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儒林外史 The Scholars - Slap in the face for scholarly ambitions
May 5, 2013, Sunday
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"Rulin Waishi," which literally means "The Unofficial History of the World of Literati," is known to English-speaking readers simply as "The Scholars." This is a very popular novel written by Wu Jingzi (1701-54), one of the greatest novelists of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Wu was born into an official's family in today's Anhui Province in east China. He was a very bright student, reading many Chinese classics. However, Wu proved less successful in the imperial civil service examinations, the only path for him to pursue a career in officialdom, as his father had.
Soon Wu had spent all the wealth left to him by his father and was living in poverty. It was said that he was reduced to near starvation at times.
By 1735, Wu was living in Nanjing, now the capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, concentrating on writing.
Wu wrote a great number of poems, plus prose and literary papers, but it is satirical novel "The Scholars" that secured his status as one of China's greatest novelists.
Written in 56 chapters in around 400,000 Chinese characters, the novel tells loosely-connected stories of scholars living under the inescapable shadow of the imperial civil service examination system.
This had long been employed by the Chinese emperors to select public servants - and to ideologically mould intellectuals.
Many scholars saw success in these exams as the only way to get on in life. And those who didn't pass were often left psychologically damaged by the experience, labeled failures by their families and communities.
"The Scholars" first tells the story of Zhou Jin, a teacher in rural Shandong Province in east China. Zhou had dreamed of success in the imperial examinations and bringing credit to his home village.
However, when over 60, Zhou still hadn't passed the annual imperial examination held at the county level to obtain the degree of Xiucai.
One day, while visiting the examination hall in the provincial capital, Zhou felt so frustrated that he banged his head against a desk and fainted.
When Zhou regained consciousness, he was bleeding and, in despair, began to cry his heart out.
Rich merchants who witnessed the scene took pity upon the poor scholar and decided to donate 200 teals of silver to buy him enrollment into the Imperial College.
Miraculously, Zhou later attained the degree of Juren, or Recommended Man, after passing a provincial examination, and then the degree of Jinshi, or Presented Scholar, after success in the imperial palace examination.
Zhou was then appointed by the emperor as the Grand Censor in charge of education in the southern China's Guangdong Province.
In Guangdong, Zhou one day came to read the examination paper of a 54-year-old scholar called Fan Jin, who, like Zhou before him, had repeatedly failed the exams and was ridiculed as good-for-nothing.
Zhou found out that Fan wrote exceptionally well and passed him for the degree of Xiucai.
Soon after, Fan also passed the provincial examination. When Fan learned that he had passed this exam, he was so excited that he began to laugh hysterically and babble senselessly.
His relatives feared that Fan would lose his mind - dashing his career hopes in officialdom. So his father-in-law slapped his face in an attempt to bring Fan back to senses.
The drastic action worked and Fan was in time worshiped by his relatives and friends as the "God of Literature."
Although, the imperial civil service exam system was abolished in 1905, six years before the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the end of 2,000 years of imperial rule in China, people today still love to read "The Scholars."
The story of Fan Jin has been included in middle school textbooks since the 1950s.
Wu was born into an official's family in today's Anhui Province in east China. He was a very bright student, reading many Chinese classics. However, Wu proved less successful in the imperial civil service examinations, the only path for him to pursue a career in officialdom, as his father had.
Soon Wu had spent all the wealth left to him by his father and was living in poverty. It was said that he was reduced to near starvation at times.
By 1735, Wu was living in Nanjing, now the capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, concentrating on writing.
Wu wrote a great number of poems, plus prose and literary papers, but it is satirical novel "The Scholars" that secured his status as one of China's greatest novelists.
Written in 56 chapters in around 400,000 Chinese characters, the novel tells loosely-connected stories of scholars living under the inescapable shadow of the imperial civil service examination system.
This had long been employed by the Chinese emperors to select public servants - and to ideologically mould intellectuals.
Many scholars saw success in these exams as the only way to get on in life. And those who didn't pass were often left psychologically damaged by the experience, labeled failures by their families and communities.
"The Scholars" first tells the story of Zhou Jin, a teacher in rural Shandong Province in east China. Zhou had dreamed of success in the imperial examinations and bringing credit to his home village.
However, when over 60, Zhou still hadn't passed the annual imperial examination held at the county level to obtain the degree of Xiucai.
One day, while visiting the examination hall in the provincial capital, Zhou felt so frustrated that he banged his head against a desk and fainted.
When Zhou regained consciousness, he was bleeding and, in despair, began to cry his heart out.
Rich merchants who witnessed the scene took pity upon the poor scholar and decided to donate 200 teals of silver to buy him enrollment into the Imperial College.
Miraculously, Zhou later attained the degree of Juren, or Recommended Man, after passing a provincial examination, and then the degree of Jinshi, or Presented Scholar, after success in the imperial palace examination.
Zhou was then appointed by the emperor as the Grand Censor in charge of education in the southern China's Guangdong Province.
In Guangdong, Zhou one day came to read the examination paper of a 54-year-old scholar called Fan Jin, who, like Zhou before him, had repeatedly failed the exams and was ridiculed as good-for-nothing.
Zhou found out that Fan wrote exceptionally well and passed him for the degree of Xiucai.
Soon after, Fan also passed the provincial examination. When Fan learned that he had passed this exam, he was so excited that he began to laugh hysterically and babble senselessly.
His relatives feared that Fan would lose his mind - dashing his career hopes in officialdom. So his father-in-law slapped his face in an attempt to bring Fan back to senses.
The drastic action worked and Fan was in time worshiped by his relatives and friends as the "God of Literature."
Although, the imperial civil service exam system was abolished in 1905, six years before the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the end of 2,000 years of imperial rule in China, people today still love to read "The Scholars."
The story of Fan Jin has been included in middle school textbooks since the 1950s.
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