Glimpsing a Leopard Through a Tube, Seeing Its Spots and Knowing Its Form

However, the more they listened, the more questions accumulated in their minds, lingering there.

This is different from the questions that arise when reading. When reading, the questions are often about a single word or sentence, or about not understanding its meaning or the context. It often requires repeated consideration or asking others for help before one can suddenly understand.

What Qiu Yan talked about, however, were his own personal experiences. In a certain event or experience, he described it with references to classical texts. The words of the classics were so appropriate to the situation that one could understand the profound meaning without much trouble.

Qiu Yan was not simply telling stories, but rather extracting many patterns from each story, summarizing them with classical language, and then imparting them to everyone present without reservation.

This point has become known to many students as the lectures have progressed, which inevitably makes them happy. However, although they understand the meaning of the scriptures, they are puzzled by many of the actions and motives of the Grasslands tribes, as well as the countermeasures of the Central Plains border army. In some cases, the answers differ from what they have read since childhood.

This naturally leads to many questions and doubts, not about the meaning of the scriptures themselves, but about real phenomena that give them a sense of stepping out of the books and seeing a new world.

It's both frustrating and intriguing, like a cat's claws scratching at your heart; the more unbearable it is, the more you want to continue.

However, when the sun was high in the sky, Qiu Yan stopped talking. At this time, the audience realized that they were already very hungry. However, this journey that followed the words was not yet over, and many questions were still weighing on their minds. They stared at Qiu Yan intently.

Feeling the gazes directed at him, Qiu Yan smiled slightly and said, "Just as I said, when you reach a crossroads, ask questions if you have doubts. Ask and continue walking, and you will gradually reach your destination. However, learning should be combined with thinking, otherwise you will be in vain. Before asking the questions in your heart, you should first ponder them in your mind. Well, it's time to have lunch now. We can talk about it this afternoon."

After saying this, he stood up first, leaving the stunned crowd in the courtyard.

"Hey, why did it stop?"

"Yes, I was listening intently when the teacher stopped, leaving me stuck in limbo, which was really frustrating."

"Calm down, everyone. Didn't you hear what the teacher said? He wants us to think about it ourselves. Otherwise, we might seem to know everything just by listening to the teacher's lectures, but when it comes to facing the situation ourselves, we'll be dumbfounded."

Qiu Yan's sudden pause was unbearable for many students who had been listening intently, and they couldn't help but start talking, even ignoring their hunger.

However, they certainly didn't dare stop Qiu Yan or force him to continue speaking, so they could only suppress their own desires and try to think and communicate as Qiu Yan suggested.

But upon reflection, I realized the subtle details I hadn't noticed before.

"To be honest, I thought that you were being stingy and unwilling to teach us anything useful, which is why you talked about your experiences in the north. But I never expected that there would be so many profound truths hidden in these seemingly simple stories about local customs and traditions."

"Yes, there are many historical allusions hidden in those military campaigns. For example, the battles fought by the barbarian tribes led by you were actually a way of educating them. You just mentioned that 'if merits are not rewarded and crimes are not punished, even the Tang and Yu dynasties could not govern.' This shows that rewards and punishments are the most direct way to make those who do not understand rituals and sacrifices aware of the consequences."

"Actually, while listening to your lecture just now, I had this feeling that the matter of teaching is not complicated at all, and can even be said to be quite simple. But the key is to grasp the tricks and find the essence, otherwise it is inevitable to achieve half the result with twice the effort."

"That is excellent. I wonder if you have noticed that the gentleman said, 'The most important matter in the world is reward and punishment.' He also cited examples from before the previous dynasty, when the world was divided and fighting each other, such as the war between the Northern Wei and the Southern Liang, where rewards and punishments were known to the whole world, and the people's hearts changed accordingly."

"It is naturally our duty to educate people, but the key lies in learning, resolving doubts, and improving one's character. As the compiler said, 'Without the skills to protect oneself, what difference is there between one and a sheep?' If we do not want to be bullied by the Hu people, we should study Six Arts!"

"Yes, if they can't even protect themselves, what's the difference between them and dogs or sheep?"

The group began to chat and exchange ideas. Even Hu Ye looked excited, clearly having gained a lot of inspiration from Qiu Yan's words, and his arrogant attitude had vanished.

However, even with such exchanges of experiences, the gap between students from privileged backgrounds and those from humble backgrounds is still evident; they remain in separate groups and rarely interact.

Amidst the excited chatter, Zhang Shun frowned.

"What Qiu Xiuzhuan said is all reasonable, but it deviates somewhat from the interpretations of the classics and texts. It seems he intends to use the classics to interpret his own doctrines. In this light, he truly intends to establish his own school of thought..."

As he pondered, his gaze swept over the excited crowd, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"By focusing solely on what I have seen and heard, I appear humble and approachable, but this is actually a strategy of strategic retreat. By combining personal experiences with my understanding of classical texts, even if someone has a different opinion, they will have no way to refute me, because these events are not fabricated, but rather actual occurrences that are verifiable."

As a Confucian scholar, Zhang Shun inevitably engaged in debates with others in his daily life. He was very clear about the tricks of rebuttal, knowing that any words in the classics could have different meanings depending on the annotations and interpretations. By combining these with his own arguments, he could refute others. Sometimes, he could even use the same words as his opponent, but with different interpretations by Sage, to fight fire with fire.

However, the most difficult argument to refute is one that starts from reality, focuses on a specific event, then develops a discussion, adding viewpoints and classical sayings, and naturally deduces the subsequent developments. Once the subsequent developments can prove it, then this argument has gained a firm foothold and is very difficult to shake.

After all, you can refute sentences in books, but you can hardly distort the reality of the world!

Just as one can see a leopard through a tube, this "spot" represents the phenomenon, which may be partial but can serve as a foundation for further exploration. The entire leopard represents the underlying principles. By observing a specific point in reality and reflecting on and deducing these underlying principles, one can elucidate the underlying truth.

Ultimately, the words of scripture are a summary of worldly phenomena, intended to guide people's actions, rather than being created for the purpose of debate.

"However, if this set of doctrines compiled by Qiu is truly feasible, it is not unreasonable to study and comprehend it. However, for us scholars, in addition to cultivating morality, we also need to use it as a stepping stone to pass the imperial examinations. Now that the New Party is in power, it also advocates New Learning. However, the doctrines transmitted by Qiu Xiuzhuan are somewhat different from the views of that New Learning..."

With this thought in mind, Zhang Shun felt conflicted. He admired what Qiu Yan said, but he was also afraid that this doctrine would affect his own Literary Dao, ultimately hindering his performance in the Imperial Examinations and causing him to lose the opportunity to change his own destiny.

However, not many people can see this point like him. Even if some people have slightly different opinions about what Qiu Yan said, they dare not speak out, after all, Qiu Yan's status is different now.

"It turns out that there are many things hidden in ordinary observations. According to the compiler, profound truths are hidden in everyday matters, and one can see the big picture from small details. However, how can we discover these truths? After all, the things around us are not written down clearly like in books. There are no words, no hints, and we don't know which details contain truths or which scenes have no profound meaning..."

Among the crowd, the servant Hua She stood silently, deep in thought. When he came to his senses, he went to the table in the corner, took out a pen and ink, and wrote down his questions and thoughts. His ten fingers were covered with the strong scent of ink.

"Speaking of which, I work at the Meng Residence during the day and help out at the Book-Printing Hall at night. Is there something hidden in this? Could there be Confucian principles in washing dishes and delivering messages? Compared to this, printing books at the Book-Printing Hall is doing the work of the sages' teachings, so it must have a deeper meaning. But how can we discover it?"

This question lingered in his mind. While most of the scholars left the courtyard to go out for a meal, Hua She was still thinking about it repeatedly. This was because he kept Qiu Yan's teachings in mind and wanted to understand some principles through his own thinking.

Unfortunately, a quarter of an hour later, Hua She still hadn't come up with anything.

"Alas, I am too incompetent. I have been slow-witted since childhood. What others can learn in a day, I may not be able to master in ten days. Today, when I heard the profound theories on cultivation, others had insights and were able to verify and exchange them, but I still have to memorize them repeatedly and rack my brains to think about them, but I can't even get to the surface..."

As he pondered, he sighed, but he was not discouraged. He looked at the paper with his questions and insights, checked it carefully, and only felt relieved after finding no typos. Then he took out a cold, hard steamed bun from his pocket and was about to eat it.

There were many scholars like him who brought their own lunch, including Zhang Shun, but those like Hua She who only had a cold steamed bun were a minority.

However, just as he was about to take a bite, someone stopped him.

"Little Hua She, what did I tell you? Don't you take Meng Wei words seriously?" Meng Wei and Meng Ting walked over, sat cross-legged at Hua She's table, took out a paper package, placed it on the table, and opened it to reveal several large pieces of meat, with an enticing aroma that made one's mouth water just by smelling it.

"This..." Hua She looked up at the two men, his face showing shame. "I appreciate your kindness, brothers. We've always been grateful for your care and support, and now you're doing us this again..."

"Why so much talk?" Meng Ting laughed, picked out a piece of meat, and put it in his mouth. "Listening to lectures is very mentally taxing. If you listen for a whole day, you'll inevitably feel tired. How can you possibly keep going on eating just steamed buns?"

Meng Wei also said, "That's right. Besides, it's only today. At any other time, even if you wanted us to bring you a few pieces of meat, we wouldn't do it. Stop talking so much and eat. Don't disturb the teacher's lecture."

Upon hearing this, Hua She's eyes welled up with tears, and he no longer refused, silently accepting the offer.

"The Literary Thought Fortune within the academy has changed."

In the backyard, Qiu Yan stood in the middle, observing the qi (energy flow), when suddenly his eyes lit up. (To be continued...)

P. S.: Thanks to "Adventurer* Tian Yun", "Wang Xiucai", "Lianyun", and "Crotch Dead" for their monthly votes!

Thank you to "Volcano1889" for the donation!

There was a slight mishap, so I had to rush home to get the manuscript. The update is late, please forgive me.