In midsummer, the sunlight shines through the branches and leaves of the dense forest and shines on the tree-lined paths.
Xiangyang is backed by Xian Mountain, but the city is still some distance away from the mountains. There are countless fields and villages on both sides of the road. Walking southward along the path into the mountains, you can vaguely see a wooden archway standing on the mountain road ahead. It says Xianshan Academy.
Since the year before last, Liu Biao has opened an academy in Jingzhou, recruiting celebrities, great Confucian scholars and Confucian scholars to enroll. Now the academy has more than 300 people, and many talented people have gathered.
The donkey cart drove slowly into Xian Mountain and arrived at the foot of the mountain gate. The guide sent by Liu Biao led them up the steps.
After passing hundreds of steps, a huge house appeared in front of it. The house looked like a manor, surrounded by walls, the door was open, and people could be vaguely seen walking around inside.
Deng Hong and Shen Chen stepped into the academy and first saw a huge courtyard. In summer, cicadas were chirping, greenery covered the sky, and the surrounding buildings had cornices, brackets, corridors and pavilions. There was a centuries-old banyan tree standing in the middle of the courtyard. In the yard, the trees are lush and the branches are hanging down.
After passing the courtyard, there was a classroom ahead. As I passed by, I could see a lot of people inside. The students inside ranged from their teens to their thirties. They were shaking their heads one by one and reciting scriptures in a catchy way.
Going further inside, you can see several other classrooms. However, overall there are not many students. There are only a few to more than a dozen people in each classroom, which seems to be different from the more than 300 people described by Liu Biao.
However, Shen Chen knew that classes in schools in the Han Dynasty were not compulsory, and there was no roll call system. Students came to study on their own initiative, and they could come and leave when they wanted.
Even many aristocratic families with relatively strong family backgrounds would not send their children to academies at all.
Because they have their own family education.
For example, Zhuge Xuan did not send Zhuge Liang to study here, but let him stay at home all day long and be taught by Zhuge Xuan himself after get off work.
There are also Pang Tong, Pang Shanmin and others who are the descendants of Pang De Gong, who all follow Pang De Gong.
Disciples from other aristocratic families also have collections.
The books in these collections are very precious, because many of them were watched by the great scholars of the Western Han Dynasty, such as "Mencius' Book of Changes" and "Ouyang Shangshu". Many of them are treasures that have been handed down rather than handwritten copies.
Therefore, most children from aristocratic families will not come to this kind of academy. Those who come are basically common people or children from poor families, as well as powerful children without family education.
certainly.
The "poor people" here do not refer to people whose families have no money.
It refers to people who have money but no learning channels.
For example, there are businessmen, rich farmers, and small landowners with small fortunes in Xiangyang City.
Even if the children of the real poor want to make progress, it is almost impossible for them to come to the academy to study.
It's not that Liu Biao refuses to accept him, but that most poor people already have a hard time making a living.
Children as young as four or five years old have to herd cattle and sheep, chop pigs and weeds, dig weeds, go to the river to catch fish and shrimp, and do housework.
When I get older, I have to work in the fields with my parents. Let alone studying, I can't even have a moment of leisure.
Shen Chen was able to study first because his family was considered a rich peasant class and had a certain amount of land.
The second reason is that the clan has some books and several elders to lead the way.
Otherwise, unless you are a Chinese studies major who specializes in studying the Confucian classics of the Han Dynasty, it is almost impossible to learn any useful knowledge even if you travel to the Han Dynasty with a little knowledge.
After passing through the first few courtyards, we arrived at the atrium. The courtyard in the atrium is very large, almost the size of two basketball courts, and is densely packed with bamboo slips.
Bamboo slips are prone to insects if stored for a long time, so they must be taken out to dry in the sun from time to time.
Standing at the entrance of the courtyard, these floors paved with bamboo slips are still very majestic, like a sea of knowledge.
But who knows, so many bamboo slips may weigh hundreds or even thousands of kilograms in total, and the text they carry may not be as much as a dozen books.
This is because it was so difficult for ordinary people in the Han Dynasty to acquire knowledge.
There are two people around the letter.
A middle-aged man who looked about forty was sitting on his knees on a mat in the courtyard, checking each bamboo slip over and over again.
There was also a very short young man in his twenties who was neatly laying out the bamboo slips that the middle-aged man had inspected on the ground.
The leader was a servant of the Prefecture Mufu sent by Liu Biao. He shouted across the sea of bamboo slips to the middle-aged man in the yard: "Mr. Zhongzi."
Song Zhong raised his head and squinted his eyes slightly. He was a little short-sighted due to years of reading, and asked: "Who is it?"
"I am Cheng Zhi, a servant of Liu Shijun's house."
"Oh, what's the matter?"
"The envoy sent a young man to the academy to study. He said that he told his husband about this matter last year."
"is that so?"
Song Zhong turned to look at the young man aside.
Although he was only in his forties, Song Zhong's memory was much worse.
The young man thought for a while and said: "There is such a thing. At that time, he was said to be a very smart child, and he wanted to take him as his student."
Song Zhong said: "Okay, let him come in."
Deng Hong pushed Shen Chen, and Shen Chen looked helplessly at the sea of books on the floor, and could only find a gap and move over.
Song Zhong and the young man in front were staring at him intently, as if they were afraid that he would step on the bamboo slips.
Fortunately, although the sea of bamboo slips was dense, Shen Chen had just turned nine this year and was relatively short. He almost walked slowly through the bamboo slips on his toes to the opposite side.
When he came to Song Zhong, he cupped his hands and said, "Xiang Ben, Shen Chen, has met Mr. Zhongzi."
Song Zhong looked him up and down, but before he said anything, the young man next to him smiled and said, "Congratulations, Mr. Zhongzi, I will be free from now on."
"What do children know? They have to be taught."
Song Zhong shook his head: "We still have to work hard for Zhongxuan for a few days. Once he gets familiar with it, it will be fine."
The young man named Zhongxuan smiled bitterly, his eyes seemed a little helpless at Song Zhong's words, but there was no way, who made him the shortest?
What's more, these bamboo slips, which are regarded as treasures, are indeed treasures in their eyes, so they must be taken care of carefully and cannot be messed with.
Thinking of this, the young man waved to Shen Chen and asked, "Have you read a book?"
Shen Chen replied seriously: "I have read a few books."
"What?"
"The Analects of Confucius, the Book of Changes, and some of the incomplete Zuozhuan and Spring and Autumn Annals."
"Know the words?"
"know."
"Well, go and get that book."
The young man pointed to the ground not far away.
Shen Chen walked over, carefully rolled up the book, and walked to the young man's side.
"Can you read?"
The young man asked?
Shen Chen opened it and took a look.
The writing method of the Han Dynasty was official script.
However, many ancient books are written in large seal script and small seal script of the Qin Dynasty, which makes it difficult to read.
The book Shen Chen took was an ancient book written in small seal script, similar to oracle bone inscriptions. He could only shake his head and said, "I can't understand it. I can read regular script and official script."
The young man looked at Song Zhong even more helplessly.
Song Zhong smiled and said: "You have just entered school today, and you have to start from the basics. First, go to the backyard to find a place to live, Wen Ze, Wen Ze."
Amid the shouting, another Confucian scholar in his thirties walked out of the back room and asked, "What's wrong, Mr. Zhongzi?"
"Take this child to the backyard and settle him down."
"good."
The man named Wen Ze waved to Shen Chen: "Come here."
Shen Chen looked back at Deng Hong, and Deng Hong waved to him, indicating that he should follow him, then turned and walked toward the house.
After he left, Deng Hong bowed to Song Zhong and left.
Song Zhong put down the bamboo slips in his hand and asked the young man, "Zhongxuan, what do you think of this kid?"
The young man laughed and said: "It's quite strange. It's normal to understand official script, but there are no classics written in regular script. Why would he know it?"
Regular script did exist in the late Han Dynasty, but it became popular only during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. In other words, it would take several decades for the book writing format to become popular in regular script.
At this time, in 195 AD, most of the books that have been handed down are written in popular Qin and Han scripts such as large seal script, small seal script, official script, etc., and there are also a small number of classics left in the Six Kingdoms script.
Therefore, although the writing in regular script looks simpler and more comfortable than the official script, there are no books on the market in regular script. It is equivalent to the fact that in later generations everyone knows regular script, but you know the oracle bone inscriptions that no one has written. It is just as strange.
Song Zhong thought for a while and said: "Liu Shijun said that this child is very smart and a genius prodigy. Regular script is easier to read than official script. He must have seen it somewhere."
"Maybe."
The young man nodded: "But when you are only nine years old, you say you are familiar with "The Analects of Confucius" and "The Book of Changes". Why don't I believe it?"
Song Zhong smiled and said, "We'll talk tomorrow whether you believe it or not. Let's dry these books today."
The young man said bitterly: "Okay."
After saying that, he started to work hard again. These books are treasures, and there are countless people snatching them outside. If they are eaten by insects, not to mention Master Song will be angry to death, even he will feel distressed for several nights.
Over there, Shen Chen followed the man named Wen Ze into the backyard, passed several corridor arches along the way, passed the back hall, and entered a long corridor.
On the way, he was very curious about the name Wen Ze and asked, "My name is Shen Chen. Are you Mr. Wen?"
Yu Jin seems to be based on the rules of writing and writing.
The man replied: "My surname is not Wen, my name is Pan Fan, and my courtesy name is Wenze. You can just call me Mr. Pan."
"Mr. Pan."
Shen Chen responded and asked again: "One of the two gentlemen in the yard just now is Mr. Zhongzi, where is the other one?"
Pan Fan smiled and said: "He is Wang Can. Have you heard of Wang Can from Shanyang?"
Is he Wang Can, one of the Seven Sons of Jian'an?
Shen Chen was quite surprised.
The Seven Sons of Jian'an refer to literary achievements, among which Wang Can's poems are one of the most outstanding.
In "Wen Xin Diao Long", Liu Xie believed that Wang Can was the top poet among the seven sons of Jian'an, which shows his knowledge.
Although they were not like Zhuge Liang, people like Sima Yi were the most dazzling stars at that time.
But in terms of literary attainments, they are recognized as strong.
Therefore, it would be a very good thing for Shen Chen to be able to enter Xianshan Academy and learn culture from famous scholars such as Wang Can and Song Zhong.