"Busty and full of talented people, this year's liberal arts examination is truly an unprecedented event!"
On the top floor of the Wen Palace, three examiners in Tsing Yi stood side by side. One of them, an elegant examiner with a long beard and a long beard, looked at the "students" of the literary examination who were filing in below the tower and said.
"Yes, the 'Historian' has stepped in, and even the rewards are far higher than in the past. I just don't know if the winners this time can satisfy the 'Historian'.
Another examiner echoed, and as soon as his voice fell, there was a lot of silence on the top floor of the Wen Palace.
"Historian", whose surname is "Shi", is respectfully called "Shishi" by everyone. He is a famous literary scholar who was born in Pingchuan. He has been a "literary teacher" in the imperial capital of the Han Dynasty for more than 20 years. Now he is eighty-eight in his sixties and has taught
Countless princes and princesses.
The Han Dynasty believed that martial arts were respected, and although the status of "writers" was far inferior to that of military generals, "historians" still had extraordinary influence based on their teaching experience.
This time the "historian" retired from old age and returned to his hometown of Pingchuan Township, hoping to find a successor to his mantle in his later years.
Even the imperial court has taken care of this matter, which can be regarded as the imperial court's respect for this "literary master" who has served the imperial family and taught the royal children for more than 20 years.
However, the "Historian" is a harsh person and has a very high vision. He is more cautious in recruiting disciples than indiscriminately. Most people can't easily get into his eyes. Many noble disciples from the close circle of the dynasty can't get into his eyes, let alone Pingchuan County.
It's a small place.
"It's difficult! Nowadays, martial arts is becoming a sage and literature is in decline. Most people are concentrating on martial arts. Even if the remaining people are diligent in studying, they are doing it for fame. They know it but don't know why. How many people are there who are really good at it?
scholar."
A square-faced examiner with a dark complexion and a resolute temperament said. The first half of the sentence was still talking about the historian's recruitment of apprentices, and the second half contained a lot of regret for the decline of literature.
Looking down from the top floor of the Wen Hall, although the "students" who came to take the exam were bustling, most of them looked either nervous or dull, with little aura.
Several examiners also had expressions of concern, as if they felt the same way. In the legendary prosperous age of literature, scholars had upright ideas, and their minds shone brightly.
During each Lidian examination, hundreds of millions of scholars from all over the world gather like clouds, and the awe-inspiring righteousness condensed from reading naturally gathers to form a long river of righteousness that is as solid as substance, which can make dead trees spring, old trees grow, flowers bloom, and vitality flourishes everywhere.
, full of spring.
Nowadays, it is also the liberal arts exam and students gather together, but where is such a scene?
"This kind of thing cannot be forced. I heard that the historian was teaching in the imperial capital of the dynasty, and he has collected many clues about the era of literary saints. The historian is profound in knowledge and has high moral standing. He is now old and I don't know how long he can live.
I only hope that the literary students of this class can gain his insight, otherwise, all the historians have learned will become useless, which will definitely be a great loss to our literary education!"
He is an examiner with a long beard and elegant temperament.
"Yeah! I hope so..."
Everyone sighed.
…………
In the corner of the third floor of the "Literature Hall", Yang Ji took out his ink stick and slowly ground it on the old inkstone. There was a buzzing sound around him. Compared with other nervous students, Yang Ji was calm and calm.
many.
"clang!"
After the bell rang, the exam officially began. A famous official handed out the exam papers one by one.
Yang Ji flipped through it and found that it was indeed divided into three parts, namely "Dian borrowing", "Classic meaning" and "Policy theory". The first part is "Dian borrowing", which is very simple. It examines the familiarity of literary and moral classics. , memory situation.
This level can basically eliminate half of the people, and the rest are people with excellent memory. It is basically not too difficult.
The second part is "Sutra Meaning", which examines the understanding of the sage's writings. Although the language is somewhat different after an era, the sage's writing is profound but not obscure. As long as you pay attention, you can understand the sage's writing.
Half of the people left in the first level will be eliminated in this level, and the remaining ones are the real "scholars."
As for the last level, it is the real key!
After the first two stages, all those left behind are spiritual people. If you want to stand out from thousands of "students", you must have the wisdom and talent to impress thousands of "students"!
Finally, the policy papers of the three "literary students" from the high school will be publicly displayed. Nothing can be faked here!
The "Tongsheng Examination" is the first exam that all "students" are exposed to. Many people have no previous experience, so there are many who are nervous and have affected their performance.
The imperial court's original intention was to select talented "students", and it was not strict about the speed of answering questions. Therefore, the "Tongsheng Examination" lasted longer than the "Xiu Cai Examination". It took one and a half days, which was very sufficient time to answer the questions. .
However, most of the truly outstanding "students" still handed in their papers on the first day.
Yang Ji took a deep breath and opened the paper.
The first part of the examination question is "Book of Rites", which comes from "Five Classics". There is a saying that "a scholar has no clothes, how is he different from a man?" This is "ritual".
"The question is not very difficult. However, "Book of Rites" has never been a mainstream subject in scientific examinations, so it is a bit strange to choose this as a question now."
Yang Ji was secretly surprised.
Yang Ji had already memorized the contents of the Three Classics and Five Classics, so it was no problem. He immediately started writing.
Although the first part of the exam seems to be all about memorizing it by heart, Yang Ji knows that this is not the case. There is also an invisible score in the exam, which is the neatness and writing of the paper.
When Yang Ji was in Jin'an City before, he often heard those "students" who had failed the exam gather together in twos and threes and discuss this matter with regret.
The examiner of the liberal arts examination attaches great importance to writing skills, which he has known for a long time in private. Therefore, Yang Ji began to practice hard on writing when he was very young.
rustle~
The examination room was filled with the sound of rustling writing, mixed with some low murmurs, and voices that were overly nervous and sobbing. Not everyone can memorize the contents of the Three Classics and Five Classics by heart.
Some people spend a lot of time memorizing and forcibly memorizing a large number of scriptures and articles. When they see the test questions, they are not what they have memorized at all, and they collapse in an instant. There are also people who find that they have clearly memorized articles that they know very well. At the end of writing, I suddenly couldn't write anymore. I suddenly started to sweat and my clothes were wet.
This is the liberal arts examination. No matter how much effort you usually put in, only the last three people left can be on the gold list. Most of the others are destined to be eliminated.
Yang Ji looked up sympathetically, then quickly calmed down and immersed himself in the scientific examination.
The second part is "Sutra Meaning". There are five paragraphs in total, all of which are excerpted from the "Three Classics" and "Five Classics".
"The five hundred principles of a gentleman can be summed up in one sentence: 'The Four Minds of a Confucian'." Question, what are the "Four Minds of a Confucian"?
Yang Ji dipped his hand in ink and chanted slightly without saying a word. This sentence was actually not from the "Three Classics" and "Five Classics", but what another person said.
There are many sayings about the conduct of a gentleman in the Three Classics and Five Classics. Some people try to summarize it into one sentence, which is the "Four Confucian Hearts".
Anyone who tried to reinterpret the Three Classics and Five Classics in history was mostly dismissed as an alien and not accepted. However, this sentence was widely circulated among scholars, and even the mainstream of the court recognized it, because it said
The identity of the person who said this is not trivial, he is a famous "literary sage".
Any words spoken by a "literary sage", even if they are not in the "Three Classics" and "Five Classics", are still regarded as golden rules and the holy scriptures of scholars.
Regarding the "Four Hearts of Confucianism", this literary sage did not say anything. However, the content of the Four Hearts of Confucianism has been filled in every page of the "Three Classics" and "Five Classics", giving hundreds of words of explanation.
This is actually a test of everyone's investigation and understanding of the Three Classics and Five Classics. Because different people and the "Four Hearts of Confucians" will have different understandings, what they write will naturally have different contents.
Yang Ji pondered for a moment, then wrote a line:
“The four hearts of Confucians are the heart of compassion, the heart of right and wrong, the heart of shame, and the heart of resignation!”
This is not random writing, but Yang Ji's understanding of the Three Classics and Five Classics after studying for many years.
"People must have a heart of compassion before they can understand justice. Otherwise, if you don't help the old and the young, if you don't help the weak, what's the point of the adultery?"
"One must have a sense of right and wrong before one can know loyalty..."
"One must have a heart of shame before one can know faith..."
"One must have the heart to give in, only then can one know etiquette..."
Yang Ji wrote four lines of characters, which, when connected, are exactly the "propriety, justice, loyalty and trustworthiness" advocated by Confucianism. This is also another Yang Ji's understanding of the "Three Classics" and "Five Classics".
The test paper has five pages in total, and there are four other questions. Yang Ji finished answering all the questions, and before he knew it, it was already evening. Many soap officials had already lit candles on the third floor of the Wen Palace, and the interior was brightly lit.
When Yang Ji looked up, he saw some pancakes, steamed buns and other simple meals on the table. These were prepared by the imperial court.
The servant who delivered the food was so gentle that Yang Ji didn't even notice.
Yang Ji smiled slightly, and then withdrew his gaze. He was not hungry yet, so with the bright candlelight, Yang Ji reviewed the questions again.
"It's interesting. The first part tests etiquette. Although the second part tests five questions, each of which is different, the content is all about etiquette, justice, loyalty and trustworthiness. What exactly do you want to do in this liberal arts test?"
Yang Ji was thoughtful.
The questions in the Liberal Arts Examination are not very secret. After each exam, they will be announced by students from all over the country. Yang Ji also paid attention to them.
Although the previous liberal arts exams were also divided into three parts, the content was very casual and did not give Yang Ji a strong sense of suggestion like it does now.
“I don’t know what the last question is about!”
Yang Ji suppressed his thoughts and turned to the last page.
This is the last and most important part of the liberal arts examination!...