Top Scholar

Chapter 10 Words cannot be learned in a hundred days, but may be wasted in a single day.
"A dry brush must first be moistened with water; when dipped in ink, only the surface of the water should be touched."

After grinding the ink and moistening the brush, Su Youcai spread out a square sheet of rough, yellowed coarse paper, about a foot in size, and instructed Su Lu:
"Paper should ideally be yellow and coarse, avoiding paper that is too smooth or too white; of course, we can't afford that kind of paper."

As Su Dongpo once said, "Regular script gives rise to running script, and running script gives rise to cursive script. Regular script is like standing, running script is like walking, and cursive script is like running. You must proceed step by step. If you can't stand and you want to walk, or you can't walk and you want to run, you will definitely fall hard."

"Of course, it goes without saying that we study primarily for the purpose of passing the imperial examinations. In terms of the imperial examinations alone, regular script is sufficient. Therefore, I will only teach you regular script. But as long as you lay a solid foundation, if you are interested in the future, it will not be difficult for you to learn running script and cursive script on your own."

"Understood." Su Lu nodded. He didn't want to be a calligrapher, so it was best not to learn anything that wasn't needed for the exam.

“As for regular script, nowadays all children in the world learn Jiang’s style.” Su Youcai then wrote a few steady, upright, and sharply defined characters on the paper.

Su Lu stared wide-eyed, surprised that his father's handwriting was so impressive. Su Youcai, however, remained unsatisfied and said:

“My calligraphy is modeled after Jiang Kai’s ‘Thousand Character Classic,’ and most scholars in the world write in this way. Although Jiang’s calligraphy is laborious, every stroke is meticulous. When writing, one can keep one’s mind focused and not careless. Those who are frivolous and unrestrained dislike it, thinking it lacks strength and naturalness, but they do not know that it is beneficial to one’s spirit.”

He paused for a moment, then couldn't help but complain, "Actually, it's because only the official script can be used in the exam, and the character 'Jiang' is the most orthodox official script..."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Su Lu said, quite accepting of the uniformity. In his later life, he had even studied the Hengshui style of calligraphy—it was for exams, after all, and there was no shame in it. His only worry was that he wouldn't be able to learn it.

"Can my son really learn anything in just a hundred days?"

“One hundred days is enough.” Su Youcai nodded and said, “Master Dongpo also said, ‘There is no one who can master calligraphy in a hundred days, but one day of missed practice is the problem.’ That is to say, writing is not difficult, and you can get the hang of it in three months. But the problem is that you have to stop practicing every day without interruption.”

He paused for a moment, then instructed, "You should practice calligraphy for half an hour every morning and another half hour in the afternoon. When writing, you should do it in one go without interruption."

"Yes." Su Lu was overjoyed to hear this; it was wonderful that he could master the basics in three months. He could take the exam in a hundred days. The Su family patriarch was truly inspiring.

"So how should we start practicing?" he asked with great interest.

"First, learn how to hold the brush." ​​Su Youcai then gave Su Lu a worn-out brush and taught him the five-character brush-holding method: "Ye Ya Gou Ge Di".

These five characters correspond to the roles of the five fingers when holding a pen. Simply put, the thumb and index finger press firmly on the pen shaft, the middle finger hooks inward, and the ring and little fingers press outward.

"The back of the hand should be rounded, the palm hollow, the fingers firm, the wrist suspended, and the brush straight." Su Youcai corrected Su Lu's grip on the brush while explaining, "A hollow palm makes it easy to use, firm fingers ensure even strength, a suspended wrist prevents the flesh from supporting the paper, and a straight brush ensures that every character is written with the center of the brush, with no flaws on either side."

“When writing regular script, the pen should be held close to the tip. When writing small regular script, the main force should be exerted by the fingers…” Su Youcai then carefully taught him the use of the fingers and finally instructed him: “The most important thing for you now is to train your pen control. So tomorrow morning, draw one hundred horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines each. The thickness, length and spacing should be as consistent as possible. Then do it again in the afternoon.”

"Yes." Su Lu quickly wrote down the assignment.

~~
After the calligraphy class, Su Youcai taught Su Lu the "Primer of Prosody".

The book contains 5,000 characters, divided into twenty rhyme groups, with each chapter consisting of parallel sentences. It is specifically designed for young children to learn phonetics and parallelism. Even without learning to compose poetry, children can still receive training in pronunciation, vocabulary, and rhetoric—all fundamental skills for writing.

"Heaven against sun, rain against wind. Nine summers against three winters."

Auspicious clouds contrast with auspicious snow, and dewdrops contrast with a hanging rainbow.

"The willows by the pond are gently swaying in the breeze, the pear blossoms in the courtyard are bathed in the soft glow of the moon..."

The beautiful words were a delight to read aloud, a truly enjoyable experience. After Su Lu finished reading it once, Su Youcai helped him with a few unfamiliar characters using phonetic spelling, then smiled and said:
"Another advantage of this book is that you don't have to memorize it in order or word for word. During the oral exam, the people from the academy will say the first line and you will have to answer with the second line. For example, if I say 'The tree is upright and the shadow is unbiased,' you will have to answer 'The source is clear and the stream is naturally pure.' They won't ask you to recite the first and second lines in reverse order."

As he spoke, he said slyly, "So you only need to be familiar with the first half of the sentence; the key is to memorize the second half without making a mistake."

"I understand." Su Lu nodded happily. His father wasn't rigid at all.

What he didn't know was that when Su Youcai taught him calligraphy, he used the simplest steps possible, omitting any unnecessary steps. This was all so that he wouldn't be disqualified because of his ugly handwriting.

Although his father felt the chances were slim, he still racked his brains to help him prepare for the battle...

~~
There wasn't much to teach tonight, so Su Youcai finished class early, yawning as he went to bed.

Su Lu first washed his brush and inkstone, then sat back down at his desk and began reciting "The Primer of Prosody". He quickly discovered that this thing was even easier to remember than the "Three Hundred Poems" and "Thousand Character Classic". It not only rhymed but also had parallelism and a strong visual imagery. Using image-based memorization methods, it was simply a breeze.

After about an hour of carrying and copying, Su Lu blew out the lamp, went to bed, hugged his 'bamboo wife,' and activated his sleep memory mode...

The next morning, the rooster's crow woke him up on time. Before opening his eyes, Su Lu, as always, first reviewed what he had memorized the night before, activating the memory strengthened during sleep. Then he got out of bed, sat back at the table, and quickly flipped through the book to check for omissions and corrections. Finally, he recited it all once more, then repeated the process of checking for and filling in any gaps, thus completing the second round of memorization during sleep.

At this time, his aunt also called for people to get up and eat, and to hurry up and go winnow and dry the grain. However, Su Lu was exempted, and from today onwards he did not have to go out to work and could concentrate on his studies.

After breakfast, he returned to his room and, for the first time, sat at his desk bathed in sunlight. Following his father's instructions, he meticulously ground the ink. He then gripped the brush using the five-character brush-holding method, first making a few circles in the air to loosen his wrist.

Only then did he dip the brush in ink and slowly draw vertical lines on the paper. According to his father, this was to tame the brush in his hand, turning it from a wild horse into a well-trained warhorse that could move freely across the paper at his will.

My father said that when you can skillfully control the strength, direction, and rhythm of your strokes, writing beautiful calligraphy will naturally be a piece of cake.

Su Lu was greatly encouraged. It was wonderful that such simple practice could help him overcome the writing barrier!
But when he confidently started practicing, he discovered that it was not simple at all...

First, there's the issue of pen control. Too much pressure will cause the strokes to split, while too little pressure will result in weak lines, making it difficult to meet his father's requirement of "every stroke with a central tip and consistent line thickness." He can only calm himself down and move the pen slowly, sacrificing speed for stability.

But this makes his hands extremely tired. And his father requires him to lift his wrist off the table and support himself only with his elbow when writing. This causes his arm to ache and tremble, making it difficult to maintain stability.

My father also said that if your hand shakes, you can use the "wrist-resting" method as a transition, which means resting your wrist on the back of your left hand while writing. But eventually, you still have to transition to directly suspending your wrist, otherwise the range of control over the pen will be limited, and you won't be able to write bold strokes.

Since that's the case, Su Lu doesn't plan to use the 'wrist pillow' method as a transition and will strive to develop a long-lasting and stable wrist suspension skill as soon as possible.

He gritted his teeth and persevered, drawing one hundred horizontal lines, one hundred vertical lines, and one hundred diagonal lines stroke by stroke. Only then did he put down his pen, stretch his sore forearms and wrists, and then drew the same set again, ending his morning calligraphy practice.

As Su Lu carried his brush and inkstone to the courtyard to wash them, he looked up and gazed into the distance. He saw a clear blue sky, verdant mountains, and the Chishui River flowing gurgling through the valley. Erlangtan was truly a paradise on earth.

When Xiao Jinbao saw him come out, he quickly climbed over the threshold, toddled to the side with his short legs, and looked up to ask, "Sanguo, have you failed at your studies?"

"It's Third Brother, have you learned it yet?" Su Lu corrected her with a smile. He knew the little one wanted him to play with her. She hadn't bothered him since morning, which was really rare for her.

He bent down and pinched Jinbao's soft cheeks, then laughed and said, "Shall I teach you gymnastics?"

"Great! Great!" Jinbao clapped his hands with delight.

"Stand still." He then led Jinbao and earnestly began doing the eighth set of broadcast gymnastics.

"Section 1, Stretching Exercises..."

Jinbao, who looks like a little bean sprout, is trying his best to imitate raising his hands and kicking his legs, and his flustered appearance is extremely cute.

An enticing aroma wafted from the kitchen; my aunt was steaming sorghum cakes. These cakes look completely different when they're fresh out of the steamer compared to when they've cooled down.

The sound of "clucking" came from downstairs; it was my aunt scattering grain for the chickens and adding hay to the cowshed.

In the warm sunlight streaming along the south wall, Grandma was sewing cotton shoes for the children, stitch by stitch. As for Grandpa, he'd already gone out for a stroll with a roll of betel leaves tucked in his pocket…

Cicadas chirped among the leaves, and wisps of smoke drifted slowly into the clouds. This moment was as beautiful as a painting, depicting a picture of happiness.

~~
"Section 8, Cool-down exercise..."

After finishing his morning exercises, Su Lu returned to his study, and Xiao Jinbao obediently went off to play by himself.

In the following time, Su Lu took out the calligraphy practice book again and reviewed the "Hundred Family Surnames" and "Thousand Character Classic" that he had memorized yesterday.

According to the forgetting curve principle, forgetting begins immediately after learning, but the process of forgetting is not uniform; rather, it is 'fast at first and then slows down'—if you don't review, you will forget half of it after an hour, and three-quarters after a day. But then the rate of forgetting gradually slows down, and eventually, you almost stop forgetting altogether.

It has also been found that spaced repetition is 50% more efficient than massed repetition. Reviewing with a one-day interval can double the memory retention. This led to the development of the powerful 'spaced repetition system'.

In short, this system recommends reviewing the material at seven key time points after the initial learning: 20 minutes, 1 hour, 9 hours, 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, and 16 days. This will help you firmly remember the knowledge and prevent you from forgetting it.

So yesterday, Su Lu was memorizing texts while working during the day, because she didn't want to miss any crucial review sessions.

Today marks the fourth review session of the "Hundred Family Surnames" and the "Thousand Character Classic"...

(End of this chapter)