Chapter 924 – The Advantages of a Young Child (2)
“There’s no first in literature, no second in martial arts.”
As a well-read scholar, it’s quite a shame that I was stumped by a mere young child. What a disgrace!
The scholar’s eyes turned as he thought to quiz Feng Yi.
However, he decided to ask about the “Book of Songs” instead of “The Analects.”
“The Analects” records the sayings and actions of Confucius and his disciples, being one of the most classic texts of Confucianism, but it’s not that long; most of it is dialogue, making it not too difficult to memorize. The “Book of Songs,” on the other hand, is different. Not only is it longer, but its obscure content is hard to remember. Only those a bit older, who understand more, would find it easier to learn.
This little kid in front of me is barely of age; surely, he can’t remember all the rare words and content in the “Book of Songs,” right?
“I won’t ask you anything too hard; just recite ‘Picking Violets.'”
Before Feng Yi could respond, Changsheng quickly raised her hand.
“I can recite that too!”
“You can recite it?” The scholar was taken aback and then looked down at the pudgy Changsheng, “Then go ahead.”
Though “Picking Violets” is short, it contains many difficult characters.
Changsheng tried to recite it while bobbing her head, but Feng Yi held her cheeks.
“Sit properly. Bobbing your head is not dignified.”
So Changsheng maintained that posture and recited “Picking Violets” as if spilling beans, “Picking violets, not enough for a basket… uh… alas, I miss my partner, laid out on the road… um… to climb that towering hill, my horse stumbles… I’ll pour from the golden goblet, so as not to be forever longing…”
The scholar’s eyes widened more and more.
He never expected that a three- or four-year-old girl could memorize the entire “Picking Violets.”
Although not fluent, each word was pronounced clearly.
Is this little girl some kind of prodigy?
“Do you know what ‘Picking Violets’ is about?”
As soon as the scholar finished speaking, Feng Yi’s eyes turned sharp, glaring at him.
“Picking Violets” tells of a woman gathering violets, missing her husband who is far away, and then expresses her longing in the voice of hardworking men. While “Picking Violets” has deep meanings, on the surface, it isn’t something a child should understand!
Changsheng had no clue about that; she cheerfully said, “Changsheng knows! It’s about a little girl picking mushrooms!”
The scholar regretted asking, and when he heard Changsheng’s answer, he nearly burst out laughing.
A little girl picking mushrooms…
What a delightful response.
Feng Yi said, “Dear sir, please be cautious with your words. Changsheng is young and ignorant, but you are not a three-year-old child.”
The scholar’s face flushed; he realized he had just missed the mark.
Having been surprised successively by Feng Yi and Changsheng, he had started to believe that these little carrots could truly read.
“I remember you all are students of the Golden Scales Academy, right?”
Everyone knows the background of the Golden Scales Academy’s students.
In name, they are orphans of heroes, but in essence, they are just children of poor commoners.
What foundation can kids from such families have?
The Golden Scales Academy was established merely a few days before the Golden Scales Pavilion, meaning these kids from nothing have not even been studying for a year. In such a short time, have they really moved on from “The Great Xia Rhyme Book”?
What magic does Golden Scales Academy possess?
The scholar asked a question that piqued everyone’s curiosity.
“What do you learn from your teachers at the academy?”
Feng Yi respectfully replied, detailing that besides the initial “Three Hundred Poems,” they also study arithmetic, and before learning arithmetic, they must memorize the “Ninth Multiplication Table.” Their teachers told them that after mastering these basics, they would proceed to classic texts.
In addition, depending on individual talents, they also learn music, chess, literature, and painting.
“Wait– what are ‘Three Hundred Poems’?”
“The ‘Three Character Classic,’ the ‘Hundred Family Surnames,’ and the ‘Thousand Character Classics.'”
The scholar’s expression turned odd.
These three books are also collected in the Golden Scales Pavilion; he had read them out of boredom.
He had to admit that they are indeed excellent books for children’s education.
But why hadn’t they studied “The Great Xia Rhyme Book”?
He asked this confusion, to which Feng Yi responded, “The teachers don’t teach ‘The Great Xia Rhyme Book’; they teach ‘New Rhyme of Chinese.'”
New Rhyme of Chinese?
What on earth is that?
Everyone felt puzzled; they had never heard of such a thing.
Feng Yi pulled out his class notebook, made of bamboo paper, causing onlookers to drool with envy.
Some were so poor they couldn’t afford pigments and bamboo slips, yet this little kid had such fancy bamboo paper for notes.
The scholar took Feng Yi’s notebook, noticing that this kid wrote beautifully, each character perfectly upright, possessing a certain elegance.
Strangely, near certain rare characters, there were a series of peculiar symbols drawn.
“Look at the last page,” Feng Yi reminded.
The scholar flipped to the last page and saw dozens of symbols, exactly those he had just seen.
“What are these?”
“These are the rhyme symbols of ‘New Rhyme of Chinese’; our teachers taught us to use these symbols to pronounce unfamiliar characters.”
The scholar was dumbfounded; even after spending half a year in the Golden Scales Pavilion, he had never seen “New Rhyme of Chinese,” nor these symbols.
“What kind of weird symbols are these…”
Changsheng exclaimed, “Don’t you understand? But didn’t the teachers say everyone must learn it?”
The scholar’s cheeks flushed; he really hadn’t learned it.
He subtly glanced around at the small children present, finding that they all used the so-called rhyme symbols to mark pronunciations.
Clearly unfamiliar with the characters, when they asked Feng Yi, he would draw the rhyme symbols, and they would pronounce them correctly.
Suddenly, the scholar became curious—
What exactly are these rhyme symbols of “New Rhyme of Chinese”?
Not only that, but he also overheard a few children discussing the problems of land calculations from “Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art.”
He stretched his neck to take a look and discovered that a few kids had a sheet of paper in front of them, listing ten math problems.
These were indeed problems from “Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art.”
Seeing the kids frowning in thought, he chuckled and planned to help them.
Little did he know, by the time the children finished all ten problems, he had barely solved the second one.
He thought the kids were just guessing, and feeling competitive, he compared answers with them.
Exactly the same!
The scholar was speechless…
Could it be he was deceived? The students of the Golden Scales Academy weren’t commoners; each one of them had received enlightenment education?
This group of little kiddos in blue and white robes attracted the curiosity of other scholars like moths to a flame.
One after another, they came over, astonished.
After a while, the regulars at the Golden Scales Pavilion all knew, “The little kids from the neighboring academy are no ordinary folk.”
As for the “New Rhyme of Chinese” they mentioned, it left them even more in awe.
With young children, people’s expectations were lower.
If it were the same-aged peers promoting it at the Golden Scales Pavilion, they would have been surrounded by scholars, battling in literary contests one after another.
Yet with this group of little ones, averaging about six years old, they not only wouldn’t fight but would elevate the children to the level of prodigies.
If these kids could learn so well, it must be due to the “New Rhyme of Chinese.”
