Original Text
Wang Pingzi, a native of Pingyang, traveled to the capital to take the provincial examination and lodged at the Baoguo Temple. Already residing in the temple was a scholar from Yuhang, and Wang, being his neighbor, sent a visiting card to pay his respects, but the Yuhang scholar did not return the visit. When they encountered each other morning and evening, the man was also very discourteous. Wang, angered by his arrogant and rude behavior, ceased all dealings with him. One day, a young man came to tour the temple, dressed in white robes and cap, appearing tall and imposing with an air of distinction. Drawing near and conversing with him, Wang found his words witty and clever, and he deeply respected him. Asking his surname and hometown, the young man replied, "My home is in Dengzhou, and my surname is Song." Wang had his servant set out a seat, and the two sat facing each other, laughing and talking. At that moment, the Yuhang scholar happened to pass by, and Wang and Song rose to offer him a seat. The Yuhang scholar actually took the seat of honor without any sign of modesty. Suddenly, he asked Song, "Have you also come to take the examinations?" Song replied, "No. A mediocre person like me has long ceased to aspire to high position and wealth." The Yuhang scholar then asked, "Which province are you from?" Song told him. The Yuhang scholar said, "Your lack of ambition shows you are quite wise. There are no learned men in the north." Song replied, "It is true that northerners are not all learned, but the unlearned one may not be me; southerners are indeed learned in many cases, but the learned one may not be you." After saying this, he clapped his hands, and Wang joined in, so the two burst into laughter. The Yuhang scholar, both ashamed and enraged, glared with fury, rolled up his sleeves, and shouted loudly, "Do you dare to face me in a set topic and compare who writes the better essay?" Song looked away, smiled, and said, "Why not!" He then ran back to his lodging, fetched the Four Books and Five Classics, and handed them to Wang. Wang casually flipped through and pointed to a line, saying, "Let this be the topic: 'The youth of Que Dang is sent on a mission.'" The Yuhang scholar stood up to look for paper and brush, but Song stopped him, saying, "Let us just recite it orally. My opening line is already composed: 'In a place where guests and visitors come and go, one sees a person who knows nothing.'" Wang heard this and laughed heartily, holding his belly. The Yuhang scholar, enraged, said, "You cannot write an essay at all; you only resort to insults—what kind of person are you!" Wang tried his best to mediate, suggesting they choose a better topic. He turned another page and said, "'The Yin dynasty had three benevolent men.'" Song immediately responded, reciting his essay: "The three men followed different paths, but their goal was the same. What was that goal? It was benevolence. A gentleman only needs to achieve benevolence—why must he take the same path?" Hearing Song's essay, the Yuhang scholar did not compose his own but stood up and said, "You do have a bit of talent." Then he left.
Scholar Wang thus held Song in even greater esteem, inviting him into his private chamber where they conversed warmly for a long time. Wang presented all his essays for Song's critique. Song perused them swiftly, finishing nearly a hundred pieces in no time, and said, "You have indeed labored diligently in your literary pursuits, yet when you set pen to paper, though you lack the fixed intention of passing the examinations, there lingers a hope for fortuitous success; because of this, your writing has fallen into the lower ranks." He then took the examined essays and pointed out their flaws one by one, offering detailed explanations. Wang was overjoyed and treated Song with the reverence due a teacher. Wang instructed the cook to prepare sugar-filled dumplings for Song, who found them delicious and remarked, "In all my life, I have never tasted anything like this; please make them for me again in a few days." From then on, the two grew exceedingly close and harmonious. Song would visit Wang every three to five days, and Wang invariably entertained him with sugar-filled dumplings. Yu Hang Sheng sometimes encountered Song as well, and though their conversations were not deep, his arrogance diminished considerably. One day, Yu Hang Sheng presented his own essays to Song. Song saw that the pages were covered with circles and commendations from his friends, but after a single glance, he pushed the essays aside without a word. Yu Hang Sheng suspected Song had not read them and asked him to look again; Song said he had already finished. Yu Hang Sheng then doubted Song had understood them, to which Song replied, "What is there to understand? They are simply poorly written!" Yu Hang Sheng retorted, "How can you judge them poorly just by glancing at the circles?" Song then recited Yu Hang Sheng's essays from memory, as if he had known them long ago, criticizing them as he recited. Yu Hang Sheng, drenched in sweat from embarrassment, left without a word. Shortly after Song departed, Yu Hang Sheng returned and insisted on seeing Wang's essays. Wang refused, but Yu Hang Sheng forcibly retrieved them and, seeing them covered in circles, sneered, "These circles and dots truly resemble sugar-filled dumplings!" Wang, never eloquent, could only feel awkward and ashamed. The next day, when Song arrived, Wang recounted the incident. Song said angrily, "I thought he had been won over, but this southern barbarian dares such insolence! I must retaliate!" Wang earnestly urged forbearance, advising Song to be magnanimous, and Song deeply admired Wang's integrity.
After the examination, Scholar Wang showed his examination essay to Scholar Song, who praised it highly. As they strolled together among the temple halls and pavilions, they happened upon a blind monk sitting under the eaves selling medicine. Song exclaimed in surprise, "This is a remarkable man! He is most skilled at judging essays; we must seek his opinion." He then told Wang to return to his room to fetch the essay. Just then, they encountered Scholar Yuhang, who also came along. Wang addressed the monk as "Master" and performed a salutation. The blind monk, thinking he had come for medical treatment, asked what ailment he suffered from. Wang explained that he sought his critique of an essay. The blind monk laughed and said, "Who has been so meddlesome? How can I judge an essay when I cannot see?" Wang requested that he use his ears in place of his eyes. The monk replied, "Three essays amount to over two thousand characters; who has the patience to listen to that? Better to burn the essay to ashes, and I will sniff it with my nose to know its quality." Wang complied. As each essay was burned, the monk sniffed and nodded, saying, "You have begun to learn from the great masters; though not yet perfectly true to them, you are close. I can receive it with my spleen." When asked, "Will I pass the examination?" the monk replied, "You may also pass." Yuhang was skeptical of the monk's words, so he first burned an essay by a classical master to test him. The monk sniffed repeatedly and said, "Marvelous! I have received this essay with my heart. Such writing could only come from a great hand like Gui Youguang or Hu Youxin!" Yuhang was greatly astonished and then burned his own essay. The monk said, "Just now I only appreciated one essay and had not yet savored its other beauties; why have you suddenly switched to another person's work?" Yuhang lied, saying, "That was a friend's essay; only this one is mine." The monk sniffed the ashes of Yuhang's essay and coughed several times, saying, "Do not burn any more! It chokes me so that I cannot inhale it; if I force it in, it only reaches my diaphragm. If you burn more, I will vomit." Yuhang left in shame.
After a few days, the list of successful candidates was posted; to everyone's surprise, the student from Yuhang had passed, while Wang had failed. Song and Wang went to inform the blind monk, who sighed and said, "Though my eyes are blind, my nose is not; the chief examiner's eyes and nose are both blind." Soon, the Yuhang student arrived, looking smug, and said, "Blind monk, have you also eaten someone's sweet dumplings? What do you think now?" The blind monk replied, "What I judged was the quality of the essays, not your fate. Go and gather the essays of the examiners, burn one for each, and I will know which one was your mentor." The Yuhang student and Wang went together to collect them, finding only eight or nine. The Yuhang student said, "If you are wrong, what penalty shall you suffer?" The blind monk angrily retorted, "Pluck out my blind eyes!" The Yuhang student began to burn the essays; with each one, the blind monk said it was not his, until the sixth, when the blind monk suddenly vomited loudly against the wall, and his flatulence rumbled like thunder, causing everyone to laugh. The blind monk wiped his eyes and said to the Yuhang student, "This is truly your honored teacher! Not knowing at first, I suddenly smelled it; first it stung my nose, then my stomach and intestines, and even my bladder could not contain it, so it came out directly from below!" The Yuhang student left in a rage, muttering as he went, "Tomorrow, the truth will be clear; do not regret it! Do not regret it!" After two or three days, he did not return; upon inquiry, it was found that he had moved away. Thus, it was known that the author of that pungent essay was the Yuhang student's mentor.
Song Sheng comforted Wang Sheng, saying, "We scholars should not blame others but rather hold ourselves to strict standards. Not blaming others elevates one's virtue, and holding oneself to strict standards advances one's learning. The setbacks before us are indeed due to fate, but speaking fairly, your essays are not yet perfect. From now on, strive even harder in your studies, and the world will surely have those who are not blind." Wang Sheng listened with profound respect. Hearing that the provincial examination would be held again the following year, he decided not to return home but to stay in the capital and continue studying under Song Sheng. Song Sheng said, "The cost of living in the capital is high, but do not worry about lacking funds. Behind the house where you are staying, there is a cellar of silver; you may dig it up and use it." He then told Wang Sheng the exact location of the buried silver. Wang Sheng declined, saying, "In ancient times, Dou Yi and Fan Zhongyan, though poor, were upright and honest. I can still support myself now; how dare I do something that would tarnish my integrity?" One day, Wang Sheng got drunk and fell asleep, and his servant and cook secretly dug up the silver. Wang Sheng suddenly awoke, heard noises from behind the house, and quietly went out to see the silver piled on the ground. The servant and cook, seeing their deed exposed, knelt in fear. As Wang Sheng was reprimanding them, he noticed that a golden wine cup seemed to have inscriptions on it. Taking it up for a closer look, he saw that it was engraved with his grandfather's name. It turned out that his grandfather had once served in the Six Ministries in Nanjing and, while traveling to the capital, had stayed at the Baoguo Temple, where he died of a sudden illness, leaving behind this silver. Wang Sheng was overjoyed and weighed the silver, finding it to be over eight hundred taels. The next day, he told Song Sheng and showed him the golden wine cup, offering to share it equally, but Song Sheng firmly refused. Wang Sheng wanted to give a hundred taels to the blind monk, but the monk had already left. In the following months, Wang Sheng studied even more diligently. When the time came for the examination, Song Sheng said, "If you fail this time, it will truly be a matter of fate!"
Shortly thereafter, Scholar Wang was disqualified from the examination for violating the rules. Before Wang could say anything, Song burst into bitter wailing, and Wang had to console him instead. Song said through his tears, "I have been spurned by the Creator, doomed to a life of failure, and now I have brought misfortune upon my friend. This is fate! This is fate!" Wang replied, "All things in this world are predetermined. Sir, you have no ambition for advancement; it has nothing to do with fate." Song wiped his tears and said, "I have long wished to tell you this, but feared it would startle you: I am no living man, but a wandering, restless spirit. In my youth, I had a fair reputation for talent, yet I was utterly thwarted in the civil examinations. Thus I grew dissolute and reckless, and came to the capital, hoping to find someone who understood me, so that my life's story might be recorded and passed down to posterity. But alas, in the year of Jia Shen, I perished amidst the chaos of war, and my spirit has drifted aimlessly year after year. Thanks to your understanding and friendship, I have striven with all my might to aid you in your studies, hoping that the ambitions I could never fulfill in my own life might be realized through my good friend, bringing me some solace. Little did I expect such ill fortune in the literary arts—how could I remain unmoved?" Wang, deeply moved, also wept and asked, "Why then do you linger here and not depart?" Song said, "Last year, the Heavenly Emperor decreed that the Sage King Confucius and the King of Yama jointly examine the spirits of those who perished in calamities in the underworld. The best were to be retained for service in the infernal courts, while the rest were to be reborn. My name was already on the roster for appointment in the underworld, but I delayed reporting, hoping to witness the joy of your success in the examinations. Now, I must bid you farewell." Wang asked, "What office have you been appointed to?" Song replied, "The Zitong Prefecture lacks a Director of Literary Affairs, and a deaf servant has been temporarily filling the post, causing chaos in literary fortunes. Should I be fortunate enough to obtain this position, I shall surely uphold and propagate the teachings of the sages."
The next day, Song Sheng arrived joyfully and said, "My wish has been fulfilled! The Sage King of Xuan ordered me to compose a treatise on the Nature of the Way. After reading it, his countenance brightened, and he declared me fit to serve as the Director of Literary Affairs. The King of Hell examined the records and sought to deny me the post on grounds of my previous indiscreet speech, but the Sage King argued strenuously on my behalf, and thus I obtained this office. After I had bowed in gratitude, the Sage King summoned me to his table and instructed me, saying, 'Today, because I cherish your talent, I have selected you for this pure and eminent position. You must reform your ways, diligently fulfill your duties, and never again commit your former transgressions.' From this, one can see that in the underworld, virtue is valued even more than literary talent. Your failure in the examination must be due to insufficient cultivation of virtue; if you but strive unceasingly to accumulate goodness and aim for the highest, you will achieve your goal." Wang Sheng asked, "If what you say is true, where then lies the virtue of that man from Yuhang?" Song Sheng replied, "This I do not know. But the rewards and punishments in the underworld are never in error. Take, for instance, the blind monk we encountered the other day. He too is a ghost, a renowned literary master from a former dynasty. Because in his past life he discarded too many scraps of writing, he was punished with blindness. He now wishes to use his medical skills to relieve human suffering, thereby atoning for his former sins, and thus he wanders the streets on some pretext." Wang Sheng ordered wine to be prepared, but Song Sheng said, "There is no need. For a full year I have troubled you, and now only this last moment remains. If you could but make me some sweet dumplings in broth, I would be fully content." When they were ready, Wang Sheng ate little, overcome with sorrow, and sat while Song Sheng ate alone. In an instant, he consumed three bowls. Patting his belly, Song Sheng said, "This meal will sustain me for three days. I do this to commemorate your friendship. The food I have eaten before now lies behind the house, having turned into mushrooms. Gather and store them as medicine; they will make children more intelligent." Wang Sheng asked when they might meet again, and Song Sheng replied, "Now that I hold an official post, I must avoid suspicion." Wang Sheng then asked, "If I go to the Zitong Temple to offer prayers and sacrifices, will you be able to hear them?" Song Sheng answered, "Such actions are of no use. The Nine Heavens are far distant from you. If you but keep yourself pure and cultivate virtue with a single heart, the underworld will surely send a written report, and I will inevitably know of it." Having said this, he took his leave and vanished from sight.
When Scholar Wang went to the back of the house to look, he indeed saw purple mushrooms, so he picked and stored them away. Beside them there was also a fresh mound of earth; when he dug it open, the sugar-filled dumplings he had wrapped for Scholar Song were all inside. After Scholar Wang returned, he devoted himself even more diligently to cultivating virtue and studying. One night, he dreamed that Scholar Song arrived in an official sedan chair and said, "In the past, because you grew angry over a trivial matter and mistakenly killed a maidservant, your official rank was stripped away. Now that you have set your heart on goodness, your merits have offset your transgressions. However, due to your thin fortune, you still cannot enter officialdom." That year, Scholar Wang succeeded in the provincial examination and became a provincial graduate. The following spring, he also passed the metropolitan examination and became a presented scholar. Following Scholar Song's advice, he did not take up an official post. Scholar Wang had two sons; one was very dull-witted, but after being fed the mushrooms left by Scholar Song, he immediately became extremely intelligent. Later, Scholar Wang went to Nanjing on business and encountered Scholar Yuhang on the road. Scholar Yuhang greeted him warmly with great humility, though his temples were already streaked with white hair.
The Chronicler of Strange Tales remarks: The scholar from Yuhang openly boasted of himself; one might suppose his essays were not without merit, yet his arrogant and overbearing demeanor was utterly intolerable for even a moment. Heaven and men had long grown weary of him, so even ghosts and spirits dared to mock him. Had he cultivated his virtue further, encountering examiners who judged essays as "pungent to the nose and piercing to the heart" would have been a simple matter—why should he have met with such a fate only once?
Commentary
This chapter is likely the most scathing satire of the injustices of the imperial examination system in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, exposing the absurdity of the eight-legged essay selection system during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The plot of a blind monk judging essays by smell is uniquely conceived, romantically exaggerated, and humorously vents the author's long-standing frustration at failing to attain official rank through the examinations. The young man surnamed Song from Dengzhou comforts Wang Pingzi, saying, "For us scholars, we should not blame others but rather restrain ourselves. Not blaming others broadens virtue; restraining oneself deepens learning. Our current setbacks are indeed due to unfavorable fate, but speaking fairly, our writings have not yet reached the pinnacle. If we sharpen ourselves through this, the world will surely have those who are not blind." Later, this young man from Dengzhou is appointed by the underworld as the Director of Literary Affairs in Zitong Prefecture, replacing the deaf and mute boy who had been mismanaging literary fortunes, reflecting the author's persistent hope and pursuit of the imperial examinations despite repeated setbacks.
Although the tale devotes but a few strokes to the three young scholars, it brings them to life with vividness, each possessing a distinct temperament. The debate between the northern and southern literati over what constitutes true learning authentically mirrors the prejudices that prevailed among scholars during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Meanwhile, the motif of dumplings made with cane sugar weaves through the entire narrative, lively and amusing, with echoes from beginning to end, imbuing the story with a spirit of agile grace.