Summary of each chapter of The Scholars
Chapter 1: Wang Mian came from a poor family and was good at painting lotuses. Wei Su, an official in the capital, wanted to see him, but because he did not want to make friends with the officials and was afraid of being harmed, he left for Shandong. After the flood in Shandong, he returned to his hometown. After his mother died, Zhu Yuanzhang took over the world at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, when the Ming army rebelled. In order to avoid becoming an official, he retired to Kuaiji Mountain.
Chapter 2: The squires at Xuejiaji discuss the matter of holding the Dragon Lantern Festival during the Spring Festival. During this period, I mentioned that I wanted to hire a teacher for the children. Mr. Xia recommended Zhou Jin, who is over 60 years old. When Zhou Jin was having a banquet, he invited Mei Jiu to accompany him. However, Mei Jiu, who had been selected as a scholar, teased Zhou Jin during the banquet and told Zhou Jin that he had dreamed about the talented scholar who was a good omen.
Chapter 3: Zhou Jin's brother-in-law and others took pity on Zhou Jin and pooled their money to donate a supervisor for him. They were able to directly take the imperial examination and passed the examination. Later, he passed the Jinshi examination and was appointed as a scholar in Guangdong. Yu Fan entered the examination to be a scholar and was admitted out of pity for him. Later, he passed the examination and passed the examination. Squire Zhang came to make friends and gave him money and a house. This article embodies the abnormal psychology of literati who pursue official career and follow the trend.
Chapter 4: Fan Jin’s mother suddenly got a luxurious house and furnishings, and died of excitement. Three years after Fan Jin was in mourning, Zhang Jingzhai went with him to visit Tangzhi County, Gaoyao County, because the imperial court ordered that the slaughter of farm cattle and the consumption of beef be prohibited.
Chapter 5: After Tang Zhixian handled the case of the Hui people, two people came to sue Yan Gongsheng. One sued Yan Gongsheng for robbing other people’s pigs, and the other for forcing others’ money. The magistrate ordered to take people. Yan Gongsheng fled out of fear of crime. His brother Yan Jiansheng handled the lawsuit for him, paying for the compensation himself and taking care of everything.
Chapter 6: Yan Jiansheng died. The Zhao family discussed with her elder brother Wang De and Wang Ren how to send Yan Jiansheng. Yan Gongsheng, the eldest brother of Yan Jiansheng, came back from the imperial examination. However, he ignored his brother's death and not only did not arrange the funeral, but instead went to the provincial capital for his son's marriage. Zhao's son later died of illness. Wang De wrote to Yan Gongsheng asking him to come back and discuss the establishment of an heir. At this time, Yan Gongsheng was in the provincial capital to pick up his bride.
Chapter 7: Fan goes in to meet his mentor Zhou Jin. Because Fan Jin was going to Shandong to study Taoism, Zhou Jin told Fan Jin to pay attention to Xun Mei and help her enroll in school. At that time, Xun Mei and Wang Hui had already passed the exam together. The two met the fortune teller Chen Li and made a prediction about Wang Hui's future.
Chapter 8: After Wang Hui returned to the provincial capital, he was ordered by the court to fill the vacancy of Nanchang magistrate, so he took office. After arriving in Nanchang, he deliberately refused to accept the seal. It was not until Prefect Quang sent money that he officially took office. Later, King Ning rebelled and captured Nanchang, and Wang Hui surrendered.
Chapter 9: On their way back to the provincial capital, Mr. Lou saw Zou San, the son of Zou Jifu, the servant who was attending the graves of his family, and said he lived nearby. Mr. Lou then came home to visit. Xi Zhong learned that Yang Zhizhong was imprisoned because he had a deficit in accounting for others. Mr. Lou decided to save people. After returning home, he asked his servant Jinjue to take the money to the county to explain it to him. Taking advantage of the family prestige of Lou Mansion, the magistrate released Yang Zhizhong.
Chapter 10: Mr. Lou failed to find Yang Zhizhong for the second time, and met Lu Bianxiu on his way back. When talking about Yang Zhizhong, Editor Lu disagreed. A few days later, Chen Li came to visit. At this time, Gongsun Qu lived in the Lou Mansion, and Chen Li proposed marriage for the daughter of the Lu family. Old Master Qu sent a letter to Mr. Lou to handle it as appropriate. According to Lu Bianxiu's wishes, Zang Gongsun entered Zang Lu's family. On an auspicious day, the wedding took place.
Chapter 11: After marriage, Miss Lu was both talented and beautiful, while Gongsun Qu’s literary talent and knowledge were average, but there was nothing he could do about it. Zou Jifu came to Lou Mansion, talked about Yang Zhizhong again, and decided to visit again. After meeting, we had a great conversation.
Chapter 12: When Mr. Lou was about to visit Quan Wuyong, the newly arrived Mr. Wei came to visit. Seeing that there were so many trivial matters, Yang Zhizhong suggested asking his servant to bring a letter to invite him. On the way, the servant learned that Quan Wuyong was a man who had nothing to do and was not doing his job properly. I came to Lou Mansion after writing two letters saying "Quan Do Not Use". And bring a knight.
Chapter 13: Qu Gongsun met Ma Chunshang, who ran a class to help people learn knowledge. He was very inspired when he listened to him talk about the tips for getting into higher education. Huan Cheng, a servant of the Lou family, had an affair with Shuanghong, a maid of the Zang family, and ran away with the box that Wang Hui had left at Mr. Zang's house.
Chapter 14: After bargaining, Ma Chun paid 92 taels of silver and wrote a redemption document for Shuanghong on behalf of Zang Gongsun before he got the stolen box back. The messenger took most of the money. Huan Cheng and Shuang Hong left for a foreign land. After the matter was sorted out, Ma Chun went to Hangzhou. After arriving in Hangzhou, I traveled around for several days until I met an "immortal" named Hong Hanxian at the Ding Family Ancestral Hall.
Chapter 15: The immortal learned that Ma Chunshang was in distress and wanted to help. Ma Chun was given a few pieces of black coal, and he took them home and refined them over fire, turning them into silver. The immortal also asked the wealthy Mr. Hu to provide ten thousand taels of silver to prepare the materials for alchemy. He said that in forty-nine days, the "silver mother" would be produced and the stone could be turned into gold. Later, the immortal "drove west on a crane".
Chapter 16: Because Kuang Chaoren’s third uncle wanted to occupy his father’s house, he fell ill and his mother was in tears all day long. After Kuang Chaoren returned home, he devoted himself to serving his father and comforting his third uncle. And he used the money given by Ma Chun to do a small business to support his family. There was a fire in the village, and Kuang Chaoren's family was forced to move into a rented house.
Once the county magistrate passed by and saw Kuang Chaoren studying hard, he appreciated him very much and ordered him to take the exam. As a result, he passed the exams continuously until he passed the exam.
Chapter 17: After Kuang Chaoren entered school, he visited the teacher one after another. Soon, his father died of illness. For unknown reasons, the county magistrate was dismissed from his post and his seal was removed, but the people supported the magistrate and surrounded the provincial officials. The higher-ups sent people to arrest the leader, which implicated Kuang Chaoren. Kuang Chaoren went to Hangzhou to avoid trouble. I got acquainted with the folk sage Jing Lanjiang and a group of his friends. These people often get together to compose poems.
Chapter 18: The owner of Wenhan Building where Kuang Chaoren lives asked him to help select and compile some articles. Ma Chun took only seven days to complete the work that took two months to complete, and received some compensation for it ( Select gold). Jing Lanjiang led Kuang Chaoren to meet some new literary friends through Hu Zhen's birthday.
They held poetry gatherings together, but some people's literary talents were really average. On the night when he went to the provincial capital to hold a poetry meeting, he was caught by an officer on patrol because he was drunk and walking at night. This article reflects the stinginess of Princess Hu San, the son of the rich man, the false talents of the literati, and the ugly appearance after drinking.
Chapter 19: Kuang Chaoren met Pan Ziye, Pan’s younger brother. He was very cheerful and quick-witted, and he specialized in solving problems for others to make money. There was a girl from a wealthy family who ran away and was caught by the government and wanted to be sent back to her place of origin. A rich man surnamed Hu took a fancy to her and offered her two hundred taels of silver. Pan Sanye used various connections to communicate with the government, forged official seals, and got things done.
Shi Meiqing wanted to sell his sister-in-law to someone else, but accidentally gave away his wife. The other party refused to withdraw. Shi Meiqing filed a lawsuit, but there was no formalities for selling his sister-in-law. She wanted to pay some money to settle the lawsuit, but Pan The third master also got the job done; Jin Dongya's son wanted to take the exam, but he had no knowledge, so he wanted to find someone to take the exam for him, so he wanted to pay five hundred taels of silver. After Mr. Pan’s careful planning, Kuang Chaoren took the exam for him and passed the exam successfully.
Kang Chaoren also received two hundred taels of silver. So I bought a house, and Pan Sanye acted as a matchmaker and introduced Father Zheng's daughter to get married. Kuang Da wrote to his younger brother, asking him to go to Wenzhou to take the exam, and he passed the exam. At the same time, his teacher, the magistrate of Yueqing County, was framed, verified his release, and was promoted to the official position. He wrote to Kuang Chaoren and invited him to come. Mr. Pan finally committed too many crimes and was imprisoned.
Chapter 20: Kuang Chaoren found his teacher. The teacher appreciated his talent and wanted to marry his niece to him. He lied about being unmarried and they got married. Once I went back to Zhejiang for business and stopped by to visit my wife. I didn't want my wife to die of illness because she was not used to country life. His old friend Jing Lanjiang found him and asked him to visit Brother Pan San in prison. Because he was involved in Pan San's case, he excused himself by saying that he could not visit the prisoner because he was working for the court.
After finishing the matter, he met Niu Buyi on the boat back to Beijing. and brag to them about his talents and learning. Niu Buyi lived in a nunnery in Wuhu County and unfortunately died of illness. Before he died, he asked the old monk to take care of his funeral. The monk and his neighbors followed the instructions without fail. It reflects Kuang Chaoren's ugly attitude of disregarding his love for his wife, not cherishing old friendships, and being fond of bragging and exalting himself after becoming an official.
Chapter 21: Niu Pulang was studying in the nunnery and met the old monk. While the old monk was away, he peeked at Niu Buyi's personal collection of poems. Since they had the same surname, he wanted to take his name as Niu Buyi. , so he changed his name to Uupo, with the courtesy name Buyi, and engraved his own hand seal. Father Bu has a niece whose mother is dead and whose father has been doing business abroad all year round. He negotiated with Father Niu to marry Niu Pulang.
Uuraro is not good at business. Since he took over his grandfather's grocery store, he has been losing money day by day. After hearing this, Mr. Niu got angry and died of illness. My in-laws, Father Bu, was old. After finishing the funeral of Father Niu, he passed away. The disciple of the old monk became the admiral of the nine sects, and sent someone to take the old monk to Beijing, leaving the nunnery for Niupu to take care of.
Chapter 22: Because Uupo pretended to be Niubuyi, Dong Ying came to visit him. In order to show his momentum, Uupo asked his two uncles, one to bring tea and water, and the other to clean up.
After the reception, they complained about each other's lack of etiquette, causing Bu Xin Bu Cheng to drive Niu Pu out of the house and find a house to live in. Niupu had no choice but to go to Dong Ying. I met Niu Yupu on the boat because they have the same surname.
The bluffing Niu Yupu recognized Niu Pu as his grandson. Later, on the way, I met Niu Yupu's sworn brother Wang Yi'an. Wang Yi'an was beaten badly during the meal, which reflected Niu Yupu's character. After arriving in Hangzhou, Niu Pu followed Niu Yupu to visit Wan Xuezhai. While walking by the pond, he accidentally fell into the pond and was scolded by Niu Yupu and was knocked off the table.
Chapter 23: When Niu Yupu went to Wanjia, the Taoist priest told Niu Pu the details of Wan Xuezhai. Wan Xuezhai was originally the housekeeper of the Cheng family, a salt merchant, but later made his own business, so he hated others mentioning this matter. Niu Pu told Niu Yupu that if he mentioned Cheng Mingqing in front of Wan Xuezhai, he would threaten Wan Xuezhai and get greater benefits. Unexpectedly, Wan Xuezhai became angry and drove Niu Yupu out.
Niu Yupu was angry with Niu Pu and found him and beat him up. Niupu happened to meet a boatman surnamed Huang. Because he said he had a good relationship with Dong Zhixian, he gained Huang's respect and married his fourth daughter to him. Dong Zhixian was promoted to Beijing. He didn't know that Niu Buyi was dead, let alone that Niu Pu was a fake. He told Feng Zhuo'an that Niu Buyi was in Ganlu nunnery, which caused Niu Buyi's wife to come to his door.
Chapter 24: Nainai didn’t know that her husband was dead, so she thought it was Niu Pu who killed her husband, so she pretended to be Niu Buyi, so she filed a lawsuit. However, Xiangzhi County thought it was just the same name and refused to try it, so he sent it back to his place of origin for trial. The boss thought that Xiang Zhixian was not doing his job properly and wanted to join him, but was rescued by the actor Bao Wenqing. Bao Wenqing returned to Nanjing and wanted to find a few people to form a small theater troupe.
Chapter 25: Bao Wenqing was walking on the street and met an old man repairing musical instruments. So I asked him to come to his home to help repair the instrument. During the period, it was mentioned that Mr. Ni had been a scholar for more than 20 years. His family was extremely poor and he had sold four of his five sons. The last one was also difficult to support. After discussing with Bao Wenqing, they agreed to adopt him to Bao Wenqing and changed his name to Bao Tingxi.
As a result, Bao Wenqing took his son to start acting classes everywhere. One day, I met the former magistrate of Xiang County on the street. He had been promoted to the local magistrate. After the magistrate introduced him, he betrothed the daughter of the gatekeeper Wang Lao to Bao Tingxi.
Appreciation of The Scholars
"The Scholars" uses precise descriptions to describe the "common", "open" and "unsurprising" conflicts and disharmony in human affairs , showing its hidden meaning. For example, Yan Gongsheng was bragging in front of Fan Jin and Zhang Jingzhai: "My little brother is just a straightforward person. He never takes advantage of anyone in the countryside."
Before he finished speaking, a boy He came in and said: "That man came to ask for the pig that was locked up in the morning. He was making a noise at home." Through the inconsistency between words and deeds, Yan Gongsheng's deceitful and rogue behavior was revealed. Another example is when Magistrate Tang invited Fan Jin, who was in mourning, to have a meal. Fan Jin first "stepped back" and refused to use silver to set the cups and chopsticks.
Tang Zhixian hurriedly asked for a pair of porcelain cups and a pair of elephant chopsticks, but he still refused. Until he got a pair of white bamboo chopsticks, "that's all." Tang Zhixian saw that he was mourning with so much etiquette, and was worried that "if he didn't need meat and wine, he didn't prepare it." Suddenly he saw "he picked a prawn yuanzi in the bird's nest bowl and put it in his mouth," and he felt at ease. It is true that "there is not a single derogatory word, but the hypocrisy is clearly revealed."
"The Scholars" uses discordant people and things to make a tactful and sharp satire. The salt merchants of Wuhe County sent the old lady to the festival filial piety temple, with lanterns and colorful decorations and drums and music playing loudly. The street was full of officials playing cards, and the hall was full of magistrates, teachers and other officials setting up sacrifices, which was solemn and solemn.
But the salt merchant Fang Laoliu and a flower seller were leaning on the railing to watch the deacon. "Quan Yapo held the railing with one hand and opened the waistband of his trousers with the other to catch lice. After catching them, he put them into his mouth one by one. ". Combining sublimity and solemnity with comedy and frivolity, turning sublimity and solemnity into ridiculousness.
The Scholars has an aesthetic style that blends sadness and joy. Wu Jingzi can truly show the dual structure of the combination of humor and sadness and the interweaving of joy and sorrow in the satirical objects, showing the tragic connotation hidden behind the comic reality, thus giving readers a dual aesthetic feeling. Zhou Jin hit the trumpet board, Fan Jin went crazy after winning the imperial examination, Mr. Ma Er bowed to the imperial library, Wang Yuhui laughed when he persuaded his daughter to die for her husband, etc.
The behavior at this moment has their entire life as the subtext, so the ridiculousness of this moment also contains deep sadness. This most funny moment is precisely the place where the inner tragedy is the strongest.
The author keenly captures the characters' momentary behavior, and skillfully combines reflections on the fate of centuries-old intellectuals with their momentary behavior, making the satire endowed with cultural capacity and social significance.
Since Wu Jingzi's "The Scholars" satirized the stereotyped elements, bureaucracy and feudal society at that time, some positive and negative characters were added for comparison. The dividing line between positive characters mainly lies in maintaining proper moral character, while negative characters are those bureaucrats who bully the people all day long with their official positions and are ignorant and unskilled, as well as those who only know how to study Confucianism and promote the right path but in fact seal up their moral character. of Confucian scholars.
Reflections after reading The Scholars
The novel "The Scholars" uses humorous and sharp words to describe an interesting incident in the examination room and officialdom in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. The protagonists of the story are mostly folk scholars. By praising many upright Confucian scholars and lashing out at corrupt politicians, the author expresses his dissatisfaction with real life and his desire to change such a gloomy world.
The beginning of the novel describes a young man named Wang Mian in a village in Zhuji County, Zhejiang. Because of his poor family, he has been herding cattle for others since he was a child. He is smart, enlightened, diligent and studious. The lotus he draws is lifelike and ready to be drawn. And he was well-read and talented.
He is unwilling to make friends, let alone seek fame and fortune. When the county magistrate came to visit him, he avoided seeing him; when Zhu Yuanzhang offered him the position of consultant to join the army, he did not understand, so he willingly fled to the Kuaiji Mountains and lived an anonymous life.
This book also reveals that the imperial examination system has cultivated a group of mediocre and corrupt officials. For example, like Jinshi Wang Hui, after he was appointed as the prefect of Nanchang, the first thing he did was not to inquire about the local public security, nor to inquire about the lives of the people, nor to inquire about the grievances of the case, but to inquire about the local area. Favors, knowing what local specialties are available, and what can be accommodated in various cases.
After that, he ordered a number one treasury officer, passed all the six-room book offices in the yamen together, asked about the remaining profits of each errand, and asked everyone to return the money to the public. From then on, the yamen was filled with the sound of clasps, abacuses, and boards all day long. The government servants and the common people were all beaten to the point of losing their wits, and they were all shaking in their sleep.
But his personal creed is to clear the prefecture in three years and earn one hundred thousand snowflakes. When the imperial court inspected his political achievements, they unanimously believed that he was the most capable person in Jiangxi.
The book also lists examples of Fan Jin passing the imperial examination: Fan Jin, an old boy in the Ming Dynasty, failed the imperial examination many times. He did not pass the imperial examination until he was 54 years old, and then passed the imperial examination. Before Fan Jin was elected, he was looked down upon at home. His wife yelled at him, and his father-in-law scolded him in every possible way.
When Fan Jin's family was worrying about being unable to uncover the pot and waiting to sell chickens for rice, the good news came that Fan Jin had passed the national examination. Fan Jin was found from the market. After learning the good news, he was so happy that Crazy. Fortunately, his father-in-law Hu Tuhu gave him a slap in the face, which woke him up and cured him of his madness. In the blink of an eye, Fan Jin's fortune changed. He not only had money, rice, and a house, but also servants and maids.
Fan Jin's mother was so happy that her chest couldn't catch her breath, and she died in the west. Butcher Hu was also acting uncharacteristically.
One volume of "The Scholars" recounts the ups and downs of the scholarly community for hundreds of years, with all the bitterness and bitterness.