Chapter 108: Choosing a Major Is No Easy Matter

After speaking, Mr. Zhu looked at Su Lu with an expectant expression.

Su Lu was caught off guard and said, "This... this disciple is only on his first day of studying the I Ching, and as for the other four classics, I have only heard their names without yet glimpsing their substance. It is far too early to make a choice."

"There is nothing to hesitate about. The I Ching is the sacred canon of the Confucian school and the head of the Six Classics. It is the source of the Great Way and the ancestor of all laws!" Mr. Zhu tried to persuade him. "It has always been the first choice for the most outstanding students. For a disciple with your divine intelligence and keen wit, not studying the I Ching would be a terrible waste!"

"Yes," Su Lu replied, though he was not so easily swayed. He bowed respectfully and said, "Once I have glimpsed the full scope of the Five Classics, I will certainly prioritize choosing to study the classics under you, sir."

Mr. Zhu, at his age, knew full well that such a promise of priority held no binding power, so he lowered his voice and said, "If you follow me to study the I Ching, I can pave the way for your academic progress and help you safely secure your position as a Xiucai..."

"Is that so?" Su Lu widened his eyes, wondering to himself whether the "help" promised was genuine assistance or merely a hollow congratulation.

Having grown up on the empty promises of capitalists, he knew that even contracts written in black and white were often unreliable, let alone verbal commitments. So, although he was slightly tempted, he held back and indicated that he would wait until the end of the term to make a decision.

"Then you must not promise anyone else in advance," Mr. Zhu said, feeling helpless.

"Yes, disciple gives his word," Su Lu replied. He thought to himself, surely the other teachers wouldn't be like this too, would they?

"Go and eat," Mr. Zhu said, finally letting him go.

"This disciple takes his leave. I hope you enjoy your meal, sir." Su Lu bowed deeply and withdrew.

"Sigh, this kid is a tough nut to crack," Mr. Zhu muttered, shaking his head in frustration as he watched Su Lu’s retreating figure. He had hoped to strike first by being the first teacher of the day, but he had failed.

Now, a red-faced scramble for students among the faculty seemed unavoidable.

***

On the other side, Su Lu walked quickly through the layers of courtyards, arriving at the dining hall in the final section of the academy.

The dining hall consisted of a row of five large tiled rooms, serving as the dining areas for teachers, the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class, respectively. There was also a guest dining room, where Scholar Cheng had eaten last year.

As for the guards, cooks, gardeners, and other servants, they were not qualified to eat in the dining hall and had to make do in the kitchen...

Su Lu entered the lower-class dining hall and saw three long tables placed side by side, one for each class, eating separately.

The other two classes had only a few people sitting at their tables, but the table for the Xingshen Class was still full.

"You finally arrived!" The class leader, Ma, sat at the head of the table near the door and beckoned Su Lu to sit in the empty seat next to him.

Only after taking his seat did Su Lu notice that while the other classes were almost finished eating, his classmates in the Xingshen Class hadn't even picked up their chopsticks. He was startled and asked, "Were you all waiting for me?"

"Of course," his classmates laughed. "How could we dare to eat before our elder had arrived?"

"I am truly sorry to you all," Su Lu said, cupping his hands in apology, while thinking to himself, why is it that everywhere I go, people end up waiting for me to eat?

"It's your first day joining us, so we had to wait for everyone to be present before starting," Class Leader Ma smiled. "Let’s eat, everyone!"

Only then did the classmates pick up their bowls and chopsticks. Even though they were starving, they remained composed, chewing slowly and swallowing gently without a hint of eagerness. There was no sound while eating or drinking soup, and not a single clink of chopsticks or spoons against the bowls.

Once the meal began, no one spoke loudly. The entire process was quiet, reflecting the manners cultivated by their immersion in poetry and books.

***

Well, when they went out to restaurants, these guys were just as boisterous as anyone else; it just went to show the multifaceted nature of people.

In this environment, Su Lu was also much more refined than usual, holding his rice bowl and eating quietly. In the bowl was the academy's eternal staple: rough brown rice, accompanied by a small dish of stir-fried bok choy and a bowl of shimmering winter melon soup.

He often heard his classmates complain about the academy's food, and seeing it today, he realized the rumors were true. No wonder these guys seized every opportunity to eat out; their stomachs were starved for oil and fat!

Even the meals at his own home were far more flavorful than this.

Fortunately, his classmates had all brought private supplies from home, and today they had contributed them all: dark red preserved meat, glistening fermented fish, and oily dried chicken strips... A dozen small dishes were placed in the center of the table, instantly making the meal rich and delicious.

After finishing his meal and leaving the table, Su Lu asked, "You can't eat like this every meal, can you?"

"Of course not. This is the last of the stash; for the next four days, we'll have to eat grass," Li Qiyu laughed. "But it was worth it to show our filial piety!"

The others laughed as well, "Brother, don't listen to him. We'd be eating grass for the last few days anyway."

"Don't expose me, everyone! I wanted to make Brother feel touched," Li Qiyu joked wickedly.

"Deceiving one's kin is false filial piety!" Cheng Wanfan interjected. "You must serve your kin with sincerity, do you understand?"

"Hahaha!" The classmates burst into laughter.

After a brief period of relaxation and digestion, everyone returned to the classroom to continue their studies. Su Lu, as usual, went to the preparation room to receive special tutoring from Mr. Zhang.

Mr. Zhang was grading essays and looked up at him.

As the core of the imperial examination, essay writing could not be skipped for a single day. However, after half a year of instruction, there was no longer a need for the kind of one-on-one hand-holding that required students to practice specifically in the classroom.

Mr. Zhang would assign topics after the afternoon Four Books class, collect them the next morning, grade them during the day, and assign new ones in the afternoon, repeating the cycle. He was exceptionally conscientious and often too busy to even eat lunch.

"You're here." Mr. Zhang glanced at him and pointed with his chin at a food box on the table. "Try the steamed buns your teacher's wife made."

"I've already eaten my fill, so I won't compete with you for a bite, sir," Su Lu laughed.

"Didn't you eat in the dining hall today? Can one actually get full on that food?" Mr. Zhang knew his situation perfectly well.

"Eat enough, and you'll be full," Su Lu said, his words becoming increasingly philosophical.

"Hahaha, that is true, but I truly cannot stomach it," Mr. Zhang closed the assignment book, washed his hands, and picked up a golden-skinned steamed bun. "I'd rather bring my own food."

"The teacher's wife is a great cook, so of course you've grown accustomed to better, sir," Su Lu smiled.

"If I tell her that, she'll end up making you something delicious again," Mr. Zhang said while eating the bun, then asked with a smile, "By the way, did Mr. Zhu pester you today?"

"I wouldn't call it pestering," Su Lu said softly. "Mr. Zhu just wants me to study the classics under his guidance."

"You didn't agree to him, did you?" Mr. Zhang's expression tightened.

"No," Su Lu shook his head. "For one, I don't know enough about the Five Classics yet, and for another, I hadn't asked you for your advice yet, sir."

"I am not a teacher of the classics, so I won't be competing with them," Mr. Zhang reminded him with a smile. "But you must be very cautious. Choosing a primary classic is like being reborn; choose wrong, and you'll be in trouble."

"Is that so?" Su Lu’s expression tensed, and he quickly bowed. "I ask for your guidance, sir."

***

"You must have heard that the provincial and metropolitan examinations are categorized by the Five Classics. The thirteen examiners also divide into groups based on the Five Classics to grade papers. Among them, the most candidates choose the *Book of Poetry*, usually occupying four or five groups; the *I Ching* is next, in three or four groups; then the *Book of Documents*, in one or two groups; and the fewest choose the *Spring and Autumn Annals* and the *Book of Rites*, which almost always occupy only one group each, and with fewer candidates."

"Therefore, choosing the popular *Book of Poetry* or *I Ching* means fierce competition, but there are also more spots for admission. Choosing the obscure *Spring and Autumn Annals* or *Book of Rites* means less competition, but there are also fewer spots," Mr. Zhang explained.

"There is deep strategy in this. The difference in the chances of being admitted between choosing the right classic and the wrong one can be like heaven and earth."

"I understand." Su Lu nodded. He was quite familiar with the concept of choosing a major.

"Furthermore, you cannot just calculate which classic is easier to be admitted under; ultimately, it depends on your level of mastery of the classic." Mr. Zhang continued.

"Studying the classics is much harder than the Four Books. The Four Books are the foundation of classical meaning, while studying the classics is profound scholarship... To put it in perspective, even the most difficult of the Four Books, the *Doctrine of the Mean*, can only be considered elementary compared to the Five Classics—though the *Book of Poetry* is an exception."

"I see." Su Lu continued to nod. In fact, the first *I Ching* class today had already given him a reality check.

"Therefore, you must choose a famous teacher to follow," Mr. Zhang emphasized. "And it must be a famous one. No matter how high your skill is, if your fame isn't enough, it won't work."

"Why?" Su Lu asked, puzzled.

"The reason is simple. Because the Five Classics are linguistically archaic, have complex versions, and are subject to numerous controversies, even a classic as relatively simple as the *Book of Poetry* has various schools of thought," Mr. Zhang counted on his fingers. "There is the Zhu Xi-venerating school, the Restorationist school, the Reconciliationist school, the Exegetical school, and so on."

"..." Su Lu felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead. This was the situation a test-taker feared most. He asked in a low voice, "Is there no standard answer?"

"Of course, Zhu Xi is the standard. But as I just said, the Five Classics are too vast, and even Zhu Xi could not define everything, leaving plenty of room for each school to maneuver," Mr. Zhang sighed.

"The insights of different schools differ greatly. If you study the classic according to one master, but end up with an examiner from another, you'll be walking right into a trap."

"Indeed," Su Lu wiped his sweat. "No wonder the imperial examination places the most weight on the first session; if they only looked at the Five Classics, it would be total chaos."

"Doing the small topics well certainly increases the chances of admission, but don't forget, the top graduate, the Jieyuan, is chosen from the top classical scholars. The final ranking is still determined by the major topics," Mr. Zhang said calmly.

The Four Books questions were called "small topics," while the Five Classics questions were called "major topics." The difference in difficulty between the two was evident.

"So you must study under a famous teacher. Famous teachers have many disciples, so the chances of encountering an examiner from the same school are higher. Famous teachers have great reputations, and their scholarship is widely recognized. Even if the examiner is not from the same school, they will still hold you in higher regard and be more lenient, naturally making it easier to pass."

"I understand." Su Lu nodded gratefully and asked, "May I ask, sir, which teachers in the academy are considered famous?"

"If you only intend to pass as a Xiucai, the classical teachers in our academy are sufficient. But if you have higher ambitions, and forgive me for being blunt, they are not enough," Mr. Zhang lowered his voice.

"That includes the head of the academy as well. His scholarship is certainly sufficient, but he is far from being a famous teacher."

"Ah? Then how should I choose?" Su Lu was confused.

"Don't worry, observe slowly, and keep your sights long-term," Mr. Zhang suggested. "You might as well start by learning which famous teachers are in Luzhou or even the whole of Shu. Even if you don't have the conditions to study under them now, you can start by studying their version of the classic. Once your level improves and the time is right, it won't be too late to switch to a famous teacher."

Su Lu understood. Mr. Zhang was advising him to "ride a donkey to find a horse."

So, which classic to choose didn't depend on the current level of the teachers, but rather on which classic his desired famous teacher specialized in.

It was just that this method sounded so unreliable.