No matter how many people around him cursed and slandered him, Xu He lowered his head and studied the ink carefully.
After grinding the ink, he dipped his pen in ink and copied the title on the draft paper.
Then he closed his eyes and began to think about the origin of this question.
"The full text of "The Doctrine of the Mean" should be, Confucius said: Shun's great filial piety is also the same! Virtue is a saint, respected as the emperor, rich all over the world, the ancestral temple eats it, and the descendants protect it..."
After translation, the whole chapter probably means that Confucius said that Shun was probably the most filial person in the world. In terms of virtue, this person was a saint, in terms of status, he was the emperor, and in terms of wealth, he owned the world. His virtues were worshiped in the ancestral temple, and his descendants inherited him. Why could Shun have such a perfect life?
Because a person with great virtues will definitely get the status, wealth, fame and lifespan he deserves. Therefore, nature nurtures all living things and will surely breed them according to their qualifications. Those who can become talented will be cultivated, and those who cannot become talented will be eliminated.
"The Book of Songs" says that noble gentlemen have bright and beautiful virtues, allowing people to live and work in peace and contentment and enjoy the blessings given by God.
God bless him, appoint him, and give him a great mission.
Therefore, [therefore, those who are virtuous will definitely receive the destiny], and those who are virtuous will definitely receive the destiny.
Xu He recited the whole chapter silently several times, summarized his understanding of the meaning of the sutra, and finally summarized a few points.
If you want to write this article well, the central idea is to emphasize that Shun was virtuous first, and then he fulfilled his destiny.
It is not a virtue that comes only after destiny has been fulfilled.
This is putting the cart before the horse.
After all, Confucianism governs the world with filial piety, and even kings must be filial.
Since the Confucian classics and principles are thought-provoking and used to advise the world.
You have to emphasize that only those who are destined to be filial can be filial. Then everyone who reads the article will find a reason for not being filial... I am not the one who is destined to be filial, so it is appropriate to be unfilial.
In this way, doesn’t it run counter to the sage’s idea of persuading people to do good?
Secondly, this article also emphasizes several key points, such as the relationship between [virtue] and [filial piety], and what is [great virtue].
In short, there are indeed many threads and there are many things that can be written, but whether it can be written into the heart of the great master depends on the individual's level.
When it comes to the question that Yang Yinqiu asked, at best it sounds tricky, but at worst it sounds like he has a very bad conscience.
Candidates must not only pay attention to the discussions in the scriptures, but also have divergent thinking if they want to write good articles.
At least you must have some understanding of books such as "Historical Records".
Because you don’t even know Shun’s story, even if you can understand the meaning of this article, you won’t be able to understand the deeper things.
For example, Dashun, whom Confucius admired very much, was born as a common man farming. Even though farming was okay, he was still born in a broken family.
The stepmother gave birth to a younger brother. The father, stepmother, and younger brother wanted him to die and did all kinds of harm to him.
Shun had been pitiful for half his life, but he had no resentment towards his father, stepmother, or younger brother.
Most of the descriptions of him in history are about doing charity, caring for the people, and observing filial piety.
Ten thousand years later, when he was fifty or sixty years old, his virtue had not changed for decades. His father later became blind and could not be cured no matter what. In order to make his father see, he licked her father's eyes with his tongue, and then his father was blinded. Eye disease cured! (This is somewhat anti-scientific!)
After middle age, Yao promoted him to a civil servant. On the one hand, Yao married his two daughters to him, assisted him, and then trained him until he became the deputy emperor.
Later, when Yao was more than a hundred years old, he didn't care about anything at all. Although he didn't give up his throne, in fact, everything was handled by him. So he immediately appointed the young man Dayu, and then put China's water conservancy project on the agenda, solved floods in the Yellow River and Yangtze River, and laid the foundation for this nation's agriculture for thousands of years.
Therefore, if you don’t understand that Shun’s father, Gusou, signaled to his younger brother Xiang that he attempted to murder Shun many times, then you will not be able to appreciate Shun’s great filial piety, and this article will be useless to write.
This is where Yang Yinqiu is so great.
A small test question immediately distinguishes people who really understand the meaning of the scriptures from those who have two-legged bookcases.
It has to be said that he is still quite capable, after all, he is the great master of the province.
Xu He thought of this, and before he knew it, an hour was coming.
After calculating the time, Xu He was startled. After thinking for a moment, he wrote the answer to this article on the test paper.
[The greatness of holy filial piety is due to one virtue. 】
The beginning is ordinary, nothing new, but it is important to point out the topic, which shows that Shun's filial piety was due to his virtue.
Reflects the opening two sentences.
"Quite satisfactory!" Xu He curled his lips, feeling a little regretful.
Why do you say it's a pity?
Because he felt that he could have written a better question or a brilliant beginning, but looking at the time, half an hour had passed since the exam started.
At this time, there were already more than ten officials in front of them, each holding a small stamp in their hand and walking around the examination room.
This is the rule of the college examination. About half an hour after the candidate gets the question, the invigilator will suddenly walk into the examination room and stamp it on the examination paper with a small stamp issued by the examiner.
This is to prevent fraud such as hiring someone to cheat or changing test papers.
Therefore, when candidates are composing their essays, as soon as the first question comes out, they must first prepare the introduction to the question, and then copy it together with the question on the test paper for stamping by the invigilator.
This link is commonly known as [covering and stamping].
If at this time, the candidate does not copy the questions on the test paper and starts to break the questions, it will be considered a violation.
After the exam, the grand master will see that your paper has not been stamped, and no matter how good your essay is, it will be downgraded to a lower level.
Xu He spent a long time busy on the scroll paper for the question of more than 100 words, including starting from the topic.
The test papers of the Taoist examination are also different from those of the previous county and prefecture examinations.
Each page of the Tao test paper has twelve lines, each line contains twenty words, and a draft paper is attached at the back.
When transcribing real articles on the test paper, you have to break the Pythagorean, which is similar to adding punctuation marks.
If the original text is inconsistent, the "Four Books" has less than 200 words, the scriptures have less than 300 words, the emperor's name or temple name is not avoided, the family name is prefaced in the text, etc., it will be regarded as a foul, and it will definitely not be admitted.
After Xu He and other officials stamped their papers, they finally calmed down and carefully planned how to write this article.
Judging from the topic I just solved, neither literary talent nor logic can be seen.
The question was broken like this, and the writing was naturally hindered. Xu He felt that this would give people a feeling of rhetoric.
Once the examiner feels this way, no matter how good your writing is, your impression score will probably become very poor.
Fortunately, although the beginning of "The greatness of holy filial piety is the result of one virtue", although it is not possible to write a brilliant article like parallel prose, it is quite similar to the beginning of articles in "Historical Records" and "Hanshu". .
Xu He thought: "I might as well write this article using the two styles of "Praise" and "On" in "Historical Records" and "Hanshu". Maybe there will be an unexpected bonus of powerful writing style!"
Thinking of this, Xu He was suddenly inspired and started writing on the manuscript paper!
