Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1170 Epilogue : Dancing for the Sages of the Past Dynasties
Early summer.

Xie Yan got up early in the morning and dressed himself. Minister Chen arranged two maids for him and also invited a master barber to come.

I'm going to visit the Confucian Temple today!

Xie Yan had begun to grow a beard, which was hairy and short enough to be seen only when one was close. The hairy beard was also carefully shaved clean.

Next came shaving, trimming eyebrows, and even trimming sideburns.

After washing his face again, the barber had left. The maids put Xie Yan's hair into a bun and then carefully put on a scholar's cap.

There are two types of Confucian caps in the Ming Dynasty.

One is the Dongpo scarf from the late Northern Song Dynasty. Officials who passed the imperial examination can wear it, and ordinary people can also wear it if they like.

One is modified from the Dongpo scarf, which is shorter and more compact, looks simple and neat, and is exclusive to Confucian scholars who failed to pass the imperial examination.

What Xie Yan wore today was the second type.

The Confucian robe he wears is all white, implying a clean life. This is actually the Confucian robe of the Song Dynasty, also called a white robe. The word "鹄" means swan, which means lofty ambition.

The jade waist badge was hung up.

Several maids' eyes lit up as they looked at him. He was truly a handsome young man in a white robe!
"My dear, you look even better today." Yanyan couldn't help but admire him, but she also blamed herself for not being beautiful, otherwise she might be able to please Xie Liulang.

She was brought from Shaanxi by Old Madam Xia. She is already eighteen years old and it will be time for her to get married in a few years.

Generally, if you marry a male servant of the Chen family, you can continue to work here.

If you marry someone else, you might lose your job.

Among the young maids in wealthy families, only a few who served their masters closely could be used as confidants. Most ordinary maids would be fired in their twenties and go home to marry and have children when their contracts expired.

Anyway, you can recruit at any time. Teenage girls are more pleasing to the eye, and it is more prestigious to serve tea to guests.

Of course, the maids doing odd jobs in the outer courtyard were not so particular, and they were mainly strong women in their thirties or forties. These strong women were strong, worked quickly, were not pretentious, and were more pleasing to use.

Xie Hong and Chen Duan were already waiting outside. Xie Yan packed up and hurried out.

The Confucian Temple is in the southeast city area.

They first sent Xie Yan to the Confucian Temple, and then left the city and headed for the East Suburb Wharf.

Xie Hong is going back to Hebei and Chen Duan is going back to Shaanxi. The provincial examination will be held in two or three months, so they both have to go back to their hometowns in advance to prepare.

The streets outside the Confucian Temple were packed with people.

Xie Yan was particularly eye-catching, as he was a young man, dressed in the attire of a Confucian scholar who had not passed the imperial examination, but with a jade waist badge hanging around his waist. There are many people who possess these elements, but he is the only one who possesses them all at the same time.

"But are you Scholar Xie Chaozong?" a young scholar came up to talk.

Xie Yan responded by saying, "That's exactly what I am doing."

The young scholar was in his thirties, with a white jade pendant hanging around his waist. He was considered young and promising among scholars.

The two of them chatted for a few words when another scholar came over.

Xie Yan could only keep returning the greetings, saying a few perfunctory words here and there, and then slowly moved towards the gate of the Confucian Temple.

Finally, a clerk from the Ministry of Rites came running over and shouted, "Dear scholars, please line up first, according to your academic rank..."

There are five levels of royal scholars in the Ming Dynasty, namely: jadeite, rose, hibiscus, green jade, and medicinal jade.

In the Song Dynasty, the term "jadeite" was already used to refer to jade, but it was not clear what kind of jade it was.

Today’s jade, the jade used in later generations, was named by Emperor Taizong himself in order to encourage expansion to the south.

The reason why Jadeite Bachelor is ranked first is not only because it looks good, but also because jadeite has high hardness and is not easy to carve using ancient technology.

Not easy, it is a luxury!
The rose waist pendant is not made of just opal, its main body is Hetian jade, with a piece of top-grade opal gemstone embedded in the middle.

The hibiscus waist plaque is not an ordinary hibiscus stone, it is carved from the finest pink Dushan jade.

Senior scholars arrived one after another, including many administrative officials, but it was difficult to identify them from their clothes, because they were not wearing official uniforms today, but all wore sacrificial robes.

Although Xie Yan was invited to attend the formal conference, he did not receive any special treatment when worshipping at the Confucian Temple.

As there were too many people, he couldn't even enter the inner courtyard and could only follow a group of Jade Scholars to worship in the open space inside the gate of the Temple of Confucianism.

Even lower-level Yaoyu scholars lined up outside the gate of the Confucian Temple.

Xie Yan had heard from his father and brother that the Confucian Temple in the Ming Dynasty was not the Confucius Temple.

Confucius's biological father and a large number of his disciples had long been asked to leave the Confucian Temple. In their place were sages from past dynasties, including Zhang Heng and Shen Kuo, and even the much-maligned Cai Lun.

The last person invited into the Confucian Temple by Emperor Taizong's personal order was Bi Sheng, who, like Cai Lun, made important contributions to cultural dissemination.

There are also ancient mathematicians such as Zu Chongzhi and Liu Hui.

There are also astronomers such as Jia Kui and geographers such as Pei Xiu.

There are also many cultural sages, including Wang Xizhi, Wu Daozi, Li Bai, Du Fu and others who were invited to the Confucian Temple.

The tablets in the Confucian Temple are quite crowded.

There was only one scholar enshrined in the dynasty, and that was Zhu Guoxiang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty!

Generally speaking, the emperor should be enshrined in the Imperial Temple, and no matter how outstanding his civil and military achievements are, he would not be enshrined in the Civil and Military Temple.

The one who invited Zhu Guoxiang into the Confucian Temple for worship was Zhu Ming's good grandson, Zhu Tang, the Emperor Yanchun who reigned for eighteen years.

Zhu Tang has done many similar things, such as canceling the Yellow Emperor's Era, adding magical stories to the history books of the time, building the Ziyun Pavilion to enshrine the forty-eight founding civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty, and so on.

He even wanted to invite Zhu Ming to the Martial Temple, but gave up because too many people opposed it.

So, why is there not much opposition to Zhu Guoxiang entering the Confucian Temple?

Because Lao Zhu has many disciples!
At that time, a large number of science scholars, science scholars, and science students engaged in fierce debates with opponents. The science scholars, who had never been very prominent, suddenly united and burst out with great power. They used rigorous logical thinking to easily refute those literati who quoted classics.

"Official, please come forward!"

"Official, please come this way."

"Officials, please come forward and follow me."

"Emerald Scholar, please move forward..."

The lead students from the Ministry of Rites, accompanied by elegant music, began to arrange the seats for those who would take part in the sacrifice.

Xie Yan lined up with the other Jade Scholars and moved slightly forward.

When everyone was in position, Tong Zansheng shouted, "The ceremony is over!"

Then the song was changed, and the Yin Zansheng came out to lead the offering official to the kneeling position.

The main offering officer and the secondary offering officer recited the offerings one after another, praising the achievements of the Chinese sages of all dynasties, explaining the significance of this sacrifice, and finally wishing the prosperity of Chinese academic studies.

"Kneel!" Tong Zansheng shouted.

Xie Yan stared at the Jade Scholar in front of him. He did whatever the other party did and quickly knelt down.

"Kowtow!"

After Xie Yan traveled through time, he has never kneeled down or kowtowed to anyone.

At this moment, he had no psychological burden. The sages of the Chinese dynasties were enshrined inside, and it was reasonable for him to kneel down and worship them, since they were not living people anyway.

"Kowtow again!"

"Kowtow three times!"

"rise!"

"Dance and dance to entertain the ancients!"

Xie Yan followed the crowd in doing radio gymnastics, twisting his body back and forth and dancing square dance for the sages of past generations.

"receive!"

"It's done!"

The leader of the class had already run to the outside: "Retreat in order!"

Xie Yan followed the example of the others, taking a step back while maintaining a bowing posture, then straightened his back, turned around, and slowly walked out.

It was quite interesting. Not only was there a dancing segment, but there was also musical accompaniment throughout, with a total of seven different songs.

Walking out of the street where the Confucian Temple was located, Xie Yan heard someone shouting: "Gentlemen who have invitations to the academic conference, please go to Wencui Street, the carriages are ready. Gentlemen who don't have invitations, please be sure to avoid Wencui Street, it is almost blocked!" Xie Yan did not go directly to catch a carriage, but first found his entourage and carried the box containing the scales over.

He picked the nearest one and showed the invitation to the driver.

The driver subconsciously looked at him twice more, then carefully examined the invitation letter before smiling and saying, "Master Xie, please get in the car."

The car is empty.

Because the senior scholars were at the front during the sacrifice, but at the end when leaving.

After waiting for several minutes, someone finally came.

"Brother Deguang, please."

"Brother Duanzheng, please go first."

"Brother Shaoyin should go first."

"..."

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Several people outside the car were being polite to each other, and after a long while no one got in first.

"Then I am sorry. Sorry, sorry."

Finally, someone opened the side door of the carriage, the curtain was half lifted, and a Dongpo scarf came in first, followed by half a head.

Before his head was completely in, he saw Xie Yan sitting inside.

This was a little old man who was confused by Xie Yan. He quickly retracted his head and asked the driver: "Is this the carriage to the Imperial College?"

The driver smiled and said, "Sir, you have found the right car. The young man inside is also a bachelor."

"Brother Deguang, what happened?" asked the scholar next to him.

The old man laughed: "There is someone inside, and it's a teenager."

After saying that, he got into the car and sat next to Xie Yan, looking at him carefully with great interest.

Gradually, a few more people came in.

The old man bowed to Xie Yan and said, "I am Gu Yu, with the courtesy name Deguang, and I am a calligrapher and painter. What is your name, young friend?"

Xie Yan bowed in return: "Junior Xie Yan, courtesy name Chaozong."

Before the old man could say anything, another old man who had just come in said, "You are Xie Yan? I heard that this grand event was started because of you. Someone used your research results to create a damping balance, which helped many people in physical chemistry break through bottlenecks."

"He was also scolded badly." said another old man.

These old guys are all involved in literature, history, and art.

They did not know about Xie Yan's academic achievements, but this made them more accepting of him, and they even admired the young genius.

A genius, a young scholar, how romantic it sounds!
Literati like this tune.

They didn't even have time to introduce themselves before they started talking in the carriage.

"Those science scholars are even more conservative than us. Instead of nurturing young geniuses, they criticize and abuse them. Isn't this destroying academic seedlings?"

"They have a seniority-based system over there, but it's even more serious than ours."

"On the 17th day of the first lunar month, I was invited by the younger generation to attend a literary gathering, and I met a mathematics bachelor who came to present a paper. Haha, I heard that he had made great achievements, but his paper was too unorthodox and was not allowed to be presented. The School of Mathematics has brought shame to the literary gathering!"

“I read that paper, too.”

"You are a researcher of epigraphy, can you understand a mathematical paper?"

"Who hasn't learned mathematics when they were in school? That paper is outrageous. It starts with the assumption that a straight line has multiple parallel lines. If his paper is true, wouldn't we have learned geometry in high school in vain?"

"Is it really that outrageous?"

"No wonder the School of Mathematics refused to publish my paper. This is sheer nonsense."

"..."

These old men just made a few random comments and did not criticize Wang Daqing all the time. They were more looking at the joke of the School of Mathematics!

While they were talking, two more people came in, and finally the carriage was full.

"Scholars, please take your seats!"

The driver warned, cracked the whip and stepped on the accelerator.

Everyone brought their servants with them. Traffic was bad today, so the servants did not take the car, but ran behind the carriage.

During the journey, they introduced each other and Xie Yan couldn't remember everything at once.

Gu Yu, also known by his courtesy name Deguang, is a painter, calligrapher, and expert on the history of the Qin and Han dynasties.

Liu Ke, courtesy name Xianzhi, is a historian, Confucian scholar, and contemporary scholar.

Fan Zhuang, also known by his courtesy name Duanzheng, was an archaeologist and expert on bronze and stone inscriptions.

Wei Zizhi, also known by his courtesy name Shaoyin, was a painter, calligrapher, and religious scholar.

Wu Songnian, also known by his courtesy name Bojian, was a painter and calligrapher, and was also proficient in garden design and courtyard decoration.

The last people to come up were two science scholars.

Xin Bingwen, courtesy name Zhouchen, was a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer.

Tan You, courtesy name Zongji, was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and geographer.

Because they did not study chemistry, Xin Bingwen and Tan You did not have any ill feelings towards Xie Yan. Instead, they greatly admired Xie Yan's damping paper.

Tan You pointed at the box at Xie Yan's feet and said, "I heard that you were invited to explain the molecular theory. Are these all chemical experimental equipment?"

"I guess so." Xie Yan said with a smile.

Xin Bingwen laughed: "Yes, yes, no, no. What do you mean by yes?"

Xie Yan explained: "It can be used for chemical experiments, and it can also be used for physical experiments."

Tan You asked, "The more you talk, the more curious I am. What is it pretending to be?"

"Balance." Xie Yan said.

"Did you make the damping balance yourself?" Xin Bingwen asked.

Xie Yan replied: "Yes. But it is a little different from Mr. Nie's damping balance."

No matter how different they are, how big of a difference can there be?
The two stopped asking further questions.

The address of the Ming Royal Academy is in the city, but it is the administrative agency and editorial department, and the building area is not large.

This time, the conference was held at the Imperial College outside the city, and all the students were given a few days off.

But many students did not leave the school, they were allowed to lie outside the doors and windows to listen. After the meeting, some academic lectures were organized, and the scholars gave lectures to the students.

Carriages slowly left the city, followed by many servants, and gradually the Imperial Academy building came into view.

The area is under martial law.

Because Empress Dowager Ye, the young emperor, the eldest princess, the Minister of Rites and other dignitaries will attend the opening meeting in the afternoon.

Many scholars took horse-drawn carriages to the Imperial College dormitory area.

Many of the students who stayed in the dormitories at their own expense (preparatory students at their own expense) had been driven away, leaving the dormitories for the invited scholars to live in. These students at their own expense all had money, so even if they had no place to live temporarily, they could find an inn on their own.

Of course, there were also many scholars who lived a sophisticated life. They paid for themselves to stay in high-end rooms in the inn and were unwilling to come to the Imperial Academy and squeeze into dormitories with servants.

Xie Yan and his entourage were arranged into a dormitory, and they had to bring their own bedding and mats.

After stuffing the box under the bed and having one follower guard it, Xie Yan went to the cafeteria with another follower.

The scholars receive free meals.

During the meal, Xie Yan got to know several more people, including a chemist who was not very enthusiastic about him.

Soon after the meal, someone shouted, "The imperial carriage is coming!"

Many scholars happily ran to the school gate to greet her. Xie Yan also went over to watch the fun and wanted to see what the young empress dowager looked like.

(End of this chapter)