Chapter Seventy-Eight: Do Not Belittle the Youth for Their Poverty

The so-called “On Characters” is a work that explains the meaning of words according to their form and sound, or what one might call an exegesis of writing. Wang Anshi interpreted Chinese characters by analyzing their pronunciation and structure, believing that the sound and shape of each character contained the principles governing all things in the universe.

“The rise and fall, opening and closing, convergence and dispersal, coming and going of their sounds; the horizontal and vertical, curved and straight, slanted and upright, up and down, inside and outside, left and right of their forms—all are rooted in nature, not in the contrivances of human ingenuity.”

It was on this foundation that Wang Anshi composed “On Characters.” Since its publication, the work has been subject to much criticism and controversy. Many have opposed it, arguing that Wang Anshi interpreted most Chinese characters through associative meaning, a method they believed to be wholly incorrect, since the vast majority of Chinese characters are phono-semantic compounds, not pictographs.

Moreover, Wang Anshi interwove much of his own political philosophy, theories of yin and yang and the five elements, as well as Buddhist and Daoist thought into “On Characters,” drawing fierce resistance from most learned scholars of his age, among them Su Shi.

“A position—what is a position? It is where a man stands.”

Having temporarily resolved the worries behind him, Li Sanjian set about preparing for the imperial examinations.

Li Sanjian, too, had his own opinions on Wang Anshi’s “On Characters.” While much of the work was forced and fanciful, Wang Anshi was, after all, a great scholar of his generation; his writings did have their unique insights. The interpretations in “On Characters” were sometimes correct, sometimes not—it could not be wholly dismissed. In Li Sanjian’s view, “On Characters” was, essentially, just the study of exegesis.

Having studied under Su Shi, Li Sanjian could not defy his teacher’s views. Yet at this moment, he could not but review “On Characters” diligently, for it was now one of the compulsory subjects for the examination. What’s more, Li Sanjian had already been expelled from Su Shi’s tutelage…

“Third Young Master! Third Young Master, something’s happened, something’s gone wrong!” Just as Li Sanjian was reciting his texts to the point of dizziness and exhaustion, Xu Biao, sweating profusely, burst in and called out to him.

Li Sanjian, having learned of Xu Biao’s family predicament, had returned a gold ingot to him, for which Xu Biao was immensely grateful. As a result, Xu Biao would often come by during his free time to see if he could be of any help to Li Sanjian’s family, in order to repay his kindness.

“What’s happened? Who’s in trouble? Don’t panic, speak slowly.” Li Sanjian put down his book and asked Xu Biao.

“It’s your mother—who else could it be?” Xu Biao, flustered, grabbed Li Sanjian and hurried him outside, muttering as he ran, “Come on, hurry, we’ll talk on the way.”

“What? My mother?” Li Sanjian was shocked, immediately following Xu Biao while asking, “Didn’t my mother go to the City God Temple market this morning with Shankui and Douya? How could something have happened? What happened?”

“You’re asking me? Who should I ask?” Xu Biao glared at him with his bull-like eyes. “Are you coming or not?”

“Of course I’m coming—who said I wouldn’t?” Li Sanjian shot back.

It’s my mother, not yours, so why does Xu Biao seem even more anxious than me? Li Sanjian thought to himself.

...

The further they walked, the more uneasy Li Sanjian became. Wasn’t the direction Xu Biao was leading him toward the Cai estate? It was south of the palace in Kaifeng, a place Li Sanjian knew all too well, for he had recently won the lantern festival there.

Why would his mother be there? On the way, he heard from Xu Biao that Madam Fu had been insulted here. With anxiety gnawing at him, Li Sanjian hurried on.

When he arrived, he saw a large crowd gathered before the grand gates of an imposing residence. In the center of the throng stood Madam Fu, Shankui, and little Douya, surrounded and gawked at by all. The onlookers were whispering and commenting incessantly.

Shankui seemed to have injured his arm; clutching it, he glared angrily at several servants wielding sticks and blocking his way. Madam Fu, streaming with tears, desperately held Shankui back, forbidding him from fighting. Little Douya, terrified, clung to Madam Fu and sobbed uncontrollably.

Seeing that his family was unharmed, Li Sanjian breathed a sigh of relief; as long as they were safe, all else could be resolved.

As Li Sanjian and Xu Biao drew near, they saw a woman in her twenties, resplendent in silk and jewels, pointing at Madam Fu and hurling abuse.

Scattered on the ground were various gifts, now soiled and dusty.

“My sister is beautiful of face, long of brow, noble in stature, her teeth white as jade, her skin fair as an immortal from the heavens—how could she possibly marry into your coarse family? Living on plain food, barely three meals a day, in a house that leaks from every corner—aren’t you ashamed to even think of it? You must be mad, a shameless scoundrel, clinging to the Cai family, hoping for a few days of comfort and a taste of fine broth? Here, take two coppers and be off—never mention any engagement again…” The woman’s vile tongue was ceaseless, her words sharp and witty, leaving her opponent with no chance to reply.

Madam Fu, mortified, wished to explain herself but was at a loss for words; never before had she faced such a scene of public abuse.

The Cai household servants all burst into mocking laughter.

At this point, how could Li Sanjian not understand what had happened? Madam Fu must have come here without informing him to propose the marriage herself.

She remembered the words her husband had left on his deathbed and wished to fulfill the betrothal with the Cai family—a matter Li Sanjian had long been aware of.

But so many years had passed; the world had changed utterly. Perhaps the Cai family now regarded the old agreement as nothing more than a joke. Why come here now and suffer such humiliation?

A trace of resentment towards Madam Fu crept into Li Sanjian’s heart.

Yet, though he blamed her inwardly, not a hint of displeasure showed on his face. Grim-faced, he pushed through the crowd and helped the nearly collapsed Madam Fu to her feet.

“Mother, let’s go home. Let’s forget about this marriage.” He spoke softly, ignoring the raving noblewoman of the Cai family.

“And who are you, begging wretch? Where did you crawl out from?” The noblewoman, carried away in her tirade, was suddenly interrupted by Li Sanjian and turned on him, pointing angrily.

“Go to hell with your filthy mouth,” Li Sanjian spat in a tongue no one present could understand. Then, face dark as iron, he glanced at the gilt-lettered plaque above the Cai gate and said slowly, “Trustworthiness is the foundation of a person; forgiveness is the key to dealing with others. If a man has no integrity, how can he stand in the world? My father made a marriage pact with your family years ago. Now my mother comes to fulfill it—what fault is there in that? Why should she be so humiliated by a wretch like you? The higher one’s station, the more one should keep one’s word—otherwise, what sets you apart from the rabble?”

Li Sanjian’s words, nearly shouted, left the noblewoman speechless in fright.

His reasoned questions drew approving looks and nods from the crowd.

Finally, Li Sanjian cast one last look at the towering gates and said, “Let me leave you with this: never despise a poor youth!”

“Shankui, take Douya—we’re going.” He gave the order.

“Yes, master.” Shankui, emboldened by Li Sanjian’s outburst, felt his long-nursed anger dissipate.

With Shankui carrying Douya and Li Sanjian supporting Madam Fu, they made their way home.

“Cai You, you really should discipline the women in your chambers—such shrews disgrace the Cai family.” At that moment, a middle-aged man returning home witnessed the scene and frowned.

“Father,” Cai You replied, “Sixth Lady was indeed excessive, but it was all for Zhexian’s sake.”

Cai You, styled Ju’an, was the eldest son of Cai Jing, a man in his fifties, whose courtesy name was Yuanchang. His official position was Chief Minister of the Privy Council, commonly known as Lord Cai.

“For Zhexian’s sake? Explain. Who was that young man?” Cai Jing straightened the gold-trimmed cloak on his shoulders and inquired.

“His name is Li Sanjian, a candidate from Guizhou in Lingnan,” Cai You replied. “He’s the one who won the top prize at the recent lantern festival.”

“Him? Why did he come to our house today?” Cai Jing nodded.

“Father, do you know who his father was?” Cai You pressed.

“Who?”

“He’s the son of Li Qing.”

“Li Qing… Why does that name sound familiar?” Cai Jing tapped his forehead, then suddenly realized. “The grandson of Li Xu, who was exiled to Lingnan—Li Qing’s son?”

“The very same,” Cai You answered.

“He came today for this?” Cai Jing asked.

Cai You nodded.

“I never would have thought…” Cai Jing sighed, “Who could have imagined they’d take that old joke seriously, and actually come to claim it?”

Memories flooded back, and Cai Jing could only sigh inwardly.

“Exactly,” Cai You replied, “Given their current status, with both grandfather and father gone, how could this matter ever be real? So I ordered Sixth Lady to send them away.”

“That may be so…” Cai Jing nodded, “But still—”

Before he could finish, the steward rushed in to announce, “Master, Lord Zhang is here—his carriage is nearly at the gate.”

“Zhang Dun?” Cai Jing asked, “What brings him here?”

After a moment’s thought, he ordered, “Quickly, open the main gate to receive our guest.”

...

In the inner residence of the Cai family—

“Eighth Sister, he told Sixth Lady that her mouth spews filth—honestly, it made me laugh so hard,” a young maid reported to Cai Rongxue. “But I didn’t understand the sentence before that—he said, ‘go to… your…’ something. I’ve never heard it before, but it can’t have been anything good. The look on his face—just thinking about it still makes my heart tremble.”

“Mouth spews filth?” Cai Rongxue was both amused and exasperated. How coarse! Yet it did seem rather apt…

“Never mind all that—did you really see him clearly? Was it him?” Cai Rongxue asked.

“It was truly him. I just saw him two days ago—how could I forget? It was that very man,” the maid confirmed.

After some thought, Cai Rongxue instructed, “Come with me to see my mother.”