bookrandom Chapter 81 Am I not qualified?
Chapter 81 Am I not qualified?
"I also have a couplet; please enlighten me, Your Highness."
"speak!"
That single word once again weighed heavily on Zhao Qixuan, making him feel somewhat powerless.
"I feel like our prince is like a strict teacher, while Zhao Qixuan is like a student who has made a mistake!" A scholar couldn't help but tease and chuckle.
"That's true! Zhao Qixuan really does act like a student in front of the prince."
At this moment, Qin Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sharp as knives, and his aura extremely oppressive.
Looking at Zhao Qixuan, although he tried his best to appear imposing, anyone with eyes could tell that he was nervous.
To everyone's surprise, Zhao Qixuan actually found a pen and ink, and then wrote: "Tomorrow is spring, how unlucky."
Then, a hint of arrogance flashed in his eyes, and he said coldly, "King of Chu, please!"
"interesting."
Qin Xuan glanced at it and couldn't help but mutter a comment.
“Zhao Qixuan, your first line is incorrect; it clearly contains some ambiguity.”
A clever Confucian scholar immediately saw the problem with the first line and couldn't help but criticize it.
But Zhao Qixuan scoffed disdainfully, "This couplet is ambiguous. What, don't you understand?"
Ambiguous association?
The many Confucian scholars around them couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Most of those who harbored doubts were students from Beining City, because they usually didn't even have time to study the Four Books and Five Classics, let alone engage in a pastime like composing couplets.
In this respect, students from Beining City are indeed at a disadvantage.
"Because of the constant wars in Beining City, no famous teachers and scholars are willing to come here to teach. Therefore, as a student of Beining City, you do not need to feel inferior because you are not good at matching couplets."
"On the contrary, the courage and perseverance of you scholars in a border city where you are raided and killed by the Jurchen cavalry more than ten times a year is something that the whole world should learn from."
Qin Xuan spoke loudly, his gaze burning and his expression solemn.
Upon hearing this, the students from Beining City felt all the grievances in their hearts transform into a raging fire that surged straight to their chests.
They also wanted to study and be talented, but objective conditions did not allow it, so they could only be ridiculed by other scholars.
But now, with the support of the King of Chu, they suddenly felt more confident.
For a time, the students of Beining City stood tall and proud, exuding an air of arrogance that only scholars possess.
"Although composing couplets is a minor art, it still falls within the realm of poetry and literature. For Your Highness to regard composing couplets as a mere pastime is surely a gross disregard for all scholars in the land."
Zhao Qixuan smiled sinisterly, a hint of smugness already creeping onto his face. With this serious accusation pinned on him, even the most renowned Confucian scholar of the time would have to bow his head and admit his mistake.
But he clearly underestimated Qin Xuan.
Qin Xuan said, "Do you think I'm not qualified to make such a judgment?"
"Of course! Even if the Confucian sage were here, he wouldn't dare to make such a boast."
Zhao Qixuan sneered.
"Really? Then listen carefully."
Qin Xuan's lips curled into a smile, and he spoke as if he were a teacher giving a lecture: "The ambiguous couplet you just presented was nothing more than a trick of punctuation."
"Tomorrow's spring is not a bad omen," can also be punctuated as "Tomorrow's spring is good, not bad," the two meanings are exactly opposite, so you feel that you have victory in your grasp?
"But I've already said that composing couplets is just a form of entertainment. I can come up with a matching line for your couplet on the spot."
"Absolutely impossible!" Zhao Qixuan immediately retorted loudly.
Qin Xuan ignored him and said to himself, "Tomorrow is the beginning of spring, how unlucky! It means bad luck all year round and little wealth. Is that auspicious?"
Zhao Qixuan's eyes widened instantly, and he stammered, "You...you..."
"Having little bad luck throughout the year and having surplus wealth are two different things, Your Highness has already figured it out!"
A scholar immediately read the passage aloud, breaking it down into its punctuation, and was greatly excited.
"Matching couplets is meant for entertainment, but it can also train one's thinking to some extent. In addition to the ambiguous couplets mentioned earlier, there are also reduplicated couplets, which mean that the same character appears repeatedly."
"For example, the first line of the couplet is: 'The wind turns the green bamboo, the wind turns the green bamboo, the bamboo turns the wind,' and the second line can be: 'The snow reflects the white plum blossoms, the snow reflects the white plum blossoms, the plum blossoms reflect the snow.'"
Qin Xuan casually gave an example, and the scholars around him, whether from Beining City or other places, couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
The literary world of Daqi placed the greatest importance on poetry, lyrics, and songs, followed by couplet writing.
Countless literary figures and poets, while exchanging toasts and drinks, have used couplets as a pastime and source of amusement.
However, looking at the entire literary world, no one can match couplets as easily and freely as Qin Xuan, and it seems that this kind of repetitive character couplet is the first time that it has been summarized.
"There are many forms of couplets, such as inverted couplets, which can also be called palindromic couplets..."
"When people pass by the Great Buddha Temple, the Buddha in the temple is greater than the people; when guests arrive at the Natural Abode, they are as if they were guests from heaven—this is the kind of situation..."
"For example, rhyming couplets are also quite interesting..."
"The lotus flower is painted by a monk, and the calligraphy is copied from the Book of Han by a scholar..."
"Then there's the number combination, which is a form in which multiple numbers appear..."
"Ten thousand tiles and a thousand bricks, a hundred days to build a cross-shaped temple; one boat, two oars, three people rowing across a four-way bridge—that's what it's all about..."
Qin Xuan seemed to be in the mood to lecture, and whenever he proposed a new type of couplet, he would casually recite a matching couplet.
He eloquently described nearly a dozen different types of couplets, providing examples for each.
The couplets cited here are all ingenious and extraordinary works of art.
The scholars around were completely absorbed in the story, and even Zhao Qixuan himself was drawn in and almost became completely absorbed in it.
Zhao Qixuan always had a high opinion of himself, and even though he was in the Imperial Academy, he believed that he was second to none.
But now, looking at Qin Xuan's numerous perfect couplets that he knew by heart, no matter how proud he was, he lost his last bit of arrogance in that instant.
Given Qin Xuan's expertise in couplet composition, his statement that "composing couplets is merely a pastime" is indeed not an exaggeration.
"Zhao Qixuan admits defeat and apologizes to Your Highness!"
Zhao Qixuan suddenly roared, suppressing the humiliation in his heart, and bowed deeply.
Qin Xuan looked at the other person calmly and said indifferently, "The person you should apologize to is not me, but all the scholars here who are less learned than you."
"A teacher is one who imparts knowledge, teaches skills, and resolves doubts!"
"As an assistant instructor at the Imperial Academy, you should have the demeanor of a teacher, rather than using your talent to oppress those who are less capable than you."
"The King of Chu is absolutely right!"
Zhao Qixuan nodded, his expression returning to calm, but the next second, he asked with a murderous intent, "Since the King of Chu has such talent, why is he unwilling to open a classroom to teach?"
This is a difficult question to answer.
If Qin Xuan answered that he didn't have time, it would make him seem like he didn't value scholars, and all the encouraging words he had said about scholars would become a joke.
However, if Qin Xuan agrees, as the King of Chu, if he really becomes a teacher, all the development of Beining City will be delayed.
Therefore, no matter how Qin Xuan answered, it seemed he would be at a disadvantage.
"Some people are born to be teachers, while others are born to be good at teaching. As for me, I am just a commander who can compose couplets, lead troops into battle, and kill all the barbarians in the world. The only thing I can do is to give all the scholars in the world a world where they can study in peace!"
Qin Xuan's gaze was intense, and although his voice was not loud, it struck the hearts of all the scholars like a morning bell or evening drum.
What could be more important than peace and tranquility throughout the land? "Sorry, I missed updating yesterday, I'm making up for it today!"