Chapter 39: Who is this genius?

  New Concept Composition Venue

  The New Concept Writing Competition has been held by Mengya Magazine for over 20 years. Since its inception, the competition has received positive social feedback and has cultivated many talented writers. To date, the New Concept Writing Competition has partnered with top universities across the country to co-host the event.

  At this time, the New Concept Composition Competition has not yet been held, but preparations have already begun.

  "Hey, isn't this Old Wang? You haven't been to New Concept in several years!"

  Some representatives in the academic circle saw Wang Mingyang, who was nearly 60 years old, and they all greeted him.

  "Alas, I didn't want to come at first, being an old man and all, but Brother Zhao kept inviting me, and I couldn't refuse, so here I am."

  Brother Zhao refers to Zhao Changtian, the founder of the New Concept Writing Competition.

  "Alright, alright, it's good that you're here. It's great to see so many people gathered together. Later on, we can discuss things together, what do you say?"

  As the host, Zhao Changtian stood up and said with a smile.

  Those present were either professors at universities or researchers in the academic community. It was rare for them to gather together, and now that so many people had arrived, they couldn't help but share their research experiences from the past few years. Everyone chatted enthusiastically, each trying to outdo the others. Just then, Zhao Changtian suddenly asked, "Ladies and gentlemen, have any of you recently read a book called 'The Record of Book and Sword'?

  "The Book and Sword Chronicles"

  Some people thought for a moment and seemed to have heard of it before, saying "It seems like I've heard of this one, apparently it's very popular online."

  "Oh, Brother Zhao, what kind of work is 'The Record of Sword and Book's Grudges'?"

  Wang Mingyang came with interest and asked Zhao Changtian.

  "How to put it, online novels categorize Book and Sword as a historical work. But I don't think so, the book is actually about a story of overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming. Although this text is popular, the author's skills are profound, with a deep understanding of history. For example, in his book, he fabricated a story that Qianlong was not a Manchu but a Han Chinese, which caused a strong reaction from readers at the time. Many people really thought that Qianlong was indeed a Han Chinese and not a Manchu."

  "Brother Chang Tian, historical fiction about emperors and royalty is nothing special either."

  Another person thought for a moment and said directly.

  "Of course, if it were just this point, the work wouldn't be so popular. What's most important is that this work seems to have inherited the essence of ancient chivalry, yet has greatly expanded on its nature. Although the book writes about anti-Qing and pro-Ming, every phrase and sentence contains words about chivalry and righteousness. After reading the entire article, you'll feel like it's a heaven-shocking, ghost-crying story of a generation of great heroes roaming the world."

  Zhao Changtian seems very excited, talking endlessly, speaking eloquently and occasionally commenting on this work.

  "It seems I need to go back and take a look at this work after all."

  All scholars nodded in agreement when they heard Zhao Changtian's comment.

  On one hand it was because of Zhao Changtian's strong recommendation, on the other hand, also because of the two words "chivalrous" that Zhao Changtian mentioned.

  Nowadays, isn't chivalry and righteousness missing?

  If this work truly develops chivalry to a certain height, its future achievements will be boundless.

  "Hey, Mingyang, what have you been studying lately?"

  Everyone was chatting when someone brought up Wang Mingyang.

  "I don't have any research, I'm just bringing up a few students."

  Wang Mingyang shook his head and said he hadn't done much research recently.

  "Brother Ming is too polite, as the number one national treasure-level cow person of Yenching University, how could you not have any research?"

  Everyone was skeptical, but Wang Mingyang insisted on explaining it clearly from start to finish.

  "Sigh, actually there's really no research going on. If I had to say what I'm interested in researching, it would be the Analects of Confucius lately."

  "Analects of Confucius?"

  All scholars are masters of this way, having read the Analects hundreds of times, and some have even annotated it. However, after repeated readings, there are only so many interpretations, without much new insight. Moreover, there are many contradictory places in the Analects that cannot be explained. Therefore, in recent years, few scholars have devoted themselves to studying the Analects.

  However, when Wang Mingyang mentioned it, everyone's eyes lit up.

  He is a towering figure in academia. If he were interested in the Analects of Confucius, he might just come up with some insightful research.

  "Mingyang brother, say, say, if there's anything new, also share it with us to take a look."

  Everyone is a scholar and naturally has great interest in such academic matters.

  "Then I'll say a sentence, for example, in the Analects of Confucius, 'The people can be made to follow it, but they cannot be made to understand it.' How do you interpret this sentence?"

  "This, Brother Mingyang, this sentence has been contradictory for a thousand years. You ask us, and we can only give a mediocre answer. What, does Brother Mingyang have a new interpretation of this sentence?"

  "Yes, I have some views on this. I think when we studied the Analects of Confucius before, should we re-interpret it again? For example, this sentence 'The common people can be made to follow it, but cannot be made to understand it.' I feel that parsing the sentence in this way is not quite right. Don't you all feel that Confucius would not say something that goes against the people when he was promoting knowledge?"

  "Yes, everyone has always found it strange, but Brother Mingyang, what's with this tone of yours?"

  "This is also easy to understand, for example, everyone thinks that if this sentence is broken into "the people can be used by it, and they cannot be used, know it". The meaning of the whole sentence has changed to "if the people know what to do, then let them do it, if not, then tell them what to do?" Isn't this break more interesting?"

  "Ah."

  When Wang Mingyang's punctuation came out, everyone was shocked. They are masters of the academic world and can't see the impact brought by a small punctuation mark. If it is interpreted this way, then this topic that has been debated for over a thousand years seems to disappear without a trace.

  "Admire, admire, Brother Mingyang is still awesome, we admire him with all our might."

  Everyone praised him, and this sentence not only solved the academic controversy of over a thousand years but also opened up another direction for all scholars to study the Analects. Should they go back and re-punctuate the Analects? After all, the current punctuation of the Analects is based on how ancient people punctuated it hundreds of years ago. Moreover, at that time, they didn't even have punctuation; they just kept organizing from various books to form the current punctuation. To be honest, who knows if the Analects were really punctuated like this?

  After all, there were no punctuation marks at that time. When people wrote articles, they were all written from top to bottom without adding any punctuation, and it was up to the reader to figure out where to pause or stop. Therefore, when reading books, one had to first understand how to break sentences and read out the meaning of the article.

  "No, no, everyone, actually this sentence wasn't broken down by me, but rather by my student's student, who is said to be a high school student. At first glance, I thought it was quite novel. I felt the need to re-read the Analects again, so that's why I brought it out to share with everyone."

  "No way, a high school student?"

  "Really a high school student?"

  "What am I deceiving you for?"

  "Unbelievable, truly unbelievable. Ah, right, Brother Mingyang, who is this high school student?"

  "I haven't seen him either, I was just thinking of asking my students to bring him over for New Concept."

  "Right, right, right, when the time comes we'll take a look at this little guy together."

  At this time, everyone was excited.

  Just then, Wang Mingyang seemed to recall something and said, "Actually, that little guy not only has new insights on the Analects. His handwriting is also extremely good. At the same time, his writing makes me a bit envious." After speaking, Wang Mingyang took out a printed document, which clearly showed He Wei's work.

  In ancient times, those who were called heroes or outstanding men must have had a strong sense of justice and a sense of what they could not tolerate. An ordinary man who suffers humiliation, draws his sword and rises up to fight, this is not enough to be considered brave. The great bravery in the world is when one suddenly faces a situation but is not startled, when one is subjected to unjust treatment but does not get angry, this is because what they hold onto is very grand and their will is very far-reaching...

  This, this, this is... who wrote it?

  A group of scholars saw this material, their eyes lit up, and they were extremely excited.

  "Good character, good character."

  "Not right, good article, good article."

  "Even better, good words, even better writing."

  At this time, they all don't know how to evaluate. In their minds, those words always emerge. These words seem insignificant at first glance, but every word is full of momentum. At a glance, it's like thousands of horses and millions of troops. After reading the whole article, you not only know what great courage is, but also vaguely reveal the atmosphere of "there are great brave people in the world".

  This situation is simply making them jealous.

  "This, Brother Mingyang, this can't be written by you."

  One of them was so surprised that he suddenly seemed to understand something and asked Wang Mingyang suspiciously. He thought Wang Mingyang was going to retire and wanted to promote a certain junior. This is not unheard of in the academic world, and it's not just the academic world, it happens in many places.

  "Old Li, you're not unaware of it, but my handwriting can't compare with what's written on this material."

  "Me too."

  The scholar who had been questioning nodded, Wang Mingyang's scholarship was not bad, but his writing was actually average. Now looking at this material, it is clear that the words and the article are from the same person. Even if they were to imitate it now, I estimate they still wouldn't be able to write with the grandeur of "the world has great courage" as written in this material.

  "Right, has that little guy signed up yet? Let's check his information."

  Everyone was moved and suddenly became interested in that high school student. They said they wanted to check the information of the new concept essay competition participants, wanting to understand what kind of person this little guy is.

  "This, I don't know either. At that time, my student just sent me these materials and I was busy with something else, so I didn't pay attention and just forwarded them to the email. Later when I remembered, I asked her to bring it to participate in the new concept. But what this little guy's name is, I don't know either." Wang Mingyang said he wasn't clear about it either, you guys shouldn't ask me.

  However, Wang Mingyang's attitude immediately sparked the indignation of several scholars. "I say, Brother Mingyang, how can you forget such a genius? Hurry up and ask your students what this guy's name is, we're all getting impatient."

  "Yes, yes, Brother Mingyang, this is where you went wrong."

  "What's with the dawdling? Hurry up, Brother Mingyang."

  "You guys, I'll go ask, I'll go ask."

  They scolded him in unison, Wang Mingyang couldn't help but laugh and cry, if only he had known better than to tell them.

  "Rebirth of the Genius" latest chapter is released by Yunqi Book House, the fastest and most popular online release site! (This site provides: traditional pagination, waterfall two modes, can be selected in settings)