Chapter 107 The Imperial Examination
The requirements are largely the same as those for previous exams.
After carefully reviewing the process in his mind to make sure nothing was overlooked, he began preparing to grind the ink.
The provincial examination is divided into the main examination and the re-examination. The main examination usually tests one or two passages from the Four Books, one passage from the Five Classics, and one poem, and will also include policy questions required for this examination.
The second exam will require students to bring an essay and a poem, as well as recite the "Imperial Edict" or related hundred-word precepts from memory to test their basic skills.
Whether or not you can ultimately pass the initial test will depend on the combined results of both tests.
So when the test papers were handed out, Guo Baiwen immediately started looking at the questions.
Since this was the formal exam, the questions given were not particularly tricky; in fact, they were quite standard compared to some of the questions he had seen before.
The first chapter of the Four Books is titled "Zizhang Learns to Seek Official Position." Guo Baiwen memorized the Four Books many times. This sentence, as a classic question and answer about "the study of officialdom," is as widely circulated among scholars as "excellence in learning leads to officialdom." It comes from the Analects, Book 2, "Wei Zheng."
The core message is actually about the standard of being an official: "be cautious in speech and action, and seek truth from facts."
The second chapter is "What Heaven ordains is called human nature; to follow one's nature is called the Way; the cultivation of the Way is the proper way of teaching," which comes from the opening of the Doctrine of the Mean.
It is necessary to explain the progressive relationship in this statement, and also to discuss one's own understanding in conjunction with the principles of self-cultivation.
This is not an uncommon question; to stand out from the crowd of test takers, you'll need a more brilliant approach to the question and your arguments.
But if it's too spectacular or extraordinary—
Guo Baiwen subconsciously glanced at the proctors not far away, thinking that it was also important to guess their preferences.
When faced with such a question, choosing an unconventional approach in order to stand out is not necessarily a good thing.
He already had a general idea of how to solve the problem, but he needed to think about how to make it stand out enough.
So he simply wrote down on the draft paper, "To earn a salary, one must first cultivate oneself" and "Without innate nature, there is no way to follow; without the way, there is no teaching to cultivate oneself," as his approach to solving the first two problems.
After making sure he had a general idea, he continued to look at the next questions.
The Five Classics were chosen because Guo Baiwen selected the Book of Rites, and the corresponding topic was "When the three kings taught their heirs, they always used rites and music," which comes from the Book of Rites: The Heirs of King Wen.
As luck would have it, he had done similar questions before when he was doing the Book of Rites assignment given by Master Zhang at the Chengnan Bookstore.
Now, encountering it in the exam hall is a piece of cake.
So I immediately continued writing down my thought process for the third question on the draft paper.
To begin, we can use the phrase "teach the heir apparent with rites and music, the art of strengthening the foundation." The subsequent discussion can then explain the importance of the three kings in educating their heirs. The following sections, including the opening remarks, the division of responsibilities, and the conclusion, flow exceptionally smoothly along this line of thought.
After listing everything, he took one last look to make sure nothing was missing before reviewing the last two questions as well.
The topic of the examination poem was "Ode to the Spring Breeze," which required five characters in six rhymes, a part he was relatively weak in.
As for the final policy question, it was about "policies on agriculture, sericulture, and water conservancy," which was the very policy question that Master Guo had asked him to practice more.
The exam was difficult, but not too difficult.
After quickly going through all the questions, Guo Baiwen breathed a slight sigh of relief. He carefully checked the back of the test paper to make sure there were no more questions, and then, following the logic he had just solved on the scratch paper, he took a new sheet of scratch paper and started writing.
Although the scratch paper is not the official exam paper, it will be collected and reviewed after the exam, which can reduce the possibility of cheating to some extent.
Therefore, although there are no restrictions on scribbling or making mistakes on draft paper, the handwriting should still be neat and legible.
If the handwriting on the draft paper does not match the handwriting on the official exam paper—
Then you'll just have to pray for the best.
The first day of the formal examination passed by in such an orderly and busy manner.
After handing in his paper, he unconsciously rotated his wrist, which was a little sore from writing so hard all day, and his fingers felt stiff.
Just like when he entered the examination room, Guo Baiwen always believed in doing his best and leaving the rest to fate.
Having done everything I could and answered everything I could, whether I pass or not is no longer that important.
When the second day of the retest came, he did the same thing as the day before: he first rehearsed the questions on a draft paper before slowly figuring out how to answer them.
Compared to the standard questions on the previous day's exam, the questions on this paper were much more complicated and tricky.
When Guo Baiwen finally finished answering the previous question—[Combining relevant content from *The Great Learning*, discuss the meaning of the saying from *The Analects*, "Governing with virtue is like the North Star, which remains in its place while all the other stars revolve around it."]
Just when I finally breathed a sigh of relief, I saw the examination poem questions right next to it.
The re-examination required a poem in five-character lines with eight verses, which was more difficult than the five-character lines with six verses in the main examination.
When Guo Baiwen wrote several policy questions, none of them were as troublesome as these two poems.
When I finally started copying the exam paper, I don't know if it was because I overworked my brain, but I felt the veins in my temples throbbing intensely.
He had to pause twice and patiently knead the writing for a while before he could continue.
Fortunately, no ink splatters appeared on the official answer sheet due to this pause.
When they finally came out of the examination room, many candidates were dazed and many of them were unsteady on their feet.
Guo Baiwen wasn't much better off.
Standing crowded together with the crowd at the entrance, I felt even more suffocated when there were so many people.
Before they could even take a few deep breaths, they suddenly heard exclamations from the crowd, "Quick! Quick! Someone has fainted here!"
"Quick! Someone come and lend a hand!"
Several physically fit candidates helped the arriving constables carry the two unconscious candidates onto stretchers.
Seeing this, everyone started talking at once, saying all sorts of things.
"He must have caught a cold. His face is all red; I wonder how long he's been sick."
"No way? I think he fainted from hunger—" the person said confidently, and even had something to add, "Even when he fainted, he didn't forget to hold onto the pancake he was holding tightly!"
Every exam, there are always a few clueless candidates who either forget to bring their lunch or water, or forget to bring their identification.
That's quite common.
"How could someone who's been starving for less than a day faint so easily?"
"If you ask me, maybe it's because they were too close to the stinky cell and got suffocated by the smell!"
It would have been better if these words hadn't been spoken. The moment the topic of "stinky account" came up, everyone's expression was uniformly one of utter dismay, and they let out a "Ugh—" sound.
Once they realized what was happening, many people burst into laughter before they could verify it further.
Having finished the exams but not yet receiving the results, this period is a rare moment of relaxation.
More often than not, students who knew they hadn't answered the questions well started crying and wailing even before leaving the exam room.
Whenever they encountered a candidate like this, everyone tacitly chose to quietly bypass them.
Although there were many people in the line, they all left the examination room in an orderly manner. It wasn't until Guo Baiwen finally came out of the examination room that the line was cleared.
From afar, one could see Chen Baoyue standing in the crowd outside, carrying a lantern. A tired smile had just appeared on her face, but she involuntarily stumbled.
The cell was so cramped that after a while, I felt sore all over.
Upon seeing this, Chen Baoyue's smile froze, and she rushed over to support him.
The lantern he carried swayed precariously, and Guo Baiwen's heart filled with a sense of fullness.
"Let's go back together."
As he spoke, he tried to pull the person back.
"It's a rare treat to come all the way to the prefectural capital. It's been so kind of you to stay with me at the inn these past few days. Why don't we take some time to explore the area?"
Chen Baoyue laughed, "How can you stay in the inn every day? You were so focused on studying that you didn't notice, but I've gone out to check things out on my own these past two days."
After all, the guest rooms provided by the inn were only so big, and she was worried that any loud noise would affect Guo Baiwen's review.
Although he didn't say it, he had a habit of spending a dozen or so coins every afternoon to go to a nearby teahouse to listen to storytelling.
When it was almost lunchtime, they took the food provided by the inn back to their room.
However, since Guo Baiwen himself said so, "Then it's settled. There's no rush today. You go back and rest well. We'll go out and take a look tomorrow or the day after when you feel better."
"good."
The number of candidates taking the provincial examination this time was relatively large, and the results, which were originally scheduled to be released in three days, were postponed to five days later.
Guo Baiwen had booked too few nights of accommodation before, but after meeting the innkeeper downstairs, he extended the stay for another five nights just in case.
With more time, you can also take a good look around the state capital.
Many examinees returned to the inn in the evening, all busy asking for hot water so they could take a nice bath and get a good night's sleep.
This has led to a shortage of hot water in the kitchen in the backyard of the guesthouse.
After all, boiling water in pots like this can never keep up with the demand of each guest room.
Seeing that they were running low on firewood in the backyard, the shopkeeper started delivering it to each room one by one.
While apologizing, they explained that the inn was running out of hot water and that guests who were in a hurry to take a bath could go to the hot spring bathhouse on South Street.
That bathhouse is a long-established one in the prefecture, it has been open for twenty or thirty years, and many families choose to bathe there if they want to save money on firewood.
They all cost between seven or eight coins, and the wash was even more comfortable than boiling water at home.
After listening to the shopkeeper's sincere explanation, Guo Baiwen waved his hand to indicate that he understood.
After seeing the person off, he turned to Chen Baoyue and they exchanged a glance. "Shall we go take a look there?"
If we really wait at the inn for the hot water to be boiled, who knows when it will be ready.
It just so happens that neither of them has ever been to a bathhouse before, so going together this time will keep each other company.
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