Lin Xuan looked a little strange when he heard Meng Yuan's words.
Although later generations will learn some ancient Chinese texts, most of them are excerpts.
And most of those articles will have some names.
It's okay to say that some of them are characters from before the Tang Dynasty, but if they are characters that haven't appeared in the early Tang Dynasty, wouldn't the secret be exposed as soon as they are copied?
Just as Du Mu wrote in one of his quatrains about passing through the Huaqing Palace, when the concubine Juechen laughed, no one knew it was a lychee.
This poem satirizes the arrogant and luxurious life of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Concubine Yang Guifei. If it were written after Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, people would understand it at a glance.
But it is still the Zhenguan period. If Lin Xuan copied this poem, people would look at it and wonder which concubine in history it was.
As for the concubines before the early Tang Dynasty, none of them fit the bill. How will we explain it then?
If Meng Yuan said to use other topics, Lin Xuan really had no choice.
He is not good at writing in vernacular Chinese. Do you expect him to be able to write in classical Chinese?
But when writing an article with the title "Teacher", Lin Xuan really has an article in his mind.
This article has been passed down through the ages, and it does not mention the names of people who do not yet exist.
It can’t be said that there isn’t one. The last paragraph does mention one, but the last paragraph is dispensable, so just remove it.
Meng Yuan saw Lin Xuan's expression was a little weird and said, "Is it possible that the Marquis can't write it? It doesn't matter, there is no limit to the number of people in all competitions, as long as they are from Boyuan Academy."
"I understand. I wonder how long the prescribed time is?" Lin Xuan asked.
Meng Yuan said: "Writing articles takes time, but it's not too early now, and there will be more to do later. How about limiting it to one hour?"
"Okay." Lin Xuan responded.
"Master Hou, it's really difficult to write a good article in an hour, and it's still titled "Teacher"."
Xu Geng felt that Lin Xuan agreed too simply.
Lin Xuan smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, I just happened to have written an article about 'teacher' before, what a coincidence."
After I took out the article that will be passed down forever, it would be too false to say that it was written on the spur of the moment. I might as well say that it was written before. No one else knows whether he wrote it or not.
Xu Geng felt a little relieved after hearing Lin Xuan's words, but he had never seen Lin Xuan write an article, and he didn't know how well he wrote it.
However, when he saw that Lin Xuan had already started writing, he didn't want to disturb him. Instead, he went to discuss with other masters to see if he could write an article for later use.
Lin Xuan didn't know what Xu Geng was thinking, so he picked up the pen and started writing without hesitation.
Everyone was speechless when they saw Lin Xuan writing directly without thinking.
This is true for couplets, and so is poetry.
I won’t talk about those. After all, you can talk about it with a flash of inspiration, but you can also have a flash of inspiration with an article?
Even if you have an idea, you should always consider your words and think about allusions.
He Yu originally wanted to pretend and wait until the time was almost up before writing, but when he saw Lin Xuan picking up the pen and starting to write, he didn't care so much and stood up and started writing.
When Li Shimin saw He Yu coming on stage in person, he snorted coldly and said, "The family really doesn't have any shame at all."
He Yu is a great scholar, and all the masters at Boyuan Academy are juniors before him.
At this time, He Yu ignored his status and ended up in person, which shows that the family has invested a lot of money for this competition.
Otherwise, with He Yu's status, it would be impossible for him to agree to compete in person.
Regardless of winning or losing, He Yu's reputation will be ugly after this competition is over.
Lin Xuan wrote the last word, read it over, found that there was no problem, and put down the pen.
When Xu Geng and other masters saw that Lin Xuan had finished writing, they quickly gathered around.
"Master Hou, this..."
After reading it, Xu Geng looked at Lin Xuan in shock.
The ancients paid attention to respecting teachers and respecting the Tao. The king of heaven and earth and the teacher are not just words.
Although Lin Xuan's article did not insult the teacher, the entire article was somewhat contrary to traditional concepts. If it were published, it would definitely cause an uproar.
After the others read it, a hint of admiration flashed in their eyes, but there was a wry smile on their faces.
The article is a rare good article, but are you sure nothing will happen if you take out such an article?
Lin Xuan waved his hand and said, "Don't worry too much."
This article indeed caused an uproar when it was written, and scholar-bureaucrats even called its author a "madman."
However, this article still circulated, so naturally nothing would happen if he wrote it.
On the other side, He Yu finished writing not long after Lin Xuan finished writing.
Lin Xuan saw him finish writing and said, "Whose should I read first?"
Meng Yuan did not speak, but looked at He Yu.
He Yu stroked his white beard and said, "Let's take a look at me first."
They had lost two games in a row. He Yu thought that when his article was read out, Lin Xuan would feel ashamed and admit defeat, and it would save some face for them, so he simply offered to read his article first.
Lin Xuan nodded and sat down.
He Yu gave the written article to one of the students and asked him to read it.
The student took the article and came to the center of the square. After bowing in a circle, he read it loudly.
"Teacher..."
He Yu can be called a great Confucian, but he still has some literary talent.
The general meaning of the entire article is that teachers are role models for students, and students should respect teachers and respect teachers.
In order not to mislead students, teachers should constantly improve their moral character and knowledge and teach students with all their heart.
There seems to be nothing wrong with the whole article, but the article contains a sentence that says, after 40 years of age, I still dare not call myself a teacher.
If he said this normally, it would be nothing, and it would make him appear humble.
But today is a competition with Boyuan Academy. Most of the teachers at Boyuan Academy are only in their thirties.
The ridicule in He Yu's article is self-evident.
Even at the age of forty, I feel that I don’t have enough knowledge to say that I am a teacher. Those of you in your thirties should not mislead others.
Although the wording in the article is relatively subtle, most of the people present are scholars, so how could they not understand the meaning.
The ladies at Boyuan Academy were livid with anger. They thought Lin Xuan's article was a little too much before, but now they wanted to see what He Yu's face would be like when Lin Xuan's article was read out.
After the scholar finished reading He Yu's article, Lin Xuan looked at the masters behind him who were gnashing their teeth and said with a smile: "Which one of you is going to read it?"
"I'll go."
As soon as Lin Xuan finished speaking, seven or eight voices sounded, including Xu Geng.
"Master Xu, it's up to you." Lin Xuan said with a smile.
Xu Geng nodded, took the article to the middle of the square, saluted, and started reading.
"Scholars in ancient times must have teachers. Teachers, so they should preach and learn karma to solve their doubts. People are not born with knowledge. How can anyone be free from doubts?..."
That's right, Lin Xuan wrote exactly Han Yu's "The Master".
Han Yu's article "Shi Shuo" attracted numerous scoldings at the time, and he was even called a "madman" by scholar-bureaucrats.
What is a madman?
An arrogant person.
Anyone who has read Han Yu's "Teacher's Theory" may think that Han Yu emphasized the need to respect teachers and respect their moral principles.
Respecting teachers and respecting morality has been a right path since ancient times. Why did it arouse such a strong response from scholar-bureaucrats?
Han Yu started by saying: "Scholars in ancient times must have teachers."
The implicit view is that "scholars must have teachers", which means that those who want to learn must learn from their teachers.