen, and the students almost never left at noon. The kitchen staff would prepare the food and deliver it to the school, allowing the students to squeeze out a lot of time to consolidate the lessons learned in the morning.

Wei Yao was writing detailed notes. After a while, Erzhu Rong sat down next to her desk and whispered, "Your handwriting is really beautiful."

Wei Yao also asked him in a low voice, "How many characters do you recognize now? Do you know a hundred yet?"

Erzhu Rong nodded.

"Learning to read is difficult at first. You might learn two more characters today, three more tomorrow, but it will get better gradually. However, you must memorize every new poem you learn." Wei Yao, mindful of maintaining appropriate boundaries with his fellow student, offered only gentle advice. At the back of the school building, Er Zhu was engrossed in organizing his notes, occasionally glancing at what his young master was doing. He usually checked his notes against those of Cui Shang or Guo Yun after finishing his own, but today was different. These outstanding students, Cui Shang and Guo Yun, were actually proactively asking Wei Yao to check their notes.

It's clear that the title of "Poetry Champion" is well-deserved! This is wonderful! The young master can learn martial arts from Zhao Mengshi and literature from Lady Wei Yao. When we get back, I will continue to remind the young master to get along well with Lady Wei Yao.

At this time, on Zhuji Street in the East City, Wei Mao arrived at Yingju Bookstore.

The shopkeeper gave him the new strange tales about the "rootless island barbarians." This time, Wei Mao didn't rush to read them. Instead, he asked the silk pouch that wrapped the two volumes, "I remember this pattern is unique to our bookstore?"

"Yes."

"Were these two volumes of stories already wrapped in a silk pouch with this pattern when they were delivered, or did you put it on after they were delivered?"

The shopkeeper understood the meaning behind the words and replied, "When the other party brought the story last time, it just so happened that Xiu Nu brought the silk pouches to the bookstore. In order to do good business in the long term, I gave the other party a box of silk pouches, which contained ten pieces. The one in your hand is one of the ten. As you can see, if you look closely at the embroidery on our silk pouches, each one has a mark. The ten pieces I gave to the island barbarian scholar all have an extra circle of pink silk thread in the petal area."

Wei Mao asked again, "Are the people who delivered the stories this time completely different from those before?"

"Yes, this time it was a woman who came. She was wearing a straw hat and was probably... under thirty? It's hard to say. She had a dark complexion, the brim of her hat was low, and she was covering her mouth with a face towel."

The shopkeeper thought Wei Mao was just asking casually, but Wei Mao went up to the second floor, took off a bamboo hat, held it up to the wall to indicate its height, and asked, "Is that young lady about this tall?"

The shopkeeper thought for a moment: "Yes. How did you know, sir?"

The height of Wei Maobi was roughly the same as the height of his teacher's wife, Zhao Zhi, plus the top of her hat. He then recalled seeing the sachet in Master Wei's study, and the familiar scent of pine soot ink he had smelled at the time. Different pine soot ink workshops used different ingredients; Wei Mao's family-made ink contained special herbs, which he could distinguish with a single sniff after a while.

Therefore, he already knew who "the island barbarians without roots" was.

He is the father of Yao Tong!
From being sullen yesterday afternoon to being overjoyed now, Master Wei's choice of Yingju Bookstore for this kind of business shows that although he appears to ignore him, he actually trusts him.

Wei Mao immediately instructed the shopkeeper: "No matter who asks about the origin of 'the island barbarians without roots,' you are not allowed to give any useful clues."

"Don't worry, my lord, we all understand."

"Let me know immediately if anyone asks!"

Wei Mao could understand that Master Wei was forced to write such stories out of necessity, and that he must be accumulating wealth to settle in Luoyang in the future. Since it was certain that his fellow disciples and their families would go to Luoyang, he really had to start planning ahead.

Wei Mao returned to his study on the second floor.

He calculated the time; the letters he had written to his two elder brothers earlier should have been received by now, right?

於我乎: 於 is an interjection, and in this poem it is equivalent to “呜”.

Quan Yu: refers to the "initial stage".

The four gui (guǐ): Gui is an ancient round-mouthed food vessel. Four gui refers to millet, sorghum, rice and glutinous rice.

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(End of this chapter)