It meant to answer questions, a test first applied to candidates for the highest degree by the fourth Emperor of the Han dynasty, B.C. 179—156. His Majesty however objected to the appearance of "mouth" in the character, on the ground that replies should not be too long-winded, and he accordingly substituted 士 shih scholar, with which the word has been written ever since. [Père Zottoli makes a grave mistake in translating the line "coram augusta aula." He has apparently been misled by the later senses of tui, namely opposite to, in the presence of.]
Ta see line 127.
T'ing is the audience-chamber, the Court, the hall in which the final examination was held.
| 302. | 魁 | 多 | 士 | and came out first among many scholars. | |
| K'uei2 | to1 | shih4 | |||
| First | many | scholar |
K'uei is composed of 斗 tou a ladle or dipper as radical, with 鬼 kuei disembodied spirits as phonetic. It originally meant a soup-ladle. How it came to mean chief, eminent, etc., is difficult to say,
To is composed of 夕 hsi evening duplicated, and means reiterated, one upon another. Evening is said to have been chosen because evenings come one after another in succession; hence many.
Shih see line 273.
| 303. | 彼 | 晚 | 成 | thus late he had succeeded, | |
| Pi3 | wan3 | ch'êng2 | |||
| He | late | complete |
Pi see line 273.
Wan is composed of 日 (line 52) as radical, with 免 (line 278) as phonetic, 既 (line 159) is another reading.
Ch'êng see line 26.
