The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 606 - 595 Book of Documents

Chapter 606: Chapter 595 Book of Documents

Manbao took out the newly purchased Book of Documents and clumsily read through the first Chapter before spreading out her paper and pen, attempting to punctuate the sentences.

Just as she had picked up her pen, the cook called out from outside the study, "Mr. Zhuang, it’s time for lunch."

Manbao found the Book of Documents too challenging. After lunch, she held the book and read it again before attempting to punctuate the first sentence.

Bai Erlang had already cleared his table and gone for a noon nap, while Zhou Silang had run off somewhere, and Zhou Lijun had also left the house.

Mr. Zhuang walked up behind Manbao and watched as she punctuated two sentences, nodding slightly in approval.

He did not disturb Manbao but turned around and went back to his room for a noon rest.

Manbao had only rested her head on the table for a little over a quarter of an hour at noon before she got up, washed her face with a basin of cold water in the yard, and returned to the study with renewed energy.

Mr. Zhuang did not have her study alone, so that afternoon, he also brought his own copy of the Book of Documents to the study. After assigning Bai Erlang his lessons for self-study, he began teaching Manbao the correct way to read sentences.

Most of her own sentence breaks were correct, but there were always some errors.

Mr. Zhuang read the first Chapter of the text, while Manbao used her pen to mark the sentence readings directly on the book.

Mr. Zhuang glanced down and realized that the symbols Manbao used for sentence punctuation were much more elaborate than the existing ones.

Besides the commonly used ".", ",", and "?", there were also ",", and ":", which he had never seen in other books. When she was younger, perhaps because her mind couldn’t keep up, she couldn’t get these punctuations in time as he read, her favorite being to use slashes to separate them.

Mr. Zhuang had become used to her punctuation marks and did not object, for he had his own unique symbols to distinguish sentence readings. Over time, perhaps because Bai Shan and Bai Er had also learned to use her style of punctuation symbols, he began to feel that her symbols were more suitable.

Mr. Zhuang waited for her to finish breaking the sentences before saying, "The Book of Documents is different from other books."

Manbao looked up at him.

After a pause, Mr. Zhuang added, "Actually, the Book of Documents can be considered a history book; many people say that the Jinwen Book of Documents is fake."

"Ah?" Manbao’s eyes widened in surprise.

Seeing her reaction, Mr. Zhuang smiled, stretched his hand as if to pat her head, but then retracted it, remembering his disciple was no longer a child. He said with a smile, "The Book of Documents is said to be a remnant work from the ’Three Tombs and Five Classics,’ handed down by Fusheng during the Han dynasty. However, Prince Gong of Lu later found another Book of Documents when dismantling a wall of Confucius’s former residence."

Not only was Manbao stunned, even Bai Erlang, who was writing to one side, stopped and couldn’t help but look up.

Seeing their reactions, Mr. Zhuang’s eyes twinkled with amusement as he said, "Therefore, people call the former the Jinwen Book of Documents and the latter the Guwen Book of Documents."

The smile slowly faded from Mr. Zhuang’s eyes as he sighed and said, "Unfortunately, later wars and the chaos during Wei caused the loss of both the Jinwen and Guwen versions of the Book of Documents."

Manbao couldn’t help but lower her gaze to the Book of Documents in her hands, "Then this one..."

After a moment of silence, Mr. Zhuang said, "This is compiled by later generations from fragments of texts that were gathered."

Manbao, puzzled, looked at her teacher and blinked, "Do you not believe in it, teacher?"

After a long silence, so long that Manbao’s neck was nearly stiff, Mr. Zhuang let out a sigh and said deeply, "Your teacher has examined many texts and found that some historians doubt this Book of Documents, believing the real one has been entirely lost. Alas, I am of humble status and limited power, with only so many books I can read, so I cannot come to a definitive conclusion."

Manbao looked down at the book in her hands and asked, "Then is there still a need for us to study the Book of Documents?"

"Of course, there is," Mr. Zhuang said with a smile: "Historical materials should not be judged solely by their authenticity because..."

Mr. Zhuang furrowed his brow, finding it difficult to teach this concept. He took a while before coming up with an apt example and gestured for her to note it down, "If today you write down ’For breakfast, had three round eggs,’ and seal this paper away, a millennium later when someone unearths it, would this be considered true history?"

Manbao thought about it and said, "It should be, as it isn’t made up; it truly was written by me, an ancient person."

Mr. Zhuang nodded, "But did you have three eggs for breakfast today, and were they round?"

Manbao shook her head.

"So you see, is this historical material true or false?"

Manbao was at a loss whether to shake or nod her head.

Mr. Zhuang then said with a smile, "It’s the same with these ancient books. While being passed down, they have been modified and expanded by later generations, such as the Commentary on the Water Classic which is a very successful example of modification and expansion; and they have been altered with texts changed, existing in name but lost in essence..."

"And this Book of Documents, due to our limited abilities and scarce resources, no one knows its true state. However, the fact that people have been studying it all along shows it has value. One of the principal messages of the Book of Documents is encapsulated in sixteen words," Mr. Zhuang continued.

Mr. Zhuang pronounced every word deliberately, "Human hearts are perilous, the Way’s heart is subtle; only by being focused can one uphold steadfastness, this is the Way of the sovereign."

Bai Erlang repeated it twice and found it hard to understand, so he called out, "Teacher, this is a bit different from what you talked about before regarding the way to be a sovereign, isn’t it?"

Manbao, still contemplating, slapped the back of his head and said, "You’re so dim-witted, this sovereign is not that sovereign; this speaks of the emperor’s way."

Bai Erlang glared back and then, lowering his voice, looked around and whispered, "Teacher, is there any problem with us learning this?"

Mr. Zhuang’s emotions were dispelled instantly, and he looked at his three disciples wordlessly, "What could be the problem? Do you plan on becoming the emperor after studying the Book of Documents?"

Manbao giggled, "You are taught the Book of Documents to regulate the emperor’s actions, to be a good subject."

Mr. Zhuang nodded slightly and, after some thought, felt something amiss. He looked down at Manbao, "Is that really what you think?"

"Yes, and besides, reading it teaches us many principles. Teacher, please start teaching me."

Mr. Zhuang replied, "As for the Book of Documents, your teacher hasn’t studied it much either, so I can only give you a brief introduction. Later, when Shanbao comes back from the government school, you can ask who taught him the Book of Documents; you two can learn from each other."

Manbao agreed.

Mr. Zhuang then explained the interpretation of the first Chapter’s text and let her study on her own while he went out to make tea and have some refreshments.

Bai Erlang peeked outside cautiously and nudged Manbao with his book, asking in a low voice, "Has Shanbao been bullied at the government school?"

"Eh? How did you know?"

Bai Erlang pursed his lips and said, "You were fussing yesterday morning about focusing on medicine in the afternoons, and today you’re suddenly gripping a Book of Documents."

He added, "If you were bullied, what’s the use of just reading books? We could get Fourth Brother Zhou and Daji, put them in a sack, and give them a beating."

"But that doesn’t seem right, after all, they haven’t resorted to violence yet," Manbao said. "We should at least wait for them to make the first move."

"Why wait for them to hit first? Haven’t you heard the saying ’strike first to gain the upper hand’?"

"I know, but we have the local authorities above us, what if you beat someone and get caught? So, you see, striking first and striking back are different, understand?"