Chapter 10 Writing a poem to beg from Scholar Liu

Journalist: “How did you approach Scholar Liu with the poem?”

Mao: “Xiao suggested the best approach would be to compose a poem as a calling card. I agreed and quickly came up with the First Front, ‘Fān shān dùshul√ zhī míng jùn’ (Crossing mountains and traversing waters to reach this renowned county). Xiao followed with the Second Front, ‘Zhúzhàng cǎ√ o lǔ√ xué zūn’ (With a bamboo staff and grassy hut, I honor learning’s noble cut). Then he thought of the Third Front, ‘Tú jiàn bái yún rú jīng hǎ√ i’ (On the journey, encountering white clouds like a crystal sea). In my hunger-induced wisdom, I came up with the final line, ‘Zhān yī chén lù jìn è shēn’ (Drenched in morning dew my starving body). ‘White clouds’ is praise for Scholar Liu’s transcendence and seclusion. ‘Crossing mountains and traversing waters’ and ‘drenched in morning dew’ are self-explanatory. We were quite pleased with these four lines and opened our bundle, taking out pen, ink, paper, and an envelope. With utmost care, we wrote the poem on a piece of paper using the best calligraphy, and each of us signed our real names. On the envelope, we wrote a few words, ‘To Scholar Liu, with utmost respect.’”

Journalist: “You intellectuals certainly have many methods!”

Mao: “After expressing our gratitude to the woman who guided us, we got up and went to visit Scholar Liu. Following the directions given by the woman, we finally located Scholar Liu’s residence. There was a red couplet on the grand entrance of the house. ‘Illuminated by autumn moonlight,’ ‘Blessed by spring breeze.’ We knocked on the door for several minutes, and a gruff voice asked us what we wanted. Through the crack in the door, I said, ‘We’ve come from the provincial capital, bringing a letter for Scholar Liu.’

I handed the letter through the crack in the door, and the gatekeeper, in a slightly gentler tone, said, ‘Please wait a moment.’ He turned and walked inside. We waited for about ten minutes, and then the old man came and opened the gate. ‘Gentlemen, please come in,’ he said. He added, ‘I apologize, but the master has just woken up from his midday nap. After reading the letter, he washed his face and told me to immediately invite the two of you in.’”

Journalist: “Haha, so you managed to smoothly get inside?”

Mao: “The old man led us inside, and Scholar Liu finally appeared. He was an elderly man of around 70 years old. We bowed deeply to him, and he looked at us with surprise. ‘Why are you dressed like this? Have you encountered any accidents? Please have a seat! Have a seat! Have you been robbed on the way?’

I said, ‘No, we haven’t encountered any trouble.’

‘Where are you from? And where are you heading?’ Scholar Liu asked.

Xiao said, ‘We came from Changsha and plan to go to Ningxiang County.’

‘What are you doing in Changsha?’ he asked.

I said, ‘We are students from the provincial capital.’

Scholar Liu asked again, ‘Perhaps you are studying at one of those foreign schools? I understand, you can also compose poetry. You do it very well, and your calligraphy is impressive.’”

Journalist: “You finally gained acceptance from Scholar Liu. How lucky!”

Mao: “Xiao said, ‘In the school, we not only learn to compose poetry but also study ancient texts.’”

Scholar Liu further inquired, ‘Oh, you study ancient texts? Which ones?’

I told him that I have read the Thirteen Classics, Laozi, and Zhuangzi, which pleased him greatly. He asked, ‘Since you have studied Laozi and Zhuangzi, in your opinion, whose annotations are the best for these two books?’

Xiao answered, ‘The best annotation for Laozi is by Wang Bi, and the best annotation for Zhuangzi is by Guo Xiang’”

Journalist: “No wonder, Teacher Xiao speaks with great clarity and coherence.”

Mao: “Scholar Liu was very pleased and said, ‘Absolutely correct! I agree! Where is your hometown?’

Xiao replied, ‘My friend Mao Zedong is from Xiangtan, and I am from Xiangxiang, but I live near the border where the two meet. In fact, we are not far from each other.’

Scholar Liu said, ‘Zeng Guofan is also from Xiangxiang.’

Xiao said, ‘Yes, my great-grandfather used to be a teacher in the Zeng family.’

Journalist: “You two even brought up Zeng Guofan, how could Scholar Liu not be happy?”

Mao: “Scholar Liu was delighted and said, ‘Since he taught in the Zeng family, he must have been an outstanding scholar. Please wait a moment.’ As he spoke, he stood up and walked inside.

We patiently waited, our empty stomachs rumbling. We speculated that Scholar Liu had gone to call the chef to prepare a sumptuous meal to entertain us. Finally, Scholar Liu returned with a smile on his face and took out a red paper envelope from his large sleeve. He handed it to us without saying a word. After receiving it, we guessed from its weight that it was money. We thanked him and bid farewell. When we opened the red envelope, we were surprised to find 40 copper coins. Suddenly, we became wealthy.”

Journalist: “Haha, so you obtained 40 copper coins. That’s a significant amount of money!”

Mao: “We quickly rushed back to the small food shop by the road and asked the lady shop owner to serve us food as quickly as possible. In no time, the meal arrived. Besides rice, there were vegetables and green peas. We devoured three large bowls of rice. The meal cost only 4 copper coins per person, so we still had 32 copper coins left. It turned out even better than being treated by Scholar Liu.”

Journalist: “So you had a satisfying meal and still had 32 copper coins left.”

Mao: “Yes, after a short rest, we continued our journey. By nightfall, we decided to stay overnight at a small inn by the road. The next day, we planned to visit ‘Beardie He’ – He Shuheng. He lived in the district of Ningxiang County, about 140 miles away from the inn, which would take us a day to reach.”