Chapter 60: The Way of Higher Education Lies in Illuminating Virtue

"Such a husband, truly only you and I. And in the turns of this time, there is also the joy of understanding and the silent resolution of comprehension."

Fan Jin set his brush down in one continuous, flowing movement, finishing the stereotyped essay. He recited it softly to himself, made a few minor revisions, and then put down his brush with a look of great satisfaction.

By this time, the sky had imperceptibly grown dark. Fan Jin stood up to stretch his limbs, lit a candle, brightened the flame, and carefully transcribed the entire essay once more.

When the ink had thoroughly dried, Fan Jin solemnly placed the answer sheet into the examination pouch, finally feeling a slight easing of tension in his chest.

He breathed upon his frozen hands and, feeling the chill pervading his entire body, moved a little closer to the charcoal brazier. He then took out a winter garment from his bundle and put it on.

This was one of the gifts given by Magistrate Tang, and it proved quite useful now, providing excellent protection against the cold.

After about a quarter of an hour, the chill was completely gone. Fan Jin walked back to his desk and took out the prompt for the second eight-legged essay: "His life is glorious, his death is mournful."

This prompt was not particularly difficult, taken from a dialogue between Chen Ziqin and Zigong in the *Analects*: "...Zigong said, 'A gentleman's single word can show his wisdom, and a single word can expose his foolishness. One cannot be too cautious in speech! The Master is beyond our reach, just as the heavens cannot be ascended by a ladder. If the Master were to attain a state or a noble house, it would be as was said: establish them, and they are established; lead them, and they follow; soothe them, and they come; rouse them, and they are in harmony. His life is glorious, and his death is mournful. How could he ever be reached?'"

The general meaning was: A gentleman's speech is such that a single sentence can reveal his wisdom or expose his folly, hence one must be careful with words.

I can never hope to compare to the Teacher. To me, the Teacher is like the vast vault of heaven which cannot be scaled by means of a ladder.

If my Teacher were to gain control over the governance of vassal states and aristocratic houses, his words would surely be put into practice. He would guide the common people of the country to follow the major policies of the imperial court, pacify the peoples of distant vassal states to submit, and any proclamation he made would meet with a response.

He was glorious in the world during his life, and mourned by the multitudes after his death. How could I ever compare to him?

Upon reading this prompt, Fan Jin fell silent. It was not that he was stumped or did not know where to begin, but rather that he was deeply concerned about violating taboos.

He vaguely remembered that this seemed to have been an examination question set by Gao Gong when he served as the chief examiner for a metropolitan exam, an incident that later provoked Emperor Jiajing's wrath. Had it not been for Xu Jie stepping in to shield him, Gao Gong would likely have found it difficult to escape unscathed.

In front of an emperor obsessed with immortality, chattering incessantly about life and death—was he courting death?

At this moment, Fan Jin was completely baffled. Why would such an examination prompt appear in this session of the metropolitan examination?

He had every reason to suspect that this was a landmine planted by Yan Song's faction to trap Xu Jie. Xu Jie, who had just been newly appointed as Guardian of the Heir Apparent, was currently riding high on success and confident in his usual tactic of feigning compliance with the Yan faction, completely unaware that Yan Song had long since regarded him as a thorn in his eye and a stake in his flesh.

Unless Xu Jie had been utterly careless, he would never have permitted such a prompt to be included among the questions for this metropolitan exam.

Fan Jin sighed. The sinister power struggles of the great figures were not something he needed to concern himself with for the time being; he only hoped that when the city gates caught fire, the calamity would not spread to the fish in the moat.

The problem before him was how to craft a magnificent, brilliant essay while avoiding taboos and entanglements.

After pondering for a long time, Fan Jin decided that the best approach for this topic was simply to write a hollow, flowery piece of prose.

"His life is glorious, his death is mournful" was the ultimate appraisal of Confucius's life. Since that was the case, it was best not to stretch the meaning too far or draw far-fetched parallels to Emperor Jiajing.

Viewed in this light, the prompt became quite simple.

After a brief mental outline, Fan Jin already had the draft formed in his mind. However, the night was hazy and cold like water, so he was in no hurry to put brush to paper.

Since the first session of the metropolitan examination on the Confucian classics lasted three days, rather than exhausting himself over documents now, it would be far better to rest, recover his mental energy, and answer the prompt first thing tomorrow morning.

The next morning, all was silent. When the very first ray of dawn peeked over the Suntian Examination Hall, Fan Jin was already up and had washed briefly.

The charcoal fire had burned all night and grown somewhat faint. Fan Jin added a few more lumps of charcoal, then took out some dried meat and a couple of pastries from his bundle to stave off his hunger with a simple meal.

The guards outside had stood watch all night and were now in the midst of a shift change. Seeing Fan Jin's unhurried manner, they were not surprised. They nodded slightly and returned to their loyal duties, standing like pine and cypress outside the door, eyes fixed straight ahead.

Having finished his breakfast, Fan Jin stood up and beckoned to the guard, "Soldier, I need to use the latrine!"

The guard frowned, "According to the examination rules, I must accompany you the entire time."

Fan Jin nodded, raising no objections.

Hurrying ahead of the first batch of people, Fan Jin managed to secure a good latrine stall and began to relieve himself.

At that moment, he felt supremely grateful for his habit of early rising, and even more grateful that he had not been assigned to the foul latrine; otherwise, wouldn't he have been choked half to death by the stench?

Just as he had passed the foul latrine earlier, that poor fellow in there had been vomiting continuously, his pale face looking as though it had been soaked in water for three days.

If it was already like this in the early morning, there was no telling how much torture the days ahead would bring.

With three consecutive days of this ahead, how could anyone expect a gush of literary inspiration or success on the imperial honor roll?

Without wasting too much time lamenting for that unfortunate fellow, Fan Jin walked straight back to his examination cell. By now, the sky was growing bright, and the ice and snow on the eaves of the cells were gradually melting into water, dripping down the tiles like strings of pearls.

Fan Jin first tidied up the items on his brick-bed and desk, washed his hands, and then spread out his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to continue his journey through the metropolitan examination.

Being in an exceptionally good state of mind, it took him less than two hours to complete the second eight-legged essay.

Fan Jin pondered over it briefly and felt quite satisfied with the result.

Setting that answer aside and leaving it alone, Fan Jin proceeded downward to tackle the remaining questions.

This was the final question on the classics, and it was not as unorthodox as he had imagined. Instead, it was rather conventional, drawn from the opening passage of *The Great Learning*: "The Way of great learning consists in manifesting illustrious virtue, in loving the people, and in resting in the highest goodness."

The moment he took up his brush, Fan Jin had a definitive plan and felt completely at ease. Bolstered by his brain's overload effect, wherever his thoughts led, his brush followed: "The Sage's scripture discusses the learning of the great person, which lies simply in exhausting its Way."

"Now the Way is inherent in man, and each has its appropriate goodness where one should rest! The learning of the great person is entirely this, and this is why the Sage's scripture places it at the very beginning—to establish a standard for scholars, is it not?"

After breaking the theme, expanding the theme, initiating the discourse, entering the theme, writing the mid-section, and developing the core arguments, Fan Jin wrote in one fluid breath, his brush falling like sweeping wind. He reflected:

"Between man and self, the Way still has parts yet unexhausted... Rest in the highest goodness to fulfill the Way of manifesting illustrious virtue and renewing the people; thus man has no learning outside of the Way, and it is precisely thus."

Laying down his brush, Fan Jin picked up the answer sheet and blew gently across it. With this, all three prompts for the classics section were finally answered.

Looking out the door, the sun hung high in the sky. The accumulated snow on the eaves had entirely melted, and the pattering water dropped onto the ground, leaving scattered patches of wetness everywhere.