Chapter 30 The people are more important than the king
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
After the three bells rang, the officials in the liberal arts college handed out the test papers.
There are thirty-two test papers in total. The first fifteen test papers are for filling in the blanks. Part of the original text is extracted from the test paper, part of the content is removed, and the candidates are asked to write the vacant parts silently according to the context.
For other questions, you need to explain the general meaning based on your own understanding of the original text, as long as it makes sense.
The next fifteen papers test dictation, which are basically long paragraphs or entire chapters of Confucian writings, and are extremely good at testing the memory of postgraduate students.
Even if you write a wrong word, you may be filtered out.
The last two tests are about the meaning of the classics. They are based on the sentences in the works, and the candidates write an essay to explain the meaning.
This is a bit like a paper, giving you the meaning of a sentence, and you use your own understanding to explain it.
You can quote scriptures or give examples.
But the most important thing is that you have to have your own ideas and unique insights.
This test is about true talent and learning!
Suppose during the imperial examination, even if there are powerful candidates who can bring some content into the examination room, they can copy the fill-in-the-blank questions and the dictation, but how can they copy the paper?
After all, as a candidate, it is impossible for you to know the meaning of the scriptures.
Therefore, the existence of scriptures and meanings completely eliminates the possibility of candidates cheating.
Therefore, it doesn’t matter even if you don’t do very well in the first two subjects. Those are the wisdom of predecessors.
Confucian classics don't matter how much you can memorize them, but how much you can understand them.
The times are constantly progressing, and knowledge is always changing with each passing day.
But if the meaning of the classics is poor, it will be useless no matter how well you write in other subjects.
When examiners review test papers, they usually review the meaning of the scriptures first and rank them based on the meaning of the scriptures.
The person who ranks at the top of the classics and righteousness has a high chance of being named on the gold list.
For people with poor knowledge of economics and knowledge, their scores will straighten out. Even if there are no errors or omissions in other test papers, it will be difficult to bring their scores back. It is estimated that the examiner will not need to read the other test papers, which will directly save a lot of workload. In other words, as long as the meaning of the scriptures is written well, half the battle is won.
As long as you write an excellent article on the meaning of the scriptures, it will be enough to make up for the shortcomings in other aspects, and it may even be the final word!
This shows the importance of scripture meaning.
Du Ning suddenly remembered the Chinese language test he took on Blue Star. No score on any question could compare with the final composition.
After adjusting his condition, Du Ning started taking the exam.
Confucius said: "Isn't it true that one should learn and practice from time to time? Isn't it a joy to have friends come from afar?" There is a blank paragraph after it.
Du Ning immediately added: "Isn't it a gentleman if a person doesn't know something but doesn't feel embarrassed?"
This is the first section of "The Analects of Confucius? Xue Er Pian", and it is also a must-take question.
Confucius said: "Wealth and honor are what people want. If you don't get them by the way, you can't get them. Poverty and lowliness are what people hate. If you don't get them by the way, you can't get rid of them."<
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There is still a blank space at the end.
With a thought in Du Ning's mind, the "Analects of Confucius" he had read in Wen Gong opened by itself, and it was the content of "Li Ren Chapter".
"If a gentleman abandons benevolence, is it bad to become famous? A gentleman will always violate benevolence, and mistakes will inevitably be made, and misfortunes will be caused."
Du Ning easily filled in the blank parts at the end, and at the same time thought in his mind: "Books come from the Wen Gong, and the Wen Gong exists within itself. Am I cheating?"
There is a blank space after filling in the blanks, requiring candidates to explain the main idea.
This requires answering in vernacular, not classical Chinese.
The general idea of this article is that wealth and nobility are things that everyone wants, but they will not enjoy them if they do not use proper methods to obtain them. Poverty and lowliness are disliked by everyone, but they do not use proper methods to obtain them.
If you get rid of it, you won't get rid of it.
A gentleman cannot be called a gentleman if he abandons benevolence. A gentleman does not deviate from benevolence even for a meal. He must act in accordance with benevolence at the most urgent moment. Even when he is homeless, he will definitely act in accordance with benevolence.
I'm here to do something.
Du Ning took the exam seriously, and when he encountered something he didn't understand, he would directly read the books in Wen Gong.
"Bold maniac! How dare you bring the content of the book into the examination room, which violates the imperial examination regulations of the Academy of Arts and disrespects all the saints. Come on! Give this person a hard beating and throw him out!"
"My lord! My lord! Students don't dare to do anything anymore. Please give me a gentle sentence and don't kick me out! I have seniors and juniors. If they know that I am kicked out of the examination room, what kind of face will I have?"
See you..."
"That's enough! If I had known this, why bother? I don't care what your reasons are. Cheating is cheating. No one can protect you. Take it away!"
"No! Sir! I beg you! I kneel down for you! Don't..."
Suddenly there was a commotion in the examination room, but he was quickly gagged and kicked out by the soldiers.
Apparently, someone was cheating in the examination room and was discovered by the patrolling invigilator, who then kicked him out of Fuwenyuan.
"Hmph! How dare you plagiarize under my nose? It's ridiculous! When you candidates entered the liberal arts academy, I already knew who brought anything in, and you thought you could hide it with your little tricks.
Is this my officer’s search? This officer is playing hard to get!”
The triumphant voice of the invigilator sounded again: "This candidate, are you going to get out of the liberal arts college on your own, or will I give you a helping hand?"
"What are the adults talking about? Students don't understand..."
"Do you dare to turn it out of your sleeve and let me see it?"
"This... sir... the student was confused for a moment. The student will never dare to do it again. Please..."
"Come here! Kick this candidate out!"
"My lord, you are wrong! I haven't started copying yet! You can't..."
When the candidate was about to beg, the soldiers gagged him and took him away.
"What an amazing invigilator, he actually catches everything right!" Du Ning thought with admiration.
Many candidates turned pale with fright, and looked at the invigilator with expressions full of horror.
"All candidates, put away your crooked thoughts. Even if you can deceive me, you will not be able to escape the eyes of the saints!" the proctor said in a higher tone.
"Hey..."
A student suddenly stood up and bowed in the direction of the temple: "The student made a mistake and should not have brought the article into the examination room. I feel guilty and give up the imperial examination."
Then he covered his face and left in shame.
Du Ning heard some candidates standing up near him, lamented, and left the examination room.
If he is caught cheating in the imperial examination, his reputation will be ruined.
For scholars in this world, a literary name is a passport to travel around the world, and it is also the most beautiful "face".
When the invigilator passed by Du Ning's examination booth, he glanced at Du Ning.
Du Ning ignored him and didn't even feel nervous at all. He treated him as if he were just air and continued to answer the questions seriously.
The invigilator nodded with satisfaction and left quickly.
Before I knew it, I had finished answering all the first fifteen test papers.
The fifteen test papers at the end test dictation and the reader's memory.
Each test paper only has the title of one article, and then the candidates are asked to write down the full text of the article silently.
Du Ning glanced at the title and saw that he was going to write the first article of "The Doctrine of the Mean" silently.
The author of "The Doctrine of the Mean" is Zisi. It is a moral philosophy monograph that discusses the realm of life cultivation. It is one of the Confucian classics and one of the contents of the imperial examination. Du Ning has already read it.
With a thought, I opened the book "The Doctrine of the Mean" in Wen Gong, and the contents appeared in my mind.
"Destiny is called nature; nature is called Tao; cultivating Tao is called teaching."
"The Tao cannot be separated for a moment; it can be separated, but it is not the Tao..."
Du Ning continued to answer questions.
…………
In the afternoon, Du Ningmo finished writing fifteen test papers.
"Even copying takes a lot of time. This county exam not only tests your brain power, but also your patience and physical strength."
Du Ning wiped his sweat, took a short rest, and picked up the last two test papers.
The last two test papers are Jingyi, which is the most important subject in the weightlifting and is also a subject that cannot be copied, accounting for more than 50% of the score.
There is only one question on Jingyi, but there is an extra piece of white paper. This is because I was worried that some candidates would not be able to write enough articles, so I added an extra one.
The length of an article is not about its length, but its meaning and essence.
Du Ning glanced at the title, which read: "The people are the most valuable, the country is the second most important, and the king is the least important.", from "Mencius? Endeavor Chapter? Sentence 2".
Literally understood, the general meaning is that the people are the most important, followed by the country, and the monarch is the least important.
Therefore, "the people are more valuable than the king" has become a widely circulated saying in later generations.
The so-called "She Ji" refers to the gods of earth and grain worshiped by ancient emperors and princes when they founded the country, and later became the synonym for the country.
Du Ning's mind moved, and the "Mencius" in the Wen Gong opened to the original text of "The Part Two of the Whole Heart Chapter".
Mencius said: "The people are the most noble, the country is second, and the king is the least. Therefore, the people are the emperor, the emperor is the princes, and the princes are the officials. When the princes threaten the country, they will change their positions. After the sacrifice is completed, the emperor will be the king.
When it is prosperous and clean, ancestors are worshiped at the right time, but when there is drought and water overflows, it becomes a place of worship."
Mencius believed that the people were the most valuable, followed by the country, and the king was the least valuable.
The person who is recognized by the people will be the emperor, the person who is recognized by the emperor will be the princes, and the person who is recognized by the princes will be the official.
When the princes harm the country, they will be replaced by princes.
If the sacrifices are plentiful, the sacrifices are clean, and the sacrifices are held on time, but there are still droughts and floods, then the god of earth and grain will be established instead.
This is the idea put forward by Mencius.
As a person with nine years of compulsory education, Du Ning knows well the meaning of the word "people".
The word "people" represents the collective.
The meaning of this scripture is to allow candidates to use their own articles to explain their main points around "the people are the most important, the country is the second most important, and the king is the least important".
Du Ning thought about it and could sum it up in one sentence.
"He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world."
This is the most essential sentence in Chinese civilization, which shows the importance of the word "people". A king who cannot be recognized by the people will not be able to stay on the throne for a long time.
Du Ning planned to use this as an idea to solve the problem and explain the meaning of the classics by quoting them.