Not sure yet: For readers of ancient bookworms, the following history encyclopedia editor will bring you a detailed introduction. Let’s continue reading. What are the uses of ancient bookworms? Why do scholars carry a little bookboy with them?
Scholar and bookboy are common characters in ancient costume dramas, usually the sons of wealthy families who study hard to bring glory to their families.
In order to keep the young master focused on his studies, there will be a bookboy around him who serves him. This bookboy not only studies ink and picks up pens for the young master, but also serves as his life secretary.
Especially after ten years of hard study, when it comes to rushing to the capital for exams, the presence of a scholar boy is even more indispensable around me. So why do scholars bring a little bookboy with them when they rush for exams? What are their functions? Speak it out and everyone will suddenly realize.
1、 Ancient scholars
To put it simply, scholars are ancient scholars, and of course, they can also refer to scholars. The term “scholar” comes from the Tang Dynasty’s “Ming Bao Ji” volume: “The Da Qi Fang Lang is a room for writing scriptures, solemn and clear, with abundant supply, and a constant of ten scholars
The scholar in this sentence refers to the person responsible for copying scriptures. Of course, ‘scholar’ has another meaning, referring to intellectuals who only focus on books and not on practice, and are detached from the real society.
Looking back at ancient scholars, most of them were arrogant because there were relatively few readers at that time, so there were even fewer people who understood book knowledge. Therefore, scholars with a bit of ink on their chests often had high self-esteem, but they were people with high expectations but low skills.
In fact, scholars were a group of ancient scholars whose main life interests were reading, reciting poetry, making mistakes, composing essays, and so on. In addition to studying hard on their own, they also organize some so-called “book clubs”, inviting three to five friends to study poetry and books together, with the ultimate goal of participating in the imperial examination. Once they pass the imperial examination, they can become officials.
The group of scholars usually rely on intricate and refined sentences to make a living, believing that this is the only way to showcase their identity. Of course, the scope of the scholar group is also relatively wide. Whether they are scholars who have achieved fame through exams or those who have not yet taken the imperial examination, they can be collectively referred to as scholars. These people are often talented, but lack practical hands-on abilities.
The vast majority of scholars aim to excel in their studies and become officials, while also possessing a patriotic sentiment of serving their country. However, they only know about books and are unaware of reality.
That’s why there is a saying in the folk that goes’ useless is a scholar ‘. Although this sentence carries a derogatory connotation, it also reveals a flaw of the scholar community, where there are many speakers and few who apply what they have learned.
2、 The ultimate ideal of reading
Confucius’ viewpoint is that ‘studying well leads to officialdom’, but the original intention was not to encourage all scholars to become officials. It can be understood as a scholar who cannot only possess a wealth of knowledge without making contributions to their family and society.
So how can we make a contribution? It’s very simple to take the imperial examination and then get a part-time job in order to serve the country and the people.
But the imperial examination was very difficult to pass, and many people spent their entire lives on the path of taking the imperial examination. For example, in the well-known “Fan Jin Zhongju”, Fan Jin only passed the imperial examination at the age of fifty and eventually suffered from loss of heart; During the Tang Dynasty, Meng Jiao also failed several times before finally passing the imperial examination, which gave rise to the classic “After Ascending to the Imperial Academy”.
It can be said that the ultimate ideal of a scholar is to achieve success in the imperial examination and become a jinshi. According to the education system of feudal society, candidates from all over the country were often selected based on the “Eight legged Method”.
Then, after passing five levels and slaying six generals, he was finally nominated as a jinshi. The first place in the township examination was Jie Yuan, the first place in the imperial examination was Hui Yuan, and the first place in the palace examination was the top scholar. This is the ultimate ideal of ancient scholars.
3、 The role of a bookboy
In short, ‘bookboy’ refers to the ‘child laborer’ in feudal society who served their masters and their children to study. Generally speaking, book boys are not very old, or at least younger than their masters, and many book boys grew up with their masters.
The royal family refers to book boys as accompanying readers, while wealthy families directly refer to them as book boys. Simply put, the main function of a bookboy is to serve the students, which is also the primary value of their existence.
This type of service can be divided into several categories, such as accompanying reading, ink and paper research, shoulder and back massage, serving daily life, and running errands. It can be said that bookworms are versatile workers who can do anything their owners need, even if they may not be able to do it well.
The reason why scholars act as study assistants during exams is not only to accompany and serve themselves, but also to serve as managers.
For example, a book boy needs to arrange travel plans for the students, manage daily necessities, and even take into account the personal safety and interpersonal communication of the owner. This shows that the so-called book boy is a “omnipotent person”, which is why he chooses elves and smart book boys.
In addition, although the status of bookworms cannot surpass that of scholars, they also fulfill the responsibility of supervising scholars. For example, it is necessary to promptly discourage scholars from being lazy and not reading, or to prevent their irrational behavior, and so on.
4、 The reason why scholars bring book boys
Although book boys are servants in the families of scholars, they also need to pay some wages, so only children of officials and wealthy families have the ability to hire book boys. The most crucial role of ancient bookworms was to assist their masters in “endorsing” books, in short, to carry or carry books for their masters.
Due to the fact that before the popularization of paper books, all books were made of bamboo slips, which made people feel heavy just by imagining them. But in the work project of a bookboy, endorsement is definitely a strenuous activity. Of course, book boys should also have the ability and role to adapt to unexpected situations and handle sudden events.
Conclusion
The role of bookworms around ancient scholars was particularly significant. It can be said that without bookworms, it is very difficult to concentrate on reading. Especially when traveling to Beijing to take exams, without such a person around, it is probably impossible for a scholar who only knows how to read. Therefore, ancient scholars would hire a bookboy because they are the “master key”, who can be found wherever needed, and their work efficiency is also very high.
