Chapter 44: The Way of Poetry and Fu

"I dare not keep you waiting long." Lu Beigu bowed deeply.

Zhao Bian set down his brush and gestured for him to sit: "Did you read that 'Subtle Analysis of the Spring and Autumn Annals on Respecting the King' after returning yesterday?"

"I glanced through it roughly," Lu Beigu answered truthfully. "Master Taishan's insights are subtle; there are many places where this student still cannot comprehend."

"It matters not; the study of the classics is not a day's work."

Zhao Bian picked up a stack of paper slips from the desk and asked.

"Today we shall first discuss poetry and fu; do you know why the imperial examinations test poetry and fu?"

Lu Beigu thought for a moment and replied, "Is it to observe the literary talent of the scholars?"

"Literary talent is only one aspect." Zhao Bian shook his head. "The way of poetry and fu best reveals a person's nature, knowledge, and capacity. Poetry expresses aspirations, fu describes things; without true nature, one cannot form excellent lines; without broad learning, one cannot use allusions; without an open mind, one cannot reach high realms."

He pointed to the 'Imperial Anthology of Literature' filling several bookshelves in the room.

"Furthermore, even setting those aside and speaking pragmatically, when the court selects Jinshi, it at least needs talents capable of writing memorials and drafting imperial edicts; which of these official documents does not require the skill of parallel prose? This is the function of the way of poetry and fu."

Jinshi are not all sent out to govern a region.

On the contrary, many Jinshi are not sent out; they remain in Jingcheng to serve.

And serving has mainly three paths.

Either serve as the Emperor's secretary, or serve as a teacher to the princes, or bury oneself in compiling history to build reputation.

Among these three paths, the first path sees the fastest promotion.

Looking across all dynasties, those with good calligraphy and high skill in drafting edicts, as close ministers of the Son of Heaven, easily gain the monarch's favor.

So taking this path is much easier than burning the midnight oil in the Hanlin Academy to compile history.

The second path belongs to those where promotion is very slow, but once one rises, it is a soaring leap.

The third path has little to say; although it is slow, it is generally very steady, and lacks the risk of the second path where betting wrong means never turning over in a lifetime.

And Zhao Bian's meaning was also clear: in the future, Lu Beigu might not necessarily have to take any one path, but possessing this skill would be useful not only for the imperial examinations but also for future employment.

"This student understands."

Lu Beigu nodded quickly; the other's guidance was obviously very meaningful.

Seeing he understood, Zhao Bian no longer beat around the bush, only saying.

"I heard from Li Pan that your poetry and fu are not good; observing your policy essays and memorials, it should not be a lack of talent, but rather you have not yet grasped the method and entered the door. Thus, if you slightly grasp the method, your improvement will be much faster than the ink meanings which require consuming time."

"Very well, let us first see your specific level."

Zhao Bian pulled out a sheet of paper: "This is the fu topic from last year's Muzhou prefectural exam; try to compose one following the examination rules."

Lu Beigu's heart tightened.

A fu topic is different from a policy essay.

The format requirements for policy essays are not strict; they belong to argumentative essays, mainly examining the candidate's viewpoint on the topic; as long as allusions are used appropriately and the logic is clear, it is basically considered qualified.

But a fu topic requires strict adherence to the tonal patterns of the 'fu' literary form; not a single error is allowed.

The problem is Lu Beigu has not deeply studied the tonal patterns of poetry, ci, or fu either!

The 'Water Dragon Chant' he chanted on the river in Luzhou before, if seriously calculated, actually had major tonal pattern issues; it was just that it was not an examination at the time, so Li Pan did not nitpick those details.

But now asking him to write a fu, which is even harder than poetry and ci, and requiring strict adherence to tonal patterns, that is truly increasing the difficulty!

Moreover, this is not a county exam topic; it is a prefectural exam!

One must know that the prefectural exam and the county exam are completely different in difficulty!

Generally speaking, in the prefectures and counties of Sichuan, only students ranked at least in the top five out of two hundred in the county school every year can pass the county exam; the acceptance rate is around 2.5%.

And the county exam is once a year, while the prefectural exam is once every three years.

So the actual situation is that when you, as a standout of the county school, have struggled through the county exam to enter the prefectural school, you will find that not only are they all standouts from county schools, but there are fully over ten cohorts piled up!

You must compete not only with your peers but also with seniors whose examination experience is countless times richer and whose study time is unknown how much longer than yours!

So what is the acceptance rate for the prefectural exam?

Taking Jianzhou as an example, calculated by the number of recommended quotas, the acceptance rate has long been around 1%; for Luzhou where Lu Beigu is located, the high point is roughly 2%.

Oh, if calculated by the number of Juren, it might look much better.

But the Juren status in the Great Song is one-time; merely passing as a Juren is useless; you must have a recommended quota to go to the Ministry of Rites provincial exam.

So, Juren status can only prove that in a certain year, you were a standout in a certain prefectural exam.

Of course, if one must speak of it, there are some invisible influences; generally, no one is willing to offend a Juren, because who knows when they might become a Jinshi.

And under such an abysmally low acceptance rate, every scholar who can walk into the Ministry of Rites provincial exam hall is a genius in their own story.

It is just that geniuses also have gaps.

Even, a genius is merely the threshold to seeing an unparalleled genius.

Lu Beigu sighed inwardly and withdrew his thoughts.

Although this prefectural exam fu topic is much harder than the county exam, he did not dare to decline.

He could only take the paper and brush, spread them on the stone table in the courtyard, and concentrate on composing his ideas.

After two quarters of an hour, Lu Beigu's forehead already showed fine sweat; he barely completed the fu text.

Zhao Bian took it and examined it closely; this strict teacher's brows furrowed tighter and tighter, finally sighing: "There are inappropriate places in the allusions, several couplets in the parallel prose are not well-matched; the biggest issue is the tonal patterns; let alone passing the prefectural exam, I fear even the county exam would be a struggle."

There was no way; modern scholars writing papers do not study these things; even if there is relevant research, it is analyzed from the starting points of literature, aesthetics, or history, rather than requiring oneself to pick up the brush and write.

Lu Beigu himself could not do it, and the previous owner's level was also a mess; of course, it could only be like this.

Seeing him with his head hanging, Zhao Bian held back the words on the tip of his tongue and at least praised him.

"However, you have one strength—the flow of literary qi is continuous; this is something many who study dead books cannot learn."

As the saying goes "teach according to aptitude"; knowing Lu Beigu was not good at poetry and fu, and after roughly understanding his current level, Zhao Bian also adjusted his teaching plan.

He took out a manuscript from the desk: "These are my early thoughts on poetry and fu; inside, besides the refinements of tonal patterns and allusions, there is also the summarized 'Three-Pass Method'."

"May I ask what the 'Three-Pass Method' is?" Lu Beigu respectfully accepted it.

"First, establish the theme; second, refine the wording; third, polish each character." Zhao Bian explained, "Examination time is tight. Many rush to finish, resulting in countless flaws. This method uses the first two quarters of an hour to fix the theme and structure, then spends another two quarters drafting the initial version, followed by a quarter of an hour to ponder every character, and only then proceeds to the fair copy. It seems to take more effort, but in fact, it achieves twice the result with half the work."

Afterwards, Zhao Bian opened his manuscript and, following different poetry and fu essay prompt cases, explained the details to Lu Beigu.

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① "Wenyuan Yinghua" was compiled by over twenty people, including Li Fang, Xu Xuan, Song Bai, and Su Yijian, on the order of Emperor Zhenzong. It began in the seventh year of Taiping Xingguo and was completed in the third year of Yongxi. During the reign of Songzhen Sect, it underwent several revisions. The entire book totals a thousand scrolls, succeeding "Wen Xuan" and ending with the late Tang and Five Dynasties periods. It selects works from over two thousand authors, totaling nearly twenty thousand pieces. About one-tenth of the works are from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, while nine-tenths are from the Tang Dynasty. It is classified into thirty-nine categories according to literary style, including fu, poetry, song verses, miscellaneous writings, imperial edicts from the Secretariat, and imperial edicts from the Hanlin Academy.

(End of this chapter)