PREPARE TO LEARN THE FULL STORY [SPOILERS AHEAD] You can read this summary to the part where you are in the book if you need.
The examination is an interesting book that will engross readers into the tale of Lao Hong and Lao Chen, also known as Two brother and three brother. The first brother died in a flood years before the story begins. Hong and Chen are brothers from the small village of Sichuan. They were once part of a rich and prosperous family. But when their mother died the boy's father, overcome with grief, becomes a gambler and a drunkard. Chen is the village prodigy and was born under the sign of the ox. Chen has been named flowering talent by doing well in the county examination, but he does not have the funds to reach Chengdu where his next exam will take place. Fortunately Hong’s passion is fighting crickets and he has collected two exceptionally talented fighting crickets, named Dragon legs and Fire star. Hong fights his two crickets against a rich landlord's crickets and wins one tael or 1000 copper coins. Or a farmhand's wage for 9-10 months. With the funds Chen and Hong are able to travel to Chengdu. They get many letters to send to people in Chengdu before they part. On their way they sleep in a barn where they learn of a man who has been rocked by injustice. Once they leave the farm Hong notices something. There are locusts everywhere. They are worried of a locust swarm that could, if the winds carry them in such a way, could land on their village and they fear them causing famine and killing all the villagers. Once they reach Chengdu They meet a man named Shen Ding, who also resides in the house they are renting out and he and Chen become friends as he tells him all about the exams and what to do, as he has tried to complete this exam many times. On the last day Shen Ding tells him to bribe the examiner. But Chen doesn't put any money into his paper because Confucius would despise him for it and he was suspicious. Later he learns that those who attempted to bribe the examiner were banned for life from taking any of the exams. Hong takes one of the letters given to him and gives it to a barber who, he learns, is part of the white lotus. The white lotus is a group of people who are attempting to take down the government and Hong joins them after the barber tells many stories of the group and of bringing down the corrupt government. Chen then figures out he has ranked fifth, and now is a recommended man. They take a junk boat to their next destination, Wuhan and along the way they meet a man named Lin Shi who Hong gets acquainted with. While Lin Shi is speaking to Hong he eventually loses his senses and forgets, just for a moment, where he was. This is enough for him to get caught off guard by a rock in the water that sends him off the boat into the deathly waters. They board another boat but on the way they are captured by river pirates. They take Chen to the pirate boss and Hong is taken to a camp. The pirates are ready to do the “1000 cuts”, but Hong yells out “fifteen” before he blacks out and a young boy named Yao saves him. Yao has been spying for the white lotus. But the river pirates have stolen what they think to be a very important message so Hong and Yao recover it but Yao isn’t able to escape. Hong then meets General Ma and his soldiers capture the pirate boss and recover many of the prisoners. Yao was not recovered so he is presumably dead. Fortunately Chen is freed, for which Hong is relieved. They reach Suzhou, and Chen deliveres the letter to Meng Dafu, an inventor. They immediately become friends. Chen comes to love his daughter. Meng is extremely protective of her, and they meet secretly. One day, as Chen discusses the possibilities of meeting privately, the daughter runs away from him in fear and tells his dad that Chen has "grabbed her from behind and insulted her'' and Chen and Hong are forced to leave for their final destination which is Beijing. After arriving, Hong goes to the Imperial palace to meet the "Red Horsemen". The general there tells Hong that the letter the barber gave him was full of fake, meaningless coded information to test his faith. With Hong's faith proved, the Red Horsemen send him on different missions to complete. He is assigned to get the information needed to stage an attack on a hated government official. On the final exam, Chen has flashbacks to all the things he has experienced on the trip there. He decides to write his essay about the suffering of the people, instead of the traditional way. He ends up ranked second. For the second part of the essay, or the palace exam taking place inside the palace, Chen once again wrote an essay about his personal experience, but this time he tore it up. He wrote an essay instead about the mandate of heaven, including nature and the emperor. This time, Chen was first. Many job offers came along, but Chen wasn’t really interested in any of the jobs. But then Chen was selected as the Vice Secretary of Rites at Qufu. That was the location of Confucius’ main sanctuary and Hong was happy for him. Hong wanted to go south and join the army. The two brothers go their separate ways.
This book is a great read for anyone who wants to learn more about the examinations or a little about ancient China. This book starts off slow, but once they get on the road it's one adventure after another, with just the right breaks in between so you have time to take it all in. The ending leaves you feeling incredibly satisfied and happy with the way things turned out.
By Owen Hannan
100% Chief Journalist