The Yuan River has fragrant angelica, the Li River has orchids; I think of my lord, but d

Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, each carrying a book, went back up to the second floor.

They sat on the floor by the window, unfolding their books on the table.

A gentle breeze rustled through the pines outside the window, occasionally punctuated by the chirping of birds, flitting from branch to branch.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the mat, the books, and the space between the two people.

Liang Shanbo opened the "Records of the Grand Historian: Basic Annals of the Five Emperors" and planned to read it through before memorizing it.

He read it word by word, pausing occasionally with a slight frown.

Zhu Yingtai then turned to the "Nine Songs" section of the "Chu Ci" and, as she read, came across the poem "Xiang Lady":

"The emperor's daughter descended to the northern shore, her eyes filled with sorrow."

A gentle autumn breeze blows, and leaves fall from the trees on the rippling waves of Dongting Lake.

I climb the white reeds and gaze afar, longing for our appointed time to meet at dusk.

Why do birds gather among the duckweed? Why are fishing nets placed on the trees?

"The Yuan River has angelica, and the Li River has orchids; I think of my lord, but dare not speak..."

She stopped abruptly when she saw this.

She had read this poem, "The Lady of the Xiang River," many times. The Lady of the Xiang River and the Lord of the Xiang River were originally a pair of goddesses, yet they always longed for each other but could not meet. This poem describes the Lady of the Xiang River waiting for the Lord of the Xiang River, who was slow to arrive. There are angelica flowers by the Yuan River and orchids by the Li River; she thinks of that person in her heart, but she never dares to speak of it.

She used to read these lines and only felt their beauty in words and imagery, like a vast, misty landscape painting. But today—

She suddenly stopped and glanced at Liang Shanbo sitting next to her.

The spring sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on his face. She looked at his profile in the sunlight; his brow bone was prominent, his nose was straight and high, his lips were slightly pursed, and his jawline was well-defined.

For some reason, a faint blush suddenly appeared on her face, almost transparent in the sunlight.

She lowered her eyes, her gaze returning to the book in her hands, but her fingertips lingered on a line of words for a long time: "The Yuan River has angelica, the Li River has orchids; I think of my lord, but dare not speak."

Liang Shanbo seemed to sense something and turned his head slightly: "Why are you lost in thought?"

Zhu Yingtai quickly moved her fingertips away, glanced at him, and lowered her voice: "I just read a good poem."

Liang Shanbo didn't ask any more questions, just hummed in agreement, and then lowered his head to look at his book again.

Zhu Yingtai breathed a sigh of relief.

……

……

That afternoon.

Sunlight streamed obliquely into the Jiazhai Lecture Hall through the windows.

More than twenty students from Jiazhai knelt on their respective cushions to listen to the lecture.

The lecturer for this class was named Shi Can, and he was in his thirties. His scholarship was mediocre, and his lectures were conventional.

At this moment, Shi Can was sitting behind the teacher's desk in the center of the lecture hall, holding a copy of the Book of Documents in his hands, and was lecturing on the chapter "Hong Fan".

His voice was soft, his tone flat and even, without much variation. He began by recounting "In the thirteenth year, the king visited Ji Zi," and proceeded to quote the pseudo-Kong Anguo's biography, behaving very formally.

When he came to the section "The first day is the Five Elements, the second day is the Respectful Use of the Five Affairs, the third day is the Agricultural Use of the Eight Policies, the fourth day is the Harmonious Use of the Five Cycles, and the fifth day is the Establishment of the Imperial Standard," he paused, raised his head, and glanced around the audience.

"These few sentences are the outline of the Nine Categories of the Hong Fan. The Five Elements, Five Affairs, Eight Policies, Five Disciplines, and Imperial Standard are the major principles of the Way of Heaven and Human Relations. Their order and sequence are the methods by which the sage governs the world and regulates all people. You must read them carefully and memorize them."

After he finished speaking, he turned his gaze back to the book and continued reading.

Zhu Yingtai knelt behind the desk beside Liang Shanbo, holding a writing brush in her hand, the tip of the brush hovering over the paper, but not falling for a long time.

She found Shi Can's speech incredibly boring, like he was reciting a memorized text. No, it was even worse than reciting a text. At least reciting a text has intonation and emotional fluctuations, but Shi Can's tone was like a stagnant pool.

She turned and glanced at Liang Shanbo.

Liang Shanbo lowered his head slightly, his right hand tapping lightly on the table, once, once, and again, as if lost in thought.

Zhu Yingtai chuckled inwardly, "So Brother Liang won't listen to reason either!"

Shi Can's voice continued: "...Fourth and fifth eras: first, year; second, month; third, day; fourth, stars; fifth, calendar..."

He paused here, as usual, raised his head, and scanned the audience below with his gaze, about to offer a few standard interpretations...

Just then, a bird chirping came from outside the window.

It was a very clear and crisp birdsong, chirping and twittering, as if several birds were chasing and playing. The chirping passed through the window and fell clearly into the lecture hall, like a pebble thrown into stagnant water, suddenly creating ripples.

Some students couldn't help but glance out the window.

Shi Can, however, remained oblivious and continued with his sermon.

With great difficulty, Shi Can finally finished explaining the "Hong Fan" chapter.

He closed the book, picked up the water cup on the table, took a sip, and moistened his throat. Then, he stood up, nodded slightly to the students below, picked up the book, and walked out of the lecture hall.

The atmosphere in the lecture hall immediately relaxed.

Some people let out a long sigh, some whispered to each other, some stretched and yawned, some stood up and stretched their limbs...

Sun Yuangui turned around, winked at Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and lowered his voice, saying, "See? I was right, wasn't I? Isn't Mr. Shi's lecture a real sleep-inducing experience?"

Zhu Yingtai couldn't help but smile slightly, but didn't reply.

Liang Shanbo smiled slightly and said nothing.

……

……

Wansong Academy has a rule: students must engage in debate.

This rule was personally established by Meng Wenlang. He often said that knowledge is not a dead thing, but a living thing; if students only listen to the teacher's lectures and only know how to memorize, but do not know how to question, only know how to obey, but do not know how to debate, in the end they will only have a belly full of dead books, no different from a book box.

Therefore, there are often debates in Studio A, and there are also debates in Studio B.

The students' debates have become a unique feature of Wansong Academy.

The debates at Jiazhai were usually chaired by a student who would set the topic and allow everyone to express their opinions and debate with each other.

On this day, after Shi Can finished his lecture, a student sitting in the front row of the lecture hall stood up. He was wearing a long robe with wide sleeves, made of fine material, with a jade belt hook around his waist and black leather shoes on his feet.

This man, named Wang Shu, was eighteen years old and came from a prominent family. Three years ago, he was taken in as a disciple by Meng Wenlang and often received individual instruction from him. Within the Jia Zhai school, his scholarship was universally acknowledged as first-rate, and his arguments were particularly sharp, often hitting the nail on the head in just a few sentences, leaving no room for rebuttal.

At this moment, Wang Shu turned around, faced everyone in the hall, and glanced around.

The noise inside the hall immediately quieted down.

Wang Shu announced in a loud voice, "Gentlemen, let's begin the debate. The topic for today's debate was personally chosen by Mr. Meng."

He unfolded a piece of hemp paper in his hand, glanced at it, and then read aloud the words on it: "The Analects, Zilu chapter, says: 'If one can recite the Three Hundred Poems, but is not capable of governing when given a position, and cannot answer questions effectively when sent on a mission to the four quarters, what use are all these talents?'"

After he finished reading, he looked up at everyone again: "The topic set by Mr. Meng is: Is the purpose of learning to cultivate oneself and establish virtue, or to apply knowledge to the world? Which comes first, which is more important?"

These words immediately sparked a low murmur of discussion within the hall.

This question seems simple, but it is actually tricky.

Self-cultivation and moral integrity are the foundation of Confucianism, a point emphasized by great Confucian scholars throughout history since Confucius. The Great Learning begins with the statement, "The way of great learning lies in manifesting one's bright virtue," placing self-cultivation and moral integrity at the forefront of learning.

Practical application is also an essential aspect of Confucianism. Confucius traveled throughout the states, and Mencius persuaded the feudal lords; weren't they all trying to apply what they learned to their own times? The line Wang Shu just recited, "If one can recite the three hundred poems, but is not capable of governing, and cannot answer questions when sent on missions, what use is all that knowledge?" is Confucius criticizing those bookworms who only know how to read but not how to do practical work.

In fact, Meng Wenlang personally set this debate topic today because he was inspired by Liang Shanbo. Yesterday, he tested Liang Shanbo, who interpreted the word "learning" as a trinity of seeking knowledge, cultivating oneself, and putting it into practice, and used planting trees as a metaphor for the relationship between the three. Meng Wenlang found this to be both vivid and profound. Today, he wants the students of Jiazhai to debate the relationship between cultivating oneself and establishing virtue and applying knowledge to the world.

Unfortunately, Meng Wenlang was tied up with other matters at the time, otherwise he would have come to Jiazhai in person to witness this debate.

After a brief pause in the discussion, Wang Shu and the others continued, "The rules for today's debate are the same as always. Everyone may express their opinions, whether by citing classical texts or using analogies. As long as you can make your point coherent, your argument will be considered valid. If you have differing opinions, you may rise to debate, but you must do so in turn and refrain from making a ruckus."

After he finished speaking, he glanced around the room and asked, "Who would like to speak first?"

After a brief silence, a student stood up.

This man was stocky, with fair skin and curved eyebrows; he was none other than Sun Yuangui.

Sun Yuangui chuckled and said, "Let me throw out a brick to lure out your jade."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Zhu Yingtai couldn't help but laugh, glancing at Liang Shanbo beside her as she thought to herself, "Brother Liang must possess jade!"

The atmosphere inside the hall became a bit more relaxed.

Sun Yuangui cleared his throat and said seriously, "In my opinion, the way of learning is to cultivate oneself and establish virtue as the foundation, and to apply knowledge to the world as the secondary goal. The Great Learning makes this very clear: 'From the emperor down to the common people, all must regard self-cultivation as the foundation.' The foundation is like the root of a tree, and the secondary goal is like the branches and leaves. If the roots are deep, the branches and leaves will naturally be lush; if the roots are shallow, no matter how abundant the branches and leaves are, they will not be able to withstand the wind and rain."

He paused, then added, "Confucius had three thousand disciples, seventy-two of whom were considered sages. What did he teach his disciples? The Analects says, 'The Master taught four things: literature, conduct, loyalty, and trustworthiness.' Literature refers to classical texts, conduct to behavior, loyalty to one's utmost, and trustworthiness to honesty and integrity. Which of these four is not a practice for self-cultivation and moral character? Therefore, I say that self-cultivation and moral character are fundamental. Once the foundation is solid, applying knowledge to practical affairs will naturally follow."

After he finished speaking, he cupped his hands in greeting to the crowd and was about to sit down.

Just then, a voice rang out: "Brother Sun, wait a moment."