The scholar's knowledge is several catties and two ounces. Why is it called a sour scholar?

Scholar is the initial level for ancient scholars to take the imperial examination, and sometimes it is also a general term for scholars. There are generally three theories about its origin. Amin Yang Shen believes that the name of a scholar originates from a passage in the history books: "Zhao Wuling talks about-the cloud, customs change into people's habits, and Yue Hu has no scholar." Gu found a sentence in Shi Ji, whose Shi Ji is it? "Biography of Jia Sheng" records that "at the age of eighteen, I was able to recite poems as books, and I heard in the county, and Wu Tingwei was stationed in Henan, and I heard about his scholar". In addition, Wang Xianqian, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, believed that scholars got their name from Guan Zi Kuang Pian, and it was said that Lai Ye could become a scholar.

Of all these statements, Gu's is the most reliable. However, the scholar in Han dynasty is only a name for people with outstanding talents, not a subject for selecting talents. The scholar's department only appeared in the Western Jin Dynasty. But soon after it appeared, it became dim under the glory of the nine-product official law. Its status was improved until the Sui Dynasty, when the Ministry of Scholars was established, and its status was the noblest among the tribute subjects, and there were only a dozen scholars in the Sui Dynasty. Later, in the Tang Dynasty, literati were widely respected.

However, it began to show a downward trend after the Song Dynasty. Hong Mai's "Three Stories of Rong Zhai" records that some people regarded the scholar as a "contemptible name" in the Song Dynasty. By the Ming dynasty, it had degenerated into the common name of a trainee in the imperial examination, and some trainees even felt that others looked down on him as soon as they heard the scholar. Related to this, a large number of "sour scholars" images began to emerge in novels and operas. There is a folk saying that "vinegar is big" or "sour son". Only when lifting in the middle can acid gas be removed.

In a joke book in the Ming Dynasty, there was a story about a scholar buying firewood. It is said that a scholar went to the street to buy firewood. When he saw a man collecting firewood in the street, he shouted, "Come here." The firewood seller knew the word "come here" very well, so he picked the firewood for him. The scholar then asked, "What's its price?" The firewood seller only understood the meaning of the word "price" and said the price. The scholar thought the price was too high and wanted to bargain, so he told the firewood seller that the firewood was "solid on the outside and empty on the inside, with more smoke and less flame, so please damage it". The firewood seller didn't know what he was talking about, so he took the burden and left. This naturally mocked the scholar's sour gas. He has little knowledge, but he likes to chew over words and is useless.

In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Zhang Dai also recorded a joke in the preface to the night flight: once upon a time, a monk and a scholar stayed in the night flight. The scholar was talking aside, and a monk was knowledgeable, a little scared, and even rolled his feet to sleep. After a while, the more the monk listened, the more wrong he became. What the scholar said was full of flaws, so he asked, "Excuse me, Mr. Xiang, is it one person or two?" The scholar replied, "It's two people." Seeing that he was so knowledgeable, the monk asked, "In that case, is Yao Shun one person or two?" The scholar actually replied: "Nature is lonely." Hearing this, the monk knew that the scholar was a poor scholar. He smiled and said, "Let's wait until the young monk stretches his feet."

In the Qing Dynasty, scholars' mocking voice continued unabated. It is said that there was a popular proverb in Jiangnan at that time, which was called "Give a supervisor". The publication of this proverb clarifies the difference between a scholar's knowledge, a scholar and a tutor. It is said that Juren, scholar and Guo Jian students get together in the Mid-Autumn Festival respectively, and after half a tour of wine, they go to the yard to enjoy the moon, and the bright moon is in the sky. Seeing this, the juren praised: "Good moonlight." The scholar went on to say, "Good moonlight." Guo Jiansheng finally had to say, "Good moonlight is also good." This man added a sentence, which vividly described the scholar and the diploma of national identification that he had little knowledge but wanted to show off.