Chapter 37: Writing a Book!

The two of them spoke and wrote until late into the night. Liu Zhao wrote furiously, not tired at all, but Wang Yang’s throat was parched, exhausted and drained, unable to hold out any longer.

Liu Zhao had a guest room prepared and invited Wang Yang to stay there.

The room was small and sparsely furnished, but compared to the thatched hut of the Black Han, it was incomparable. Liu Zhao, as a scholar-official of the clan, had over a dozen servants and laborers in the prefectural academy; he specially assigned two to attend to Wang Yang.

Since his transmigration, Wang Yang had faced constant peril and crushing pressure, never having slept a proper night; now, finally in a comfortable room, the tension in his heart snapped loose. After a simple wash, he collapsed into sleep. But Liu Zhao had no such comfort.

After enduring half a day of Wang Yang’s “brainstorming,” this great scholar had no appetite for sleep—he organized the newly written drafts, consulted texts, verified and pondered, bustling about, laughing and weeping, and did not close his eyes all night.

At first light, he rushed to find Wang Yang, but found him still asleep; he dared not disturb him, stood for a while, then returned dejectedly to his room to continue pondering the manuscript, sending servants every so often to check if Wang Yang had woken.

After several disappointing replies, he couldn’t help thinking: This youth, so young yet so gifted—if only he could overcome his habit of daytime napping, his future would be boundless!

Liu Zhao held out until mid-morning (just after ten), and when Wang Yang’s room still showed no movement, he could wait no longer—he ordered a servant to summon Wang Yang for meals. Over the meal, he immediately raised the questions that had puzzled him; Wang Yang answered while eating, without a single pause.

Liu Zhao could not help sighing: “Truly, the younger generation is awe-inspiring! Zhiyan, with your talent, you could easily serve as a Doctor in the National Academy!”

Ancient Doctors differed from modern ones; they were both scholars and officials, responsible not only for studying classics and educating talent, but also for advising the court and participating in state affairs.

In truth, given Wang Yang’s love of reading and scholarship, becoming a Doctor in the National Academy would be quite appealing. But Wang Yang knew the Southern Qi dynasty’s reign was short-lived, its politics wildly unstable—and worse, he did not know precisely how “short-lived” or how “unstable” it would be, deepening his sense of insecurity.

At this moment, the capital seemed to him a deep-sea vortex brimming with hidden danger; he avoided it as much as he could—how could he possibly enter the National Academy?

Of course, with no household registration, he couldn’t enter even if he wanted to. The thunder of his forged identity had not yet struck, and his debt remained unpaid—how could he even contemplate joining the National Academy?

Wang Yang shook his head, gave a bitter smile, and went back to stuffing his face.

Seeing Wang Yang’s expression, Liu Zhao assumed he dismissed the idea of becoming a Doctor, and said:

“Of course, serving as a scholar-official does narrow one’s path to official advancement. But scholarship is not bound by office—anyone with heart and learning can pursue it anywhere. Consider the late Duke Wenzhen: though holding the highest post as Chancellor, burdened with countless duties, his rites scholarship was the finest in the land; his works—《Collected Records of Ancient and Modern Mourning Rites》, 《Responses on Ritual Meaning》, 《Essentials of Ritual Discourse》—were revered by all scholars. Everyone admired him. It is said even the Northern Barbarians once sought his books.”

“Northern Barbarians” referred to Northern Wei. The Southern dynasties regarded themselves as orthodox and called the Northern dynasties “barbarians,” hence the term.

Wang Yang felt ashamed—he knew little of ritual studies; he had never heard of any of the “masterpieces” Liu Zhao listed. Or perhaps they had simply not survived?

Liu Zhao continued: “After Duke Wenzhen’s death, I thought only Wang Rong of the Langya Wang clan could carry on his legacy—but today, I have found a second.”

Wang Yang had just swallowed a large mouthful of fish paste with rice, cheeks bulging, and looked up to see Liu Zhao’s eyes gleaming, his expression unmistakably saying: “Yes, young man—it’s you.”

Seeing Wang Yang’s dazed expression, Liu Zhao swore solemnly:

“Zhiyan, I speak not in empty flattery! Though Wang Rong is called a universal talent, I believe, regarding the 《Book of Documents》, even he could not surpass you. Your insights are thunderous! 《Pointing Out Gaps》 will surely endure through the ages! ‘The highest is to establish virtue, next to establish merit, next to establish words—these endure forever; this is called immortality!’”

Liu Zhao’s pupils glowed with profound reverence and conviction; clutching the manuscript, his inner fire blazing, he leapt to his feet and declared loudly: “Someone! Clear away the food! I and Zhiyan shall resume writing!”

Though moved by Liu Zhao’s pure scholarly passion, Wang Yang internally screamed: But... I haven’t finished eating yet!!!!

“The 《Book of Documents·Many Regions》 says: ‘Our Zhou bestows great gifts upon you.’ The term ‘great gift’ has long been difficult to interpret. In fact, ‘great gift’ was originally one character: ‘great’ above, ‘ Jie ’ below. The 《Shuowen Jiezi·Da Section》 records this character, defined as ‘great,’ phonetically ‘jie,’ pronounced like ‘gai.’ In all classics and commentaries, the character ‘ Jie ’ used to mean ‘great’ is a borrowed form of this character; here, the original form is used. Later generations rarely saw this character, so they mistakenly split it into ‘great’ and ‘ Jie .’”

“Also, the four characters ‘ Wangkenianting ’—the 《Book Commentary》 interprets them as: ‘Nothing to reflect upon, nothing to listen to.’ But considering the preceding sentence, ‘The sage who does not reflect becomes a madman; the madman who reflects becomes a sage,’ I strongly suspect ‘ Nianting ’ is a scribal error for ‘ Niansheng .’ It means: the deeds of King Zhou offered nothing to reflect upon to become sage. The 《Wuyi Chapter》 says, ‘This he did not hear’; in the Han stone classics, the character ‘ Ting ’ is written as ‘ Sheng ,’ because ‘ Ting ’ and ‘ Sheng ’ were visually similar in ancient script, easily confused in transcription.”

“In the 《Great Declaration》: ‘If the father builds a house, he has already established the foundation.’ What is ‘established foundation’? ‘Established foundation’ is likely a scribal error for ‘established and fixed’—meaning the father had fixed the site, but the son refused to build the hall. The following line, ‘Dare not change the law,’ is written in the 《Han Book·Zhai Yi Biography》 as ‘you must not change the fixed plan.’ In ancient script, the characters for ‘law’ and ‘fixed’ were visually similar, easily confused.”

Liu Zhao suppressed his shock, steadied his hand, and wrote with lightning speed. He keenly sensed he was witnessing the birth of a timeless masterpiece!

Once published, this book would become indispensable to every scholar studying the 《Book of Documents》!

At this moment, Wang Yang delivered another astonishing assertion:

“The 《Canon of Yao》 says: ‘Regulate the five rites, five jade, three silks, two live offerings, one dead offering. As for the five vessels, they are returned at the end.’ The nine characters ‘five jade, three silks, two live offerings, one dead offering’ are likely misplaced due to textual corruption. Based on textual logic, their correct position should be...”

Liu Zhao, heart pounding, quickly recorded Wang Yang’s words, then urgently asked: “Where should they go?”

Wang Yang stretched: “Let’s stop here for now. We’ll continue another time.”

“What? This... this... time waits for no one! Let us press forward, finish the volume at once, and bring benefit to the scholarly world—wouldn’t that be splendid? Why pause?”

Wang Yang sighed helplessly: “I have matters to attend to.”

Liu Zhao frowned: “What matter could be more important than scholarship?!”

Wang Yang sighed Shunshi : “To be honest, I owe thirteen thousand two hundred coins. The repayment deadline is upon me, but I have no money—how can I possibly focus on writing? I must first find a way to raise funds; writing must wait.”

Liu Zhao’s expression turned grave. He looked at Wang Yang and asked: “Zhiyan, tell me honestly—do you... have a habit of playing chupu?”