Chapter 69 Qingming Chapter
Sun Bomin went to the county town early in the morning to sell snakes, and Su took over the pick-up and drop-off of Sun Shan.
When we entered the classroom, Mr. Zheng, as usual, first recalled the knowledge learned yesterday, then taught new knowledge, and then corrected the homework, pointing out any deficiencies one by one. After lunch, there was calligraphy practice in the afternoon.
Sun Shan and his two companions sat by the pond, practicing calligraphy with a small slate. It was very boring to study like this every day, but they had to do it to lay the foundation.
Today is special because the big class is taught by Zheng Dalang, who teaches accounting and teaches students how to do accounts and how to look at accounts.
But first teach how to use an abacus.
Sun Shan had learned to use the abacus, including the addition formula, the subtraction formula, the addition formula, the addition formula, and the subtraction formula. He learned it as a hobby, but later he used computers directly and forgot everything about using the abacus.
Now, when I secretly hear Zheng Dalang giving a lecture, the familiar feeling comes back to me.
Yang Qingbei asked curiously: "Ashan, do you know how to use an abacus?"
Sun Shan shook his head and said, "I don't know, but it sounds interesting."
De Geer nodded and agreed, "I find it very interesting too. When we enter the senior class, the teacher will teach us how to use an abacus."
Sun Shan secretly looked at the abacuses of several students in the senior class. They were very simple, homemade, made of bamboo, with beads of different sizes.
But Zheng Dalang didn't care at all, and even said to the students: "Although a craftsman must sharpen his tools before he can do his job well, we are not going to do anything earth-shattering, so we don't need to be so rigorous. Just being able to fight and calculate will do."
Zheng Dalang taught his students very seriously, step by step, how to use the abacus, and said seriously: "Arithmetic is a skill that must be learned. It will be used a lot in life in the future. For example, when we pay grain taxes, we must calculate clearly how much we have to pay, not just what others say."
After hearing this, Sun Shan was extremely impressed. He thought that what was taught in Zheng's school was really practical. Unfortunately, the people within a hundred miles were too poor to send their children to school.
After Sun Shan and his two friends finished practicing calligraphy, Master Zheng assigned them homework and said to them, "Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow we will have holidays. It's Qingming Festival."
After hearing this, Sun Shan remembered that it was almost Qingming Festival. No wonder grandma had been grinding glutinous rice flour these two days. It turned out that she was preparing to make green rice dumplings.
Master Zheng then told Sun Shan and the other two the origin of Qingming Festival.
From Jie Zitui's "cutting off his own flesh to satisfy hunger and serving his lord", to Duke Wen of Jin Chong'er's "setting fire to the mountain on three sides", to Jie Zitui being burned to death under an old willow tree with his old mother on his back, to Jie Zitui leaving behind the blood letter "I cut off my own flesh to serve your lord with all my heart, I hope your lord will always be clear-minded".
Finally, Duke Wen of Jin designated the day of Jie Zitui's death as the "Cold Food Festival" to express his grief. When he saw the charred old willow tree in front of Jie Zitui's tomb glowing with new life, he named it "Qingming Willow" and designated the day as the "Qingming Festival."
Before leaving, Master Zheng said solemnly: "During these two days of vacation, you can worship your ancestors, go outing, and have fun, but don't forget your homework. If anyone doesn't finish it when you come back, I will be rude."
After saying this, Master Zheng, dressed in a white gown, floated away.
Sun Shan hurriedly packed up his books because the sound of bang bang bang had been heard a long time ago and the class had already been dismissed.
De Geer sighed and said, "Shanzi, I don't want to be like Jie Zitui. It's so pitiful. Not only do I have to cut my flesh for the lord to eat, but I am also burned alive by the lord. I'm dead, but I also implicate my old mother. It's very unfilial."
Sun Shan agreed with this and nodded, saying, "Yes, cutting meat must be painful. But Duke Wen of Jin was not much better. He ate human flesh without feeling sick and even thanked others for cutting his meat. And he set fire to the mountain to force Jie Zitui to come out in order to see him. How abominable."
Is this what it means to destroy what you can't get?
Yang Qingbei concluded: "I don't want to be either Jie Zitui or Duke Wen of Jin. I don't want to cut my own flesh, nor do I want to eat human flesh."
The three of them walked out of the school while talking. Sun Bomin was already waiting outside.
After paying his respects to Sun Boming, Yang Qingbei followed the household steward and left.
Sun Bomin asked with concern: "Shanzi, why are you leaving the hall so late today? Is there something wrong?"
De Ge'er answered first: "Uncle, the teacher is staying late, but we will have holidays tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, because it is Qingming Festival. When are we going to pay respect to the grave?"
Sun Bomin took Sun Shan's lunch box and slate and said with a smile, "So that's how it is. Tomorrow we will go to the clan's graves, and the day after tomorrow we will do the same at home."
The people in Sunjia Village all worship the same ancestor, and later their descendants multiplied and had more and more children.
First, they worship the great ancestor, and then the descendants of each branch worship their closest ancestor.
In Sunjia Village, the descendants of the Sun family worship their ancestors, and both boys and girls can go. However, married daughters-in-law and daughters who married out are not allowed to go, and the same rules apply to entering the Sun family ancestral hall.
After walking for half an hour, they arrived at Sunjia Village. After sending De Ge'er home, Sun Boming continued walking towards the old house.
As soon as I entered the yard, I saw that except for my eldest sister Guyu, everyone else was busy working in the fields.
Sun Bomin hurriedly put down his lunch box and slate, picked up his hoe, and hurried to the field. Before leaving, he said, "Shanzi, stay home and study hard. Don't go out. It's going to rain outside. Don't get wet."
Spring is a rainy season. The most fearful thing is to get caught in the rain accidentally and catch a cold. Shanzi was weak to begin with, and it took a lot of effort to make him a little stronger, so there can be no mistakes.
Sun Shan nodded and said, "Father, I understand. I'm not going anywhere. I still have homework to do."
Sun Boming was relieved because Shanzi had been honest since he was young and kept his word, unlike other boys who were playful.
After Sun Bomin left, Sun Shan began to do his homework, starting with the assignments given by Master Zheng.
The homework is actually very simple, just copying, from one character, to a word, to a sentence. As for writing poems and couplets, it is not involved at all. The main task at this stage is to recognize characters and write them skillfully.
After completing the holiday homework assigned by Master Zheng, I went to the well to practice calligraphy.
Sun Shan is now quite experienced in calligraphy. His hands are small, light and weak, so he tries tying a small stone to add weight to them. This way, the words he writes have more power.
Of course, the most important thing is to hold the pen tightly. Sometimes Master Zheng would suddenly pull out the pen, not only would your hands be covered in ink, but you would also be spanked by Master Zheng.
Sun Shan also experienced having his pen pulled out, having his hands covered in ink, and being beaten with a stick by Master Zheng.
It's embarrassing, but the most important thing is that it really hurts. Master Zheng only hits people for the matter, not the person. If you don't do well, you will be beaten.
As soon as the teacher left, De Ge'er pointed at Sun Shan and Yang Qingbei and laughed heartily, feeling very proud. Finally, he made his classmates understand the pain of being beaten with a stick.
Sun Shan practiced calligraphy intensively and made rapid progress. His handwriting became smaller and smaller, but unfortunately, his characters were still written neatly, stroke by stroke, with a strong sense of craftsmanship. They were not beautiful, but clearly visible, without any guessing.
Sun Shan asked Master Zheng how to practice good calligraphy.
The teacher was also very ignorant. He said directly that he didn't know and also admitted that his own handwriting was not beautiful and he could not teach students to have beautiful handwriting.
However, it is suggested that if Sun Shan has the money, he can go to the bookstore to buy calligraphy copies and copy them. If he copies them year after year, day after day, he will be able to copy good calligraphy sooner or later.
Sun Shan understood, but his funds were limited, so he had to postpone the purchase of the calligraphy until he saved up some money.