Yu Yuling exclaimed in alarm, "Teacher?! What's wrong?"
Liu Zhao sprang to his feet. "Quick, invite him in!" His voice was intensely urgent.
"Teacher..."
"I'd better go welcome him myself!" Liu Zhao strode outside without a thought for anything else, only remembering that Xie Xinghan was still in the room as he reached the door.
"Teacher, do you... know him?"
Yu Yuling had no idea why his teacher had lost his composure so completely. He wondered whether this member of the Langya Wang clan had some connection with him.
Liu Zhao forcibly steadied himself and told Yu Yuling, "Go invite him here. You must not slight him!"
With a bellyful of questions, Yu Yuling obeyed and withdrew.
"Who have they invited?" Xie Xinghan emerged from behind the screen.
"I don't know. But... if he truly can answer these questions, I am willing to honor him as my teacher!" Liu Zhao said excitedly, holding the letter.
Xie Xinghan was startled to hear this!
Over the past few days, the Wang Academy had repeatedly sent people to challenge Liu Zhao under the guise of "On Learning." He had always handled them with ease, yet today he had actually said something like this!
"Uncle, be careful. This may be a scheme by the Wang Academy! If you concede defeat of your own accord, Liu Tan will have all the more reason to abolish the Commandery Academy!"
Liu Zhao's heart lurched. He had been thinking only of scholarship and had nearly forgotten that the Commandery Academy was now at a crossroads between survival and destruction.
"Don't see him. Find some excuse and have someone send him away," Xie Xinghan suggested.
Liu Zhao considered for a moment, then said gravely:
"No. Scholarship is an endeavor for the ages. How could I deceive myself and others? If this man truly can instruct me in the Book of Documents, I ought to bow my head to him! Besides, if he really can resolve these great scholarly perplexities for me, it will be a blessing of my lifetime!"
Seeing Liu Zhao beside himself with delight, Xie Xinghan knew that her uncle's pedantic scholarly streak had flared up again. Caught in a dilemma, she also grew curious and looked at the letter in his hand. As her gaze swept over the inked characters, she suddenly found the handwriting somewhat familiar. Before she could examine it closely, footsteps approached outside, and she hurried back behind the screen.
"Teacher, Young Master Wang is here." Yu Yuling led Wang Yang inside.
"Master Liu." Wang Yang bowed to Liu Zhao with his hands clasped.
Liu Zhao froze. He had never imagined that his visitor would be so young!
Xie Xinghan was taken aback as well. Why did that voice sound a little familiar?
"This... you wrote this?" Holding up the letter, Liu Zhao looked at Wang Yang in disbelief.
"Yes."
"Can you answer all these questions?"
"I can."
Somewhat dazed, Liu Zhao stared blankly at Wang Yang for a few moments before remembering to offer him a seat. "Please, sit down."
Wang Yang had barely sat down when Liu Zhao hastened to ask, "'Reverent, discerning, cultured, thoughtful, and an-an'-you say the Kong Commentary interprets this incorrectly. How, then, should 'an-an' be understood?"
Wang Yang said, "The Book of Documents: Examining the Luminous Signs states, 'Fangxun was reverent, discerning, cultured, thoughtful, and yan-yan.' Zheng Xuan comments, 'To embrace and sustain with generosity is called yan.' The Erya says, 'Yan-yan means mild and gentle.' In the Table of Figures Ancient and Modern, Duke Anru is also written as Duke Yanru. This proves that in antiquity, yan and an were interchangeable in meaning. Thus Explaining Names says, 'An means yan'-"
"Wait, wait! Just a moment!" Liu Zhao interrupted Wang Yang, jogged over to the bookshelf, pulled out a scroll, and rapidly searched through it.
At that moment, Xie Xinghan, hidden behind the screen, also wanted to search for something. What she wanted, however, was not a book but a letter. She wanted to check the handwriting again, only to realize that in her anger, she had left that letter at the assistant prefect's residence!
Liu Zhao nodded as he searched the scroll, then looked at Wang Yang. "My apologies. Please continue." Suddenly remembering something, he called, "Yuling! Have someone bring tea and fruit."
"Tea and fruit" was the equivalent of what would now be called "refreshments." In those days, tea was generally accompanied by melons and fruit rather than pastries.
Eager to return and hear the rest, Yu Yuling hurried out to make the arrangements.
Wang Yang continued, "'An-an' is a reduplicated expression, like 'cautiously, cautiously' or 'the vast, vast net of Heaven.' Its meaning is the same as 'yan-yan.' 'Reverent, discerning, cultured, thoughtful, and an-an' means that his reverence, discernment, culture, and thoughtfulness all arose naturally rather than through forced effort. The Kong Commentary explains it as 'bringing peace to all under Heaven that ought to be brought to peace,' which is decidedly strained."
"An excellent interpretation! Excellent!" His face glowing, Liu Zhao looked at the letter and praised him twice, then continued with another question:
"The Counsels of Gaoyao says, 'The multitude of people then li.' Zheng's commentary interprets li as 'rice,' which you criticize as 'not forming a proper expression.' What do you mean by that?"
By then, Yu Yuling had returned with two servants, who arranged a tea service and fruit on the table before Wang Yang. Yu Yuling personally poured the tea and respectfully handed it to him.
Wang Yang accepted the tea, thanked him, and answered:
"'The multitude of people then rice' does not form a sentence. If li is extended to mean 'eat grain,' there is no precedent for such a usage. The 'Royal Regulations' of the Book of Documents says, 'Those in the west are called Rong. They wear their hair loose and clothe themselves in skins; among them are those who do not eat grain.' Could you change that to 'among them are those who do not grain'?"
Liu Zhao's eyes shone. He hurriedly asked, "Then how should li be interpreted?"
Xie Xinghan also leaned forward involuntarily, waiting for the answer.
"Li is a phonetic loan for the li meaning 'establish' in the Hymns of Zhou's phrase 'establish our multitude of people.' The Expansive Etymology says, 'To establish means to bring to completion.' Zheng Xuan's commentary on the Lesser Minister of Education says, 'To bring to completion means to settle.' Therefore-"
Liu Zhao hurried back to the bookshelf to find the texts, saying, "Don't mind me. Go on!"
"Therefore, 'the multitude of people then li' actually means 'the multitude of people were then settled.' That is why the Basic Annals of Xia in the Records of the Grand Historian renders these four characters as 'the people were then settled,' expressing their general meaning. Furthermore, consider the preceding passage: Great Yu controlled the floods, the five grains could be eaten, birds and beasts could live, and all manner of goods could be used. This is precisely about bringing stability to the people, something that cannot possibly be encompassed by the populace merely eating their fill. Thus we know that li cannot mean 'grains of rice.'"
When Wang Yang finished, the room fell silent for a time. Only the rustling of the scrolls could be heard.
(The rustling here was not the sound of turning the pages of a bound book. "Whirlwind binding" had not yet been invented. Paper books during the Northern and Southern Dynasties were mostly mounted as scrolls, also called rolled bindings; the rustling was the sound of handling the scrolls.)
Yu Yuling seized the opening to ask, "Young Master Wang, you mentioned Zheng Xuan's commentary on the Lesser Minister of Education-"
"Brilliant! Truly brilliant!" Liu Zhao clicked his tongue in admiration and returned to his seat, his excitement plain to see. "Your grounding in philology is exceptionally deep, young master! You have quite the legacy of the Han scholars about you! May I ask who your esteemed teacher is?"
In antiquity, "philology" was also called "elementary learning," roughly corresponding to today's "linguistics" and "the study of writing systems."
Philology flourished during the Han and Tang dynasties, and by the Qing dynasty it had developed into a magnificent scholarly enterprise.
Wang Yang's answers had drawn together the scholarly achievements of the Qing dynasty's Qianlong-Jiaqing School. Though constrained by his era and unaware of what the Qianlong-Jiaqing School was, Liu Zhao had recognized that both of Wang Yang's arguments rested on philology. Thus, saying that he carried "the legacy of the Han scholars" was not wrong.
"I have many teachers..." Wang Yang had not yet worked out how to answer this question. In antiquity, scholarship placed great weight on a scholar's lineage of instruction. Situations like those in martial arts novels, where a teacher forbade a disciple from revealing his name, virtually never occurred. Even a recluse concealed his person, not his name, much less Classics Scholars.
"You have studied under a succession of different teachers?" Liu Zhao asked in surprise.
Classical studies emphasized an unbroken lineage of instruction. Studying under different teachers was uncommon, especially since ordinary people could not find so many teachers in the first place.
Yu Yuling reminded his teacher, "Young Master Wang comes from the Langya Wang clan."
"Oh? So you are a 'son of a great house'! No wonder!" Liu Zhao was both surprised and delighted.
A "great house" meant an aristocratic clan, and "son of a great house" was one of the terms used at the time for its young masters.
Hearing the words "Langya Wang clan," Xie Xinghan frowned slightly.
Note: During the Eastern Han, classical studies provided a path into official service. First came generations devoted to classical studies, then generations of high officials, and only then did hereditary aristocratic houses emerge. Thus, the great aristocratic clans often maintained enduring traditions of classical scholarship. Qian Mu believed that aristocratic houses preserved their standing not merely through power and wealth, but also through scholarship and ritual propriety, which together formed their family education and traditions. This view is quite sound. See Qian Mu's "A brief discussion of the relationship between scholarly culture and contemporary aristocratic houses during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties." That was why Liu Zhao immediately understood upon hearing that the protagonist was a "son of a great house": many great scholars of the time came from eminent aristocratic families.
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