Chapter 36: The County Examination

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Two years passed in the blink of an eye. It was now the twenty-second year of Chenghua. After two years of study, the academy’s licentiate, Zhou, was highly satisfied with Li Jie’s progress and intended to have him sit for that year’s county examination. In his view, Li Jie’s present level was more than sufficient for him to earn the rank of licentiate, and so he encouraged him to take the examination.

Licentiate Zhou also advised Li Jie that, once he had passed the examination and obtained academic honors, he should travel to Baisha in Guangdong and continue his studies under Chen Xianzhang. In his youth, Zhou had spent some time studying under Master Baisha.

Chen Xianzhang was the only great Confucian of the Lingnan region at the time whose fame had spread throughout the realm. He taught that learning lay in knowing how to question and in thinking independently, and advocated a freer and more open scholarly atmosphere. His teachings gradually developed into a school with distinctive characteristics, later known as the Jiangmen School, or the Baisha School.

Chen Xianzhang’s philosophy shattered the dull and rigid patterns of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and opened the way for the School of Mind in the Ming dynasty. In the history of Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism, he was a pivotal figure who inherited the past, ushered in the future, and transformed the intellectual climate.

Wang Yangming and his disciple Zhan Ruoshui would later become as close as old friends from their very first meeting. Through their exchanges, they came to understand the core principles of the Baisha School: “revere nature and prize self-attainment.” These ideas would lay the foundation for and clear the path toward the School of Mind that Wang Yangming later created.

At this time, however, Zhan Ruoshui had not yet taken Chen Xianzhang as his teacher. Wang Yangming still basked in the glory of his father, who had been a palace laureate, and was presently preparing to study military strategy so that he might serve the imperial court. He had not yet begun to question Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.

Before dawn, the Lin household was already brightly lit. Little Cui had risen early to prepare everything Li Jie would need for the examination. His examination basket already contained writing brushes, ink, an inkstone, and the food Madam Wang had prepared that morning. The servant had long since brought the carriage to the gate.

Madam Wang came to Li Jie’s room and knocked on the door.

“Pingzhi, Pingzhi, get up quickly, or you’ll be late!”

“I know, Mother,” Li Jie replied.

As he spoke, he opened the door. Over the past two years, Li Jie had diligently cultivated his inner energy and had already achieved modest results. He had sensed Madam Wang’s footsteps the moment she entered the courtyard; by the time she knocked, he was already fully dressed.

Li Jie went to the dining room and ate a simple breakfast. Lin Zhen’nan then led him into the carriage and set off for the examination hall. With a flick of the reins, the wheels began to turn, and the servant skillfully drove the carriage toward the examination grounds with father and son aboard.

Lin Zhen’nan looked nervous, as though he himself were the one sitting for the examination. He had not slept at all the previous night and now wore enormous dark circles beneath his eyes. From time to time, he awkwardly tried to reassure Li Jie.

“Pingzhi, don’t be nervous in the examination hall. Your Evil-Repelling Swordsmanship has already reached a modest level. Even if the imperial examinations don’t work out, it won’t matter.”

“Don’t worry. My teacher said I should have no trouble taking the examinations this time. At my current level, passing the county examination should be virtually certain.”

Seeing Lin Zhen’nan so tense, Li Jie did not know whether to laugh or cry. He repeated Licentiate Zhou’s words to him, putting his mind somewhat at ease.

The carriage jolted along for a while before finally coming to a stop. The servant’s voice sounded from beyond the curtain.

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“Master, Young Master, the road ahead is blocked by carriages bringing candidates to the examination. We’ll have to get down and walk.”

Li Jie opened the carriage door. The street was filled with the rumble of wheels and the restless cries of horses. Carriages carrying candidates stretched along the entire avenue, blocking it so completely that not even a drop of water could pass through. Lin Zhen’nan and Li Jie had no choice but to walk toward the examination grounds, carrying the examination basket between them.

The area outside the examination hall was packed with people. Among the crowd were Confucian scholars nearing middle age and boys barely into their teens. Children as young as Li Jie, still bearing the innocence of childhood, were uncommon. Under the guidance of the yamen runners, everyone formed a long queue.

Near the examination grounds, Li Jie encountered several students from the academy who were also sitting for the examination. He joined them and exchanged a few words. Before long, their turn in the line arrived.

“All candidates, take note! No concealed materials are permitted! Anyone found carrying notes will receive no mercy from the county magistrate!”

The yamen runners shouted this warning as they moved about maintaining order. Moments earlier, they had caught a boy of perhaps fifteen or sixteen carrying hidden notes. It had been a long time since anyone had been caught carrying such material during the Fuzhou county examination.

Before long, it was Li Jie and the others’ turn to enter. After they were searched and found to be carrying nothing improper, they were allowed into the examination grounds.

The examination sheds for the county examination were rather plain. Booths of varying heights stood among a network of passageways. Since there were so many candidates, numerous temporary shelters had also been erected nearby. The temporary structures leaked wind from every direction; if it rained, the candidates inside would be miserable. Following the number on his identification tablet, Li Jie found his booth. Fortunately, it was not one of the hastily assembled sheds.

The booth was quite low, but Li Jie was still young and had not yet reached the age when boys grew rapidly. He was only a little over one and a half meters tall, so the cramped space posed no difficulty. After entering, he took out each item required for the examination. Once everything had been arranged on the desk, his ears twitched. One candidate after another was entering the surrounding booths.

After approximately two hours, a drum sounded with a heavy boom, and the examination began.

The examination grounds fell utterly silent. The candidates settled down one after another, waiting for the examiners to issue the questions. The yamen runners continued pacing back and forth, patrolling the grounds.

The chief examiner then offered the candidates a few words of encouragement. The chief examiner for a county examination was generally the local county magistrate. Afterward, the candidates formally began. The yamen runners carried upright boards through the passageways so that everyone could see the examination questions, which were written upon the boards.

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One of the yamen runners held up the first question, a question from the Four Books:

“When the people have enough, who can say that the ruler lacks enough?”

Li Jie first copied the question onto his draft paper.

The second question was drawn from the Five Classics and mainly required the candidates to write passages of classical meaning from memory. The third was a composition in verse.

After copying all the questions onto his draft paper, Li Jie wrote his name and household-registration information on the examination sheet.

The first question, from the Four Books—“When the people have enough, who can say that the ruler lacks enough?”—was a perfectly conventional one.

The line came from the chapter on Yan Yuan in the Analects. The original passage read:

Duke Ai asked You Ruo, “There has been a famine, and the state’s revenues are insufficient. What should be done?”

You Ruo replied, “Why not institute the complete tax?”

The duke said, “Even when I levy one-fifth, it is still not enough. How could I possibly levy only one-tenth?”

You Ruo replied, “When the people have enough, who can say that the ruler lacks enough? When the people lack enough, who can say that the ruler has enough?”

In essence, Duke Ai of Lu asked You Ruo what should be done now that famine had struck and the state treasury could no longer meet its expenses. You Ruo answered by asking why the complete tax system was not adopted, under which only one-tenth of the agricultural yield would be collected.

Duke Ai replied that even the current tax of one-fifth was insufficient. How, then, could he possibly adopt such a system? The complete tax was the land-tax system used during the Zhou period. It advocated equal collection according to acreage, with the people retaining nine parts and the state taking one.

You Ruo answered that if the people had enough for their needs, how could the ruler himself lack enough? And if the people did not have enough, how could the ruler possibly have enough?

Zhu Xi commented on this passage:

“When the people are wealthy, the ruler cannot be the only one poor. When the people are poor, the ruler cannot be wealthy alone. You Ruo spoke deeply of the unity between ruler and people, seeking to restrain the duke’s excessive exactions. Those who rule over others should ponder this most carefully.”

Zhu Xi’s commentary clearly affirmed You Ruo’s answer. He believed that You Ruo’s idea of ruler and people forming one body was correct. His own economic views were much the same: the prosperity of the people and the prosperity of the ruler were not opposed, but unified.

Li Jie glanced at the other candidates and saw that they were still racking their brains. He smiled, then lowered his brush and began to write.

His opening argument read:

“When the ruler enriches those below him, he enriches himself above.”

Drawing upon Zhu Xi’s commentary, he began to elaborate on You Ruo’s ideas, demonstrating that when the people had enough, the ruler would have enough as well, and that the people’s prosperity was brought about through the implementation of the complete tax system.