Rise From the Humble

It's cold in spring, a drop of icy rain.

After Zhu Ping'an finished writing the second eight-part essay, he saw a drop of ice rain hitting the ground outside, and the soldiers outside shrank their necks.

It's raining!

Zhu Ping'an raised his head and took a closer look at his dormitory. Well, it was good. Although it was a smelly dormitory, the structure of the house was good, especially the top floor, which had just been renovated. The rainproof layer was also well laid out. There was no need to worry about it. Rain leakage.

So, Zhu Ping'an took out the umbrella he was carrying from his bag, stretched it out, pointed to his umbrella at the shrinking soldier outside, and then placed it on the wall outside the dormitory.

Whether to use it or not is up to you.

After putting down the umbrella, Zhu Pingan stopped caring and continued to work on the questions.

This is the last question on the meaning of the Four Books, and the title is also quite satisfactory. It comes from a sentence in "Mencius": "Confucius climbed to the east mountain and was humbled by Lu."

This sentence is very simple. It means that when Confucius climbed up Dongshan Mountain and looked down, he felt that the state of Lu was small. Simple is simple, but it is not that simple to write a well-written eight-part essay based on this sentence. If you really want to write based on the superficial meaning of this sentence, you cannot write a travelogue about Confucius climbing Dongshan Mountain.

This topic should be understood in the context of the full text. The full text of this sentence is as follows: Mencius said: "Confucius climbed the East Mountain and made a small Lu, climbed the Taishan Mountain and made the world small. Therefore, it is difficult for those who look at the sea to be water, and those who swim in the gate of the sage are difficult to speak. If you have the skill to observe water, you must observe its waves. If the sun and moon are bright, the light will shine on your face. Flowing water is a thing, and it cannot be done if it is not full. A gentleman's ambition is to follow the Tao, and it cannot be achieved if it is not organized."

Seeing this sentence, Zhu Ping'an thought of Zhu Xi.

When Mr. Zhu Xi was reading this chapter of "Mencius", he made an annotation in the corner: "This chapter says that the way of the sage is great and has its roots. Those who learn must use it gradually to achieve it." The official interpretation version of the book "Mencius" in the Ming Dynasty imperial examination is that of Mr. Zhu Xi. What Mr. Zhu said is: The Confucianism established by the saints is profound and profound, and it is inherited from the same source. Those who want to learn must follow the rules of Confucianism and follow the steps step by step, so that they can reach the profound state of the saints.

Don't worry about why Mr. Zhu's version is the official version. This is what the Ming Dynasty stipulated. If you want to take the imperial examination, you have to follow Mr. Zhu's wishes. Zhu Ping'an thought for a moment and came up with an idea. Let's use Zhu Xi's words as a text to break down the topic and start the discussion.

The rain outside is gradually getting heavier. Looking out from the dormitory, I can see that there is a curtain of rain hanging in the sky, and a large amount of water splashes on Mingyuan Tower not far away. At first glance, I thought Mingyuan Tower was blooming. It was not covered by the rain, but the chill brought by the spring rain still poured into the dormitory, making the candidates sitting in the dormitory feel chilly.

The invigilator outside was currently holding the umbrella given to him by Zhu Ping'an, looking at his colleagues nearby shivering in the wind and rain, and was very happy. I was extremely grateful to Zhu Pingan, who was sitting in the stinky cabin, and looked at Zhu Pingan with gratitude.

However, Zhu Ping'an was completely immersed in his own Mo Ran world, which made the soldier waste his grateful eyes.

Picking up the brush and dipping it in ink, Zhu Pingan came up with the title-breaking sentence of this eight-legged essay:

"The holy way is great and has its roots, and scholars must gradually arrive at it."

After solving the problem, Zhu Pingan didn't add points. Let’s summarize this eight-part essay in one go and proceed with the discussion according to Zhu Xi’s words. Didn’t Mr. Zhu say that Confucianism is profound and profound? Then I will promote Confucianism and praise it greatly. Compare Confucianism to a mountain of ten thousand feet, to the endless sea, and to the source of light. You are the source of all things. Then he wrote it down according to Mr. Zhu's intention. Those who want to learn should start from the beginning and proceed step by step. This is roughly how I wrote this eight-legged essay.

At this point, the three eight-part essays on the meanings of the Four Books have been written for this exam, and the remaining four questions should all be the eight-part essays on the meanings of the Five Classics. The eight-part essay of the Five Classics is relatively simple. This is Zhu Pingan’s experience in making the eight-part essay. This is entirely a matter of personal preference.

Zhu Pingan opened the test paper and continued to read.

There are no unexpected situations. The remaining four questions are all questions about the meaning of the Five Classics, and they are not difficult. Zhu Ping'an read four questions in one breath, and his thoughts rolled out like a cold wind in the rain.

With a smooth flow of thought, Zhu Pingan continued to do it.

Just like that, in the rain, a young man wearing a mask tirelessly splashed ink.

On rainy days, the smell in the toilet is even stronger, and there are still several bad names like Zhu Pingan in Gongyuan. Most people were so smoked that they didn’t want anything, and they also vomited everything they wanted. Another person couldn't hold on and was sent to the Ming Jing Building by the invigilator. The remaining ones who were still persisting were all pale and shaky.

But Zhu Ping'an, wearing a mask, seemed not to be affected by the loud noise next door at all. He splashed ink with great fluency, as if he was surrounded by the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers. Every candidate who goes to the toilet and passes by Zhu Pingan is always shocked by the figure of Zhu Pingan splashing ink in the stinking number.

"I wield a wooden ax under the bed, and I make a dojo in the screw shell."

This sentence is the description of the eight-legged essay in the imperial examination by the ancients. It means that if you can't use it, how can you use the wheel ax under the bed? If you use a snail shell as a pot and ask you to cook a pot of soup, you can cook it. The eight-part essay is like this. It puts a lot of restrictions on you, and every sentence has requirements, just like limiting the snail shell under the bed. Most people find it difficult to apply it.

However, at this moment, Zhu Ping'an felt that he was already at ease. What he intended and what he wrote completely met the various requirements of eight-legged writing. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect.

In one breath, Zhu Ping'an finished writing two eight-legged essays on the meaning of the Five Classics before he stopped writing, and his stomach began to churn unsatisfactorily.

So, Zhu Ping'an reached out and gestured, received the "Chu Gong Card", and hung a piece of linoleum cloth as a door curtain in front of his dormitory to prevent wind and rain from blowing into his dormitory and getting the test papers wet when he went to the toilet. After putting everything into the test paper bag and hanging it on the wall, I left the dormitory and went to the toilet next door.

Although there is a mask, the smell is still unbearable when entering the toilet.

Of course, without a mask, it would stink. The toilet was also very unclean. It didn't have a flush toilet like our modern toilets. It was a squatting pit and couldn't be flushed. Anyway, I couldn't bear to look inside.

There is also toilet paper inside, which is very rough straw paper.

Zhu Ping'an almost solved the problem as quickly as possible in his life and returned to his dormitory.

It was already around four or five o'clock in the afternoon. It was getting darker and darker outside, and the rain was getting heavier and heavier. A curtain of water almost formed outside the dormitory, and the dormitory almost turned into a water curtain hole.

Just then, a shrill howl was heard outside.

"Cao, there's a water leak! My test paper!"

Then I saw an examinee yelling like crazy outside the dormitory, jumping around and screaming. Three or five buglers couldn't hold it down. Finally, it took six or seven buglers to control him and escort him to Mingjing. The building is awaiting disposal.

For the unlucky child, there must have been a leak in the dormitory and the paper got wet. If the paper gets wet, there will be marks, and then the test paper will be invalid. This exam will be invalid, and the test will be invalid. Therefore, it is inevitable that this kid is like this.

From this point of view, it seems that the stinky number is not so unlucky. Zhu Pingan wore a mask and smiled self-deprecatingly.