Transmigrating to the Ming Dynasty’s Imperial Examination Ch. 120

Chapter 120

Although Teacher Lu went out to enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival with his fellow scholars, he did not neglect his responsibilities as a teacher and assigned homework to his students before leaving.

After the holiday, He-ge obediently handed in a stack of large characters and recited a hundred characters from the Thousand Character Classic. Although Cui Qi did not need to prepare for the exams, he also had to recite a few ancient texts to cultivate literary elegance. Both of the youth attended school during the day–Cui Qi went to work in the afternoon while He-ge could rest after studying until mid-afternoon. After dinner, it was Cui Xie’s turn to bring his assignments for Teacher Lu to review.

The assignment had been the simplest type of moon-viewing poem. Throughout the ages, everyone had written about the moon, but what they truly expressed were their emotions while gazing at it. Some observed the moon and would long for home, others thought of loved ones and some lamented current affairs. One could discern a person’s character and temperament through their composition.

Teacher Lu took the paper, brought out a small brush and dipped it in red ink while he reviewed the work.

Although Cui Xie’s poem did not contain any particularly praiseworthy lines, it was simple and clear, with a restrained emotion that suited the balanced and gentle ministerial style of the Imperial court. Writing about separation upon seeing the bright moon was a common theme, but his poem was not overly sorrowful, showing a broad and open heart, worthy of some praise.

Cui Xie had written: “Light fills the expanse of the universe, high winds stir to reveal the dew-laden cicadas. Autumn deepens from this night on, the moon shines fully on those far away. Throughout the ages now and then, the same illumination and the rivers and mountains are uniquely beautiful. There is no one to worship when climbing the tower, only memories of fleeting years.”

Teacher Lu read it and then shook his head with a smile, “I told you to strictly follow the rules first, but you have already used the method of tonal deviation correction. What is the matter, couldn’t find the right words?”

Cui Xie laughed, “It is this student who did not write well. I initially wanted to write, ‘Autumn deepens now from this night, the moon shines fully on those far away’, but felt the character ‘now’ was redundant with its later usage. So I changed ‘now’ from a level tone to an oblique tone and adjusted the counterpart accordingly.” Moreover, the phrase ‘those far away’ refers to himself, not Advisor Cui and his younger brother. He was now standing on Beijing soil, just seven or eight kilometers from his dormitory in his previous life, which did not make him someone ‘far away’, but one that had simply left behind his previous era and environment.

Staying in the same city of Beijing, yet separated by over five hundred years of time was a tangible yet unreachable concept. If he had traveled forward in time, he could have seen relics from his own era, but transmigrating back over five hundred years to the Chenghua reign left him with nothing but a chemistry textbook, a few online novels and a hard drive full of movies, devoid of any familiar connections he once knew.

When stripping away the daily busy work, studies and the emotions that occupied most of his time, energy and mind, what lingered deep in his heart was still the longing for the world he once knew.

Cui Xie sighed inwardly and Teacher Lu, who was grading papers beside him, also let out a long sigh.

Teacher Lu himself was away from his hometown, drifting in Beijing to prepare for the Imperial examinations. He had a family with a wife and children back home. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, feelings of separation and longing weighed heavily on his heart. This cliche sentiment of missing those far away resonated deeply with him.

After reading the poem, Teacher Lu marked a few places and explained where the composition was not properly balanced and where the sentiments did not align with the mood of autumn reflections.

The line ‘throughout the ages now and then, the same illumination and the rivers and mountains are uniquely beautiful’ was particularly unbalanced: in terms of words, ‘throughout the ages’ and ‘the rivers and mountains’ were a forced match and in terms of rhythm, the phrases ‘the same illumination’ and ‘uniquely beautiful’ did not align in cadence, making it highly uneven.

This line happened to be part of the neck couplet. In a poem, while other lines may not need to be perfectly matched or could be less meticulously paired, this line had to be precisely balanced and elegant. Moreover, when crafting a couplet, oppositional pairing was preferred over direct matching. The meanings must differ; if the words match perfectly, yet convey the same idea, it is called a ‘clasped hands couplet’ which would be laughed at.

Cui Xie nodded repeatedly and explained, “I was only thinking about the changes in the landscape through the ages and did not make the pairing precise enough.”

When he had written that line, Cui Xie was reflecting on how he had seen the moon both five hundred years ago in the past and in the present. The moon remained unchanged over billions of years, but life in these two eras was drastically different. He had been caught up in his own emotions and had not refined the wording.

Teacher Lu laughed, “Composing poems is not the same as writing essays that expound on the ideas of Sages. You only need to express your own emotions. If you desire to write about longing, start with small observations, such as thinking of distant loved ones during a joyous banquet or feeling the sorrow of parting when hearing the sounds of autumn. There is no need to write about changes through the ages. You are still young and have yet to witness the rise and fall in one’s life…

As he spoke, Teacher Lu suddenly remembered although Cui Xie had not witnessed the rise and fall of dynasties, he had indeed experienced significant personal upheaval, more than this exam-failing teacher could claim—after all, Teacher Lu himself had never set foot inside the Imperial Palace’s walls.

Teacher Lu quietly swallowed the rest of his intended lecture, cleared his throat and shifted to the topic of tonal deviation correction, “Focusing solely on strict adherence to poetic forms can indeed constrain your thoughts. Since you already understand how to correct a deviant line, let me formally teach you the technique.”

Teaching poetry could not solely rely on abstract explanations of tonal patterns, as it can quickly become confusing. Teacher Lu initially considered using Cui Xie’s poem as an example, but he realized that revising a poem must respect the student’s original intent. The corrections should not only remove flaws, but also elevate the poem’s quality. If he altered the poem strictly to correct the tonal patterns, teaching one method after another, the poem would become disjointed, fragmented and unrecognizable, which would not be beneficial for the student’s writing.

As someone who valued excellence, Teacher Lu decided to use one of his own Mid-Autumn Festival poems as an example. He first wrote, ‘The cold jade tower in its distance, the pearl curtain reflects back emptiness,’ and said to Cui Xie, “I have yet to teach you this structure, so remember it from now on. Such lines are not considered deviant and do not require correction.”

Previously he had taught Cui Xie and had him practice the basic structure: ‘平平平仄仄，仄仄仄平平’ (level-level-level-rising, rising-rising-rising-level). However, moving a step further, if a line starts with a rising tone where a level tone is expected, or a level tone where a rising tone is expected, as in the two lines he just wrote, it is still considered within the acceptable structure and does not need to be remedied.

In five-character quatrains, out of the four line structures, three allow for flexibility in the tone of the first character. Only the structure ‘平平仄仄平’ (level-level-rising-rising-level) requires that the first character cannot be arbitrarily changed to a rising tone. Changing it would leave the line with only one level tone besides the rhyme, a situation called ‘孤平’ (lone level), which is a true deviation and had to be corrected in the following line.

Teacher Lu gave a casual example, “For such cases, you can change the third character of the line to a level tone. In my poem, there are no self-corrections within the same line…take Li Bai’s line ‘我宿五松下，寂廖无所欢’ (I stay overnight under Five Pines mountain, A solitary place without hearing anything of joy). The third character of the first line should be a level tone, but is actually a rising tone; the variation in the third character can be corrected or not. The first character of the second line should also be a level tone, but is a rising tone, risking a lone level tone. Thus, Li Bai corrected it by making the third character a level tone, ‘无 (void)’.”

In addition to correcting within the same line, one can also correct in the corresponding line. If a line commits the lone level tone mistake and cannot be self-corrected, the third character of the corresponding line can be changed to a level tone. If the initial line has a lone level tone and the corresponding line also starts with a rising tone, changing the third character of the corresponding line to a level tone will correct it.

Let’s use his own poem as an example—’此时折桂客，或在明光宫’ (At this moment, the laureate may be in the Bright Palace).

This line follows the pattern ‘平平平仄仄，仄仄仄平平’ (level-level-level-rising, rising-rising-rising-level). The first character ‘此 (this)’ should be a level tone but is used as a rising tone, which is a common, acceptable variation that does not need correction. However, in this line, not only is the first character a rising tone, but the third character ‘折(to change direction)’ is also an entering tone, turning the whole line into a ‘lone level’ line. To correct this, the third character of the corresponding line is changed to the level tone ‘明 (bright)’.

While explaining the correction method, Mr. Lu glanced disapprovingly at the pencil clutched in Cui Xie’s hand. “Why are you using that pencil again? Be careful not to get used to this grip and ruin your calligraphy style. In the Imperial examinations, even a slight difference in handwriting quality could affect your future prospects!”

Cui Xie quickly finished his notes and explained, “I use this pencil for speed, to avoid disrupting your thoughts. I will transcribe it carefully with an ink brush later. You may not know, but this pencil is very practical and inexpensive. Mistakes can be easily erased with a piece of steamed bun…”

At the mention of bread, Mr. Lu’s brows furrowed. “Is this not a waste of food?”

Cui Xie quickly explained, “This pencil can be erased if necessary. If written on a light-colored board or wall, it can be washed off with water and reused. Our kitchen staff now use these pencils to write menus and the steward uses them for scheduling household tasks. If something is forgotten, a quick glance or question is enough to remember it. In the evening, everything written down can be washed off with water and reused the next day, it is convenient and cost-effective.

Teacher Lu, as a scholar, was concerned with the well-being of the world before himself. Thinking of those poor students who could not afford brushes and ink, he said, “In that case, this pencil is a good thing. For those impoverished scholars who cannot afford paper and ink, wouldn’t having such a pencil allow them to take notes and copy texts?”

Of course it can! A pencil was such a marvelous tool that it can even be used on spacecraft, with a much broader range of applications than a brush.

Cui Xie demonstrated how to use the pencil to Teacher Lu, stating, “This is exactly what this student thought. Consider those poor students who cannot afford paper and ink. Some have to practice writing in sand or water, erasing their work after writing only a few words. This pencil can be sharpened to a fine point, allowing for tiny, clear writing, saving paper and enabling much faster writing.”

Teacher Lu tried the pencil himself, but found it awkward to use. His writing was crooked and the pencil tip slid on the paper, causing him to set it down and grumble, “Can one really get used to this?”

Cui Xie turned his own notebook around to show the elder his own handwriting in hard pencil calligraphy: “It is easier to master than the brush. Even the household servants can use it without problem. With a few days of practice, Teacher can learn how to apply the right amount of pressure. This pencil was not designed for practicing traditional calligraphy or for the Imperial examinations, but for students who want to study but cannot afford good paper or brushes, or for ordinary people to take notes.”

Teacher Lu tried again, applying more pressure this time, which caused the pencil tip to tear through the thin paper, making a hole. Frustrated, he removed the paper and wrote a few characters slowly on the writing board.

The characters still did not look good. Unfazed, Teacher Lu dipped a handkerchief in water and wiped the board clean with ease. He then wrote a few more characters with more force and then wiped them off again. On close inspection, the wooden board remained smooth and clean, with no pencil traces left behind.

Teacher Lu fully grasped the benefits of the pencil and exclaimed, “If teachers in rural village schools had such a pencil and a board, they could copy texts for children to read, saving the cost of having to buy books! How many poor villagers could then be educated and learn proper etiquette?”

In the countryside, scrap wood and stone boards were inexpensive, but paper for writing use cost at least six-tenths of silver per ream and even the cheapest brush cost three-tenths of silver each.

He hurriedly asked, “How much does one of these pencils cost?”

Cui Xie calculated, “Currently, the production is small and the cost of firing the kiln is high; it will take some time to bring the cost down with increased production. The pencil lead, which includes the cost of graphite, clay and kiln firing, costs about three coins of silver per pound. The wooden casing, which needs to be soaked in lime to be softened and then slotted, is relatively more expensive. If one is not particular about comfort, buying the lead and wrapping it in coarse paper and hemp twine can also suffice for writing.”

Teacher Lu was almost overwhelmed by the calculations. The cheapest brush cost three-tenths of silver and the paper cost six-tenths of silver per ream. Yet this pencil lead cost only three silver coins per pound?

This long pencil, as Cui Xie demonstrated, seemed like it could last quite a while, perhaps even enough to copy an entire book!

Although people often used eyebrow pencils and charcoal for writing, those tools could not be used as proper writing instruments. They were only suitable for writing large characters and were not easy to erase. This fine graphite pencil, however, was different. It was truly something that both young students and scholars could afford and use effectively!

Holding the pencil, Teacher Lu inquired, “Have you considered donating these pencils to the poor?”

Immediately realizing that Cui Xie’s family was not well-off, as they would not be saving money on writing tools otherwise, he quickly rephrased, “How about I forgo my tuition this year and exchanged it for these pencils? Back in my hometown and in various places across Northern Zhili, many families cannot even afford to send their children to the village schools. I would like to donate these pencils to those schools in poor villages, as a gesture of goodwill from us scholars.”

Teacher Lu’s scholarly passion was endearing, wasn’t this akin to the modern philanthropists donating to underprivileged areas? Cui Xie beamed, “These pencils are just a preliminary product and have not been produced in large quantities yet. For now, we will use them ourselves and have them placed in Little Qi’s bookstore for poor students to use for copying texts. Once we establish a kiln firing site and can produce them by the hundreds of pounds, we will gladly have Teacher distribute them to the village schools, so more children can afford to study.”

“Good! Good! Good!” Teacher Lu, envisioning countless poor children writing at their desks with these pencils and gradually learning to read, and was so excited that he forgot to critique the poem. “For now, slowly loosen the rules of versification. When you feel inspired, compose a five-character regulated verse about this hard pencil. It does not need to follow specific rhyme schemes or rigid structures—once you’ve written it. I will use it to teach you how to write ancient-style poetry.”

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TN: Hope you all are doing well! Enjoy the chapter, its a bit pedantic this time, which is why I’ve decided to post two chapters this week ❤

Announcement: We have set up a kofi and patreon account! If you would like to support us or get early access to advance chapters for Blood-Sucking Empress OR TMD, those options are available for you (in support us page)! I have just added a patreon tier for Transmigrating to the Ming Dynasty’s Imperial Examinations in which patreons can have access to a google document with ALL of my advanced translated chapters for the novel. Since I am a college student, there should usually be at least 10 advance chapters in the document at a time, but depending on my schedules, there may be fewer or more. I’m currently extremely busy, but I have translated out some new chapters for you all! But, I will still post each week with the same schedule. Thanks!

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