During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, one day the upright official Bao Zheng presented a memorial to the throne requesting an additional imperial examination for selecting scholars. After reviewing it, the emperor was greatly pleased and, with a stroke of his vermilion brush, granted his approval.
When the imperial decree for the special examination reached Huguang, it stirred a learned scholar named Fan Zhongyu from Nan'an Shan Village, Jiangxia County, Wuchang Prefecture.
Fan Zhongyu, a learned man struggling to make ends meet, lived with his wife Bai Yulian and their seven-year-old son Fan Jinge. Despite his knowledge, their household barely scraped by.
One day, Fan Zhongyu heard at a literati gathering that an imperial grace examination had been announced. Returning home, he was visibly dejected. His wife asked if he had quarreled with someone. Fan replied, "My dear, you don't understand. Today, while meeting with my classmates, I saw them all packing their bags, ready to depart. When I asked where they were going, they said, 'Brother Fan, don't you know? The emperor has taken special care of us scholars and added this grace examination. The official notice has already reached our province. We all intend to go and compete. And you, Brother Fan, if you also go to the capital, you will surely top the list and become the number one scholar!' But our family is so poor—how can we afford the expenses for my journey to the capital? That's why I returned so disheartened." His wife sighed and said, "Indeed, I had originally planned to accompany you to the capital and then visit my mother and younger brother at our home in Wanquan Mountain. But with our current hardship, it's impossible."
Just as Fan Zhongyu and his wife were sighing in despair, their old friend Liu Hongyi arrived. Having heard about the special imperial examination, Liu pressed, "What are your plans?" Fan sighed, "I have no means to travel." Liu urged, "Don't give up this rare chance—I'll cover your expenses." True to his word, the next day Liu delivered one hundred silver taels and a black donkey. Overwhelmed with gratitude, the couple thanked him profusely.
Fan Zhongyu's journey to the capital went smoothly, as the upright Judge Bao presided over the imperial exams with impartiality. After completing three rounds of exams, Fan felt confident. While awaiting the results, he took his wife and son to visit his mother-in-law's home at Wanquan Mountain. But misfortune struck: unable to find the house, his wife Bai Yulian was kidnapped by the tyrant Ge Dengyun, his son was carried off by a tiger, and Fan himself, despite passing the exams as top scholar, was beaten senseless by Ge's thugs. Only after Judge Bao of Kaifeng Prefecture investigated did the truth emerge. Fan Zhongyu reclaimed his title on the golden list, reunited with his wife, and Ge Dengyun was executed by Judge Bao's tiger-head guillotine.
"To stand alone on the giant turtle's head," commonly known as "monopolizing the turtle's head." In imperial times, the top scholar in the civil exams would stand on the palace steps carved with a giant turtle head to receive the honors, hence the phrase. Today, it broadly means taking first place in any competition.
Source: *Three Heroes and Five Gallants*, Chapters 23-26
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "独占鳌头" came to describe how taking first place in any competition.