"...By the time Changes scholarship reached the Han era, Jiao Gan and Jing Fang had both made their names through divination and its verification. Examining the methods they left behind, we find that their essentials largely lay in manipulating yarrow stalks to form hexagrams. As for the 'Great Commentary' and the 'Appended Statements,' they described the principles of divination, while 'Explaining the Trigrams' discussed its applications. The inner and outer commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals all used stalk divination to determine good and ill fortune. None of this could be understood by later scholars who merely spun empty theories about principles. Therefore-"
At this point in Wang Yang's explanation, one of his examiners suddenly asked, "How much do you know about the Spring and Autumn Annals?"
This man was Tan Yuanzong, the Doctor of the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals.
Before Wang Yang could answer, Liu Jing said irritably, "Don't interrupt him!"
Tan Yuanzong froze and looked at Liu Jing in bewilderment. "So...so only you're allowed to ask questions?"
Liu Jing's expression grew even more displeased. "I'm the one asking now. It's not your turn yet! If you want to ask something, wait until I'm finished!"
"But you've already asked so many-"
"Could you stop interrupting Zhi Yan's discussion of scholarship?" Liu Jing demanded impatiently.
"I, I'm inter...you're saying I'm interrupting???"
Tan Yuanzong's eyes widened even further. First he pointed at himself in utter disbelief, then turned toward the other three as though seeking justice. "He says I'm interrupting..." Then something suddenly occurred to him, and he whipped back around to face Liu Jing. "You're already calling him Zhi Yan???"
Liu Jing was perfectly self-assured. "The Book of Changes says, 'Like sounds answer one another; like energies seek one another.' Zhi Yan and I are