Original Text
Young Master Wang Ruiting of Changshan was skilled in planchette divination. The spirit that descended through the planchette called itself He Xian, a disciple of Lu Dongbin, though some said it was the immortal crane that Lu Dongbin rode. Whenever it descended to the mortal world, it would discuss essays and compose poetry with others. Grand Secretary Li Zhijun took it as his teacher, and in matters of poetry and prose, it explained everything clearly and thoroughly. Li was able to succeed in his imperial examinations largely due to He Xian's assistance, so many scholars attached themselves to his tutelage. However, when He Xian resolved doubts and difficulties for others, it mostly reasoned based on principles and did not dwell much on omens of good or ill fortune.
In the year Xinwei, the Imperial Commissioner Zhu Wen arrived in Jinan to preside over the annual examinations. After the tests, a group of scholars requested that the Immortal He determine their rankings. The Immortal He then asked for each scholar's examination paper and judged them one by one. Among those present was a close friend of Li Bian from Leling—Li Bian was a man of deep learning and profound thought, highly esteemed by all—who presented Li Bian's essay and asked the Immortal He to evaluate it. The Immortal He commented, "First rank." After a moment, he wrote again, "The judgment just rendered for Scholar Li was based on his essay. But this scholar's fortune is truly ill-fated; his destiny is to suffer punishment. How strange! His essay and his fate do not align. Could it be that Zhu Wen is not judging the essays? Wait a moment, I will go and investigate." After a short while, the Immortal He wrote again, "I have just arrived at the Commissioner's office and saw Zhu Wen overwhelmed with official duties; his anxieties lie not in the essays at all. All these matters are entrusted to six or seven secretaries, among whom are some who purchased their positions as tribute students. These men have no foundation from past lives; most are wandering souls from the realm of hungry ghosts, beggars scrounging for food in all directions. They have spent eight hundred years in the dark prison, and the essence of their eyes has been damaged—just as a person who has long been in a dark cave, when suddenly emerging, finds the colors of heaven and earth changed, losing normal vision. Though one or two among them are reincarnated as humans, the papers are judged separately, and it is uncertain whether Li Bian's essay will fall into their hands." The crowd asked if there was any way to remedy this. The Immortal He wrote, "The remedy is too obvious; everyone knows it. Why ask?" Understanding his meaning, they informed Li Bian. Li Bian, greatly alarmed, took his essay to Grand Historian Sun Zimo for review and told him of the planchette's words. Grand Historian Sun praised his essay, thus dispelling his doubts. Li Bian, believing Sun to be a literary master of the realm, felt his courage grow and no longer heeded the planchette's words.
When the results were posted, Li Bian was unexpectedly ranked only in the fourth class. Grand Secretary Sun was greatly astonished; he retrieved his essay and read it again, yet truly could find not a single flaw. He then remarked, "The Stone Gate Prefect has long enjoyed a reputation for literary discernment; surely he could not have erred so grievously. This must be the work of some drunken clerk in his secretariat who knows nothing of writing." Thereupon the company admired He Xian's divine insight even more, and together they burned incense and offered prayers of gratitude. He Xian again wrote, "Let not Student Li be ashamed because of this temporary grievance. He should make multiple copies of his examination essay and let more people know of it; next year he will attain an excellent rank." Li Bian followed this advice. As time passed, the academic office also heard these discussions and posted a notice specifically to console Li Bian. The following year, Li Bian indeed ranked among the excellent. Such was the efficacy of He Xian.
The Chronicler of the Strange remarks: Among the secretaries of the Educational Commissioner's office, there are many such men; no wonder that in the Ugly Woman's Lane of the capital, there is no vacant bed at night. Alas!
Commentary
This is a satirical allegorical tale about the injustice of imperial examinations. It tells that the quality of an essay and its ranking are not one and the same. A fine essay may not be placed in the top tier, while a poor essay may not be relegated to the bottom; everything depends on luck. The reason for this is that the examiners who review the papers vary greatly in ability, as it is said: "In their former lives, they had no foundation of virtue, being mostly wandering souls from the realm of hungry ghosts, begging for scraps in all directions. They spent eight hundred years in the dark prison, which dimmed the essence of their eyesight, like a man long confined in a cave who, upon emerging, finds heaven and earth changed in hue, with no true clarity. Among them, one or two are reincarnated human beings, but when they are divided into groups to review papers, it is unlikely that they will be properly matched with the candidates."
In this sense, this tale shares a similar critical direction with the story "Yu Qu'e" from Volume Nine, though "Yu Qu'e" focuses more on criticizing corrupt officials, advocating that the path to justice lies in examining them, stating that "those who are skilled in writing should be employed within the inner chambers, while the unlearned should not be allowed to participate." This tale, however, emphasizes criticism of the group of private secretaries, noting that "when the literary examiner is overwhelmed with official business, his anxieties lie not in the essays at all; everything is entrusted to six or seven private secretaries, among whom are grain-purchasing students and those who purchased their degrees through donations," and "with so many such men serving as secretaries, it is no wonder that in the capital's Ugly Woman Lane, not a single bed remains unoccupied by evening."
Although the tale recounts matters of divination through planchette writing, describing He Xian "composing essays and poetry" and "resolving perplexing affairs for others," these elements serve merely as a supporting thread and a narrative pretext.