History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 47: One Question, One Harder

This question comes from the poem "Junzi Yangyang" that we just learned two days ago. The answer is "You Zhao Wo You Fang". Although the character has many dots, it has few strokes.

Ten breaths are more than enough.

Having finished writing, the students eagerly looked towards Wei Daozi on the far right: "Senior brother, senior brother, hurry up and read the next question. Look, we've all finished!"

Wei Daozi smiled and said, "You summon me from the right."

Even academic underachievers like Wei Jing and Wu Ji grinned from ear to ear, because this line of poetry comes from "Junzi Yangyang"!
Hmm… Wu Jixuan immediately pouted. He could only write the right half of the character “翿” in the answer “我为翿”; what exactly were the strokes on the left half?

Before he could hesitate whether to use a stroke or a circle to represent the character, he heard Master Xue give him another "question" to remind him.

As soon as the word "title" was pronounced, Xue Nixia immediately followed up: "Beautiful Meng Yi."

This question took a leap of logic, causing panic among the students who were still complacent with their thinking in the "Guofeng" section.

Wu Ji was the worst off! In his haste, he heard "meaningless." He wasn't a studious person, not stupid; he was certain that the Book of Songs didn't contain the phrase "meaningless." Ugh... what to do? Grading is done by assigning scores to questions one by one.

Never mind! He continued to ponder how to write the character "翿". Surprisingly, this made him feel like he had more time on his hands again.

Master Xue and Master Duan paid special attention to Wei Yao, and were pleased to see that she immediately put pen to paper as soon as the sound "Yi" was uttered.

The second quickest to react was Wei Mao. He first traced the poem's origin from the lines, determining that the question came from the poem "Sang Zhong" in the "Yong Feng" section. Then, he eliminated similar phrases like "美孟姜矣" by following the order of repeated lines, and wrote the correct answer: "期我乎桑中".

However, this is precisely why he was angry as he wrote, because there are three instances of the repeated phrase "美孟……矣" in the poem "桑中", and the next line of each of them is the same: "期我乎桑中"!
What happened? He's wasted the last few days of his studies!

Wei Puti also began to write.

Wei Zhen's hard work these past two days has been in vain. She usually struggles with her studies, and her mind was in a complete mess. She couldn't even remember which poem the title came from.

They've started reading the question again. Wei Daozi: "Place it on the Zhou path."

Master Duan had been silently keeping track of the time, and now it was confirmed that the interval between sets of questions, and the interval within a set of questions, had all been shortened from ten breaths to nine and a half breaths.

When Master Duan looked at Wei Yao again, she had already written the answer: "Alas, I miss my beloved."

This question jumps back to the first poem in the Book of Songs, "Zhou Nan," specifically the poem "Juan Er."

Most of the students had memorized the poem before, but too much time had passed since they memorized it. Among the students who could write it down, some were nervous and, out of habit, continued with the next line.

Nine and a half breaths have passed.

"Set a question."

Master Duan shook his head slightly. Each question was indeed more difficult than the last. The chief proctor's speaking speed increased.

Beicheng Prefecture Academy, with eight branches.

When the interval between sets of questions shortened to eight breaths, Xi Jiao felt himself enter a wonderful state that made him feel refreshed and even increased his writing speed!

As soon as he finished saying "Ascend that high hill" in the first half of the question, he immediately wrote "My horse is black and yellow".

Eight breaths.

The second half of the question: "Ascend that lofty peak."

As Xi Jiao uttered the sound "Wei," he wrote: My horse...

Damn, that's not right! There's a trick to this question!
All the questions in this set are from "Juan Er". The order of the questions and the order of these two lines in the poem are reversed. In addition, there were already questions from "Juan Er" during the "nine and a half breaths" interval. All these reversals and accumulations have put Xi Jiao into a strange state...overconfidence!
He almost finished the sentence with "I am a horse that is sluggish".

The correct answer should be "寘彼周行"!
Cui Academy, Shanyi Academy.

Yuan Heng wrote down "I am a horse that is treacherous" with satisfaction. Haha, he knew how to do this question. Now he realized that talent can only be developed through hardship! It feels so good to be a talent, ha... Hey? Who's blocking his light?

Ah! He was overjoyed; his uncle had actually come to inspect the examination in person!

Actually, Governor Yuan came to Cui's school last night. How could he not come? That Teacher Liu has a terrible temper, is impulsive and stubborn, and made the monthly exam so difficult! If not a single perfect score is achieved, it will be a loss of face for the governor.

The best place in Quanping City to teach the Book of Poetry is the Xunyi Academy of Cui Academy. Since Governor Yuan was already here, he might as well take the opportunity to visit his nephew Yuan Heng next door.

Upon seeing this, he was so angry he was practically fuming!

That bastard is the only one he's ever seen who can even misunderstand the exam rules!

Dongcheng, Weizu Academy.

Master Xue silently counted to seven breaths: "Propose a question."

The exam papers of the two university students had time changes marked on them. Xue Nixia wrote, "It has truly troubled my heart." Without even a moment's pause, Wei Daozi continued to read, "Its development."

This is equivalent to presenting both the first and second halves of a set of questions simultaneously!

This change came without warning!
More than half of the students were thinking after saying "I am truly exhausted," which caused them to miss "its development."

"It truly troubles my heart, and its unfolding is truly troubles my heart, and its unfolding is truly troubles my heart..." The students repeated the lip movements of the entire question over and over again. Otherwise, they would forget the question of the second half of the question even after writing down the answer to the first half.

Seven breaths passed.

Master Xue: "Propose a question."

The time allotted for answering a set of questions is only seven breaths, which means you have to write down the answer within three to three and a half breaths.

"His-"

I don't know which mischievous children gasped in unison, but Master Duan was also there.

Wei Daozi, sitting to the side and behind Master Duan, raised his exam paper to cover his face, almost bursting out laughing. By the time he raised his paper, Xue Nixia had already finished reading the first half of the question, demonstrating his incredible speed in reading it.

Xue Nixia's topic was "The Crown Prince's Sister".

Wei Daozi quickly repeated, "Why?"

"The Crown Prince's sister, where has she come to be... The Crown Prince's sister, where has she come to be... The Crown Prince's sister..."

More and more students are muttering and memorizing questions, their mouths as dry as fish out of water.

Wei Daozi had a low threshold for laughter; he dared not look down at the audience, for it would make him want to laugh.

It was still seven breaths.

Master Xue: "Propose a question."

In the northern part of the city, in the Eighth Division Museum.

"Set a question."

West City, Cui Academy.

"Set a question."

The Yuan governor was getting increasingly agitated by the constant shouts of "Set the questions!" He was practically asking if anyone could even breathe!

He came out to instruct the school, followed by the headmaster and several examiners.

Reaching the courtyard gate, Yuan Zhi sighed, "I told you before, the first round could have been easier. Look at all, even Confucius's two disciples didn't get all the answers right. When the results come out and spread throughout the Northern Prefecture, people will definitely think that Pingcheng has no famous teachers! It won't look good for you either!"

Isn’t this causing trouble for yourself?

Master Liu, who set the questions, remained silent.

Director Cui was at a loss for words. He knew that the governor wanted Confucius to take Yuan Heng as his disciple, but Yuan Heng had failed him and had stolen the exam questions.

The other teachers were even more speechless.

Confucius: "Your Excellency, I have another disciple who is close to you."

At the end of Mao Shi.

The first round of exams is finally over.

In the Book of Poetry classroom of Weixueguan, the students were still caught up in the tension, the echoes of the "question" still lingering in their minds and ears.

Master Xue picked out Wei Yao's answer sheet from the servant's hands and checked the answers one by one. Master Duan leaned closer to look at it. He couldn't remember how many questions there were in total, so he only looked at whether Wei Yao had made any mistakes or circled words to replace them.

"Good, good!" Master Xue shook his head and smiled, praising Master Duan in a low voice, "Brother Duan, you have taught a good disciple."

"美孟弋矣": "孟" here refers to the eldest sister in the family. "弋" in this poem is a surname.

Climbing the steep, rocky mountain: This means climbing a treacherous mountain.

我马虺隤(huī tuí): 虺隤 means "illness".

¶ 寘 (zhì)彼周行 (hánɡ): This poem has multiple interpretations; only the pronunciation is indicated, and details are not provided.

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(End of this chapter)