Chapter 62: Sophistry

The Pearl-Containing Academy.

Under the great camphor tree, students had already filled the seats early on.

The two xiucai who had planned to go seek work also decided to stay and hear the debate before leaving.

Such a rare thing, such lively excitement — something one might never encounter in a lifetime.

The xiucai, child students, and schoolboys mostly came with the attitude of watching a play. The teachers, mindful of their own standing, were unwilling to debate a mere child student: a loss would mean utter disgrace, and a win would bring no real benefit.

Only a handful of hypocritical moralists were itching to try, eager to teach Zhao Han a profound lesson.

"Senior, after you."

"Friend, after you."

Pang Chunlai and Zheng Zhongkui walked over side by side; the two had hit it off at first meeting and, in just three days, had formed a deep friendship.

The Yuyao xiucai Zhu Zhiyu had not followed Cai Maode either; he arrived alone, sword slung at his side, and sat beneath the great camphor tree, leisurely reading a book as he waited.

"Whoa, here comes a clothes-monster!"

"Simply a disgrace to all scholars!"

"Isn't that Brother Changhuai? After not seeing him for a few years, he's taken to wearing such strange garb?"

"..."

The debate scene suddenly erupted — for it was Fei Ruyi making his dazzling entrance, instantly drawing every gaze and becoming the most eye-catching figure in the entire academy.

A clothes-monster!

From the Han dynasty to the Qing, whenever rites and music decayed, clothes-monsters were sure to appear in the world.

Nowadays, many high officials are clothes-monsters too, and they even use frugality as an excuse. Their court robe belts, which by regulation must be made of leather, are instead fashioned from bamboo shoot shells, purely for the sake of lightness and ease — the belts are loose and slack, with no cinching function, wrapped on the outside with blue silk so the bamboo shells won't crack apart.

Facing the pointing and murmuring of teachers and students, Fei Ruyi felt no shame; instead, he deliberately slowed his pace, the better to let others admire his graceful bearing and beautiful form.

This was the fashion from Suzhou — what could a bunch of bumpkins understand?

Walking up before Zhao Han, Fei Ruyi smiled faintly: "Ziyue, are you prepared?"

Zhao Han instantly felt his rear tighten; he stepped back and cupped his fists: "Many thanks for Brother Changhuai's concern. This younger brother will do his utmost, nothing more."

Seeing Zhao Han's instinctive reaction, Fei Ruyi felt deeply melancholy. Such an elegant, beautiful youth — why did he resist him so?

He swept his gaze around Zhao Han — Fei Ruhe was too brawny, Fei Yuanjian utterly plain-featured... Ah, Fei Ruyi suddenly fixed his stare on Fei Chun. This servant boy was not bad-looking either.

Fei Chun felt his scalp prickle under that gaze and sidestepped to hide behind Fei Ruhe.

Just then, Fei Yuanlu and Cai Maode emerged together.

Several chairs had been placed beneath the great camphor tree. Fei Yuanlu smiled and said, "Director of Education, please take the seat of honor."

"Since you insist, I shall accept." Cai Maode sat down in the centermost chair.

Fei Yuanlu proclaimed in a clear voice: "This academy has a wild student, Fei Han, who has written essays trumpeting heretical theories, stirring the righteous indignation of teachers and students alike. The dynasty treats scholars generously and does not punish men for their words; this academy follows the same principle. Today we hold this debate. Academy teachers and students may take turns to question him, and we must correct this child student's errors... Cai, Director of Education for Jiangxi, has graciously condescended to honor the Pearl-Containing Academy with his presence — a great good fortune for all teachers and students here. Let us invite Director Cai to serve as arbiter of today's debate."

Cai Maode slowly rose and bowed to all around: "Gentlemen, a pleasure to meet you! Over four hundred years ago, Master Zhu and the two Lus debated at Goose Lake — that is known as the 'Goose Lake Debate.' Today, emulating those former sages, we may call this the 'Pearl-Containing Debate.' The gentleman harmonizes yet does not conform. No matter who wins or loses, let no one injure the spirit of concord. The victor must guard against arrogance and impatience, hold fast to his original heart, and seek the Heavenly Principle; the vanquished must not grow despondent or discouraged, but should advance in learning with still greater vigor and diligence."

The Goose Lake Debate holds profound and far-reaching significance in the history of Chinese intellectual development, its influence extending all the way into the Republican era.

At that time, Zhu Xi's School of Principle faced off against the School of Mind of Lu Jiuyuan and Lu Jiuling.

Zhu Xi advocated reading widely, observing many things, and engaging much with others, so as to distill experience and, through the investigation of things to extend knowledge, apprehend the Heavenly Principle.

The two Lus advocated first establishing one's resolve, recognizing one's original mind — the mind itself is principle. Follow your resolve and original mind, unswayed by external things, and only then go forth to observe the world and transform the world.

There is no absolute right or wrong between them. If ordinary people put them into practice, the School of Principle easily leads to drifting with the current and wallowing in the mire, while the School of Mind easily leads to detachment from reality and wild, reckless extremes.

"Who is Fei Han?" Cai Maode suddenly asked.

Zhao Han walked to the center of the debate ground, cupped his hands, and bowed: "This late-born student pays his respects to the Director of Education."

Cai Maode smiled and inquired: "How old are you?"

Zhao Han answered: "Fifteen by nominal count."

Cai Maode asked further: "Those heterodox views of yours — were they taught to you by a teacher?"

Zhao Han answered: "All sages, ancient and modern, are my teachers."

"Ha," Cai Maode laughed, amused. "So young, and indeed so wildly arrogant. I shall watch with keen interest!"

Zhao Han said: "I shall naturally strive with all my might to argue my case."

Cai Maode addressed the assembly: "Today's debate: whether all people under heaven are born equal. Fei Han, you may now expound your thesis."

Zhao Han stood with hands clasped behind his back and declared in a ringing voice: "There is no need to expound further; it is already written clearly in my essay. Whoever still has doubts, speak them forth, and I shall answer."

Arrogant to the extreme!

"Very well," Cai Maode announced. "Let us first discuss the equality of men and women. Who wishes to speak?"

None of the teachers made a sound, unwilling to debate with a child student.

"I shall ask!"

Fei Ruyu suddenly stood up. This fellow was already in his twenties and still a child student.

Zhao Han smiled faintly: "Senior, please speak."

Fei Ruyu, brimming with confidence: "Do you know the Three Obediences and Four Virtues?"

Zhao Han replied: "The Three Obediences: before marriage, obey the father; after marriage, obey the husband; upon the husband's death, obey the son. The Four Virtues: wifely virtue, wifely speech, wifely bearing, wifely work."

Fei Ruyu demanded: "Since a woman obeys father, husband, and son, how can there be any talk of equality between men and women?"

Zhao Han countered: "What is 'private honor'?"

"What?" Fei Ruyu did not understand.

Zhao Han sneered: "You use the Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial to question me, and I have already answered what the Three Obediences are. I use the Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial to question you — why do you not answer what 'private honor' is?"

Fei Ruyu only knew the Three Obediences and Four Virtues; how could he have known that the "Three Obediences" came from the Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial?

Even for a candidate whose designated classic was the Book of Rites, the civil examinations would never test the Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial.

If the exams don't test it, why the hell would anyone read it?

Zhao Han, however, had long planned for this. Over the past three years, he had leafed through every Confucian classic. He did not memorize them, only noted the general meaning — and deliberately hunted for flaws and contradictions in the texts.

Zhao Han ignored Fei Ruyu and swept his gaze around the room. "The 'Three Obediences' come from the *Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial*. Anyone who hasn't read that book had better not come spouting nonsense at me!"

At these words, the entire hall fell into awkward silence.

Never mind the ordinary teachers and students — even the academy head Fei Yuanlu himself had never read the *Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial*.

Suddenly, the Yuyao xiucai Zhu Zhiyu stood up. "A father is the honored one for his son. While the father lives, the son may not honor his mother — he may only honor her in private. This is private honoring. This is the meaning of 'there are not two suns in the sky,' and it perfectly demonstrates the inequality between men and women."

Zhao Han asked, "If he honors his mother in private, then clearly the mother is honored. How then can there be a teaching that 'when the husband dies, she follows the son'?"

Zhu Zhiyu explained, "Before marriage she follows the father; once married she follows the husband; when the husband dies she follows the son — this is the woman honoring the man. There are not two suns in the sky; only one is honored. While the father lives, the son honors his mother in private. When the father dies, the mother follows her son."

The *Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial* is a thing that codifies the cardinal principles of ritual teaching, and its purpose is to consolidate the ruling order.

Applied to the imperial house, the passage above can be understood thus: while the Emperor lives, the Crown Prince must honor the Emperor and may only honor the Empress in private. When the Emperor dies, the Crown Prince becomes the new Emperor, and the Empress becomes the Empress Dowager — at which point the Empress Dowager must take the Emperor (her son) as the honored one.

This is a question of the transformation of superior and subordinate status — true for the imperial house, and equally true for the common people.

Zhao Han looked at Zhu Zhiyu, feeling utterly helpless inside.

*Sigh. * He'd run into someone who actually knew his stuff!

Historically, Zhu Zhiyu's scholarly thought went through three distinct periods.

At this point in time, Zhu Zhiyu had not yet turned to practical learning; he was still devoted to researching pre-Qin ancient studies. He had taken several teachers in succession, all of whom had gone off one after another to take up official posts. With his teachers summoned into government service, Zhu Zhiyu could only travel the four quarters, and during this period he was following Cai Maode around everywhere.

Zhao Han's half-baked learning could only bully amateurs; the moment he ran into a true specialist, he was instantly exposed.

In that case — resort to sophistry, drag the other man down to his own level, and then defeat him with his wealth of experience!

Zhao Han had a prepared counter. "May I ask, senior — why does a father wear the *zhancui* mourning garment of unhemmed sackcloth for three years for his eldest son by the principal wife?"

In plain speech: as a father, why must one observe three full years of mourning for the eldest son of the principal wife?

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Zhu Zhiyu answered, "The eldest son by the principal wife inherits the true line of the ancestors; he bears the heavy responsibility of transmitting the ancestral temple. As a father, one does not mourn for the son, but mourns for the transmission of the ancestral temple."

*Just waiting for you to say that! *

Zhao Han demanded loudly, "In the present age, is there any father who observes three years of mourning for his son?"

Zhu Zhiyu had no reply. He steeled himself and said, "No."

Zhao Han declared in a ringing voice, "The 'Three Obediences' of women are rites of the Shang and Zhou. Now that customs have changed with the times, why must they still be followed? If we are to follow them, then let us follow the full set. The day a father observes three years of mourning for his son — that is the day I will acknowledge that men are superior and women inferior!"

"Well said!"

Fei Ruyi clapped his hands in loud approval.

Zhu Zhiyu was dumbstruck. *I'm talking reason with you, and you drag in custom — have you no shame at all? *

A teacher named Li Sheng spoke up. "This is not a change of customs — this is the collapse of rites and music. And precisely because rites and music have collapsed, we scholars must all the more adhere to ritual teaching, and must not drift along with the vulgar world!"

Zhao Han cupped his hands in salute. "Sir, may I ask — the *Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial* stipulates how long a subject should mourn for the Son of Heaven. When the successive emperors of our Great Ming passed away, how long were subjects actually required to mourn? Could it be that the Great Ming emperors, in their compassion for the myriad people, declined to follow the rites of Shang and Zhou — and thus took the lead in the collapse of rites and music?"

The teacher was left speechless.

There was no way to answer — any answer would be slandering the sovereign!

Cai Maode could not help but exclaim in admiration, "What splendid sophistry — this is the art of 'hard and white'!"

What is the art of 'hard and white'?

Sophistry!

Zhao Han turned to Cai Maode, cupped his hands, and said, "The Director of Education calls me a sophist — then this junior shall speak plainly and squarely. All you teachers and students, listen well!"

(End of Chapter)