Well, it’s nothing much. (1)
“Wow…..”
As the disciples of Hwasan entered the village, gasps of awe flowed from their mouths.
“….It looks even bigger than it did from outside.”
“The houses seem much older than I expected too, but they’ve really been well maintained.”
“How can there be a village like this halfway up Mount Tai?”
The scenery before their eyes was impressive. So impressive that it could hardly have been more so. But what drew the attention of Hwasan’s disciples even more than that was the clear, ringing sound of people reading aloud that reached them every time they passed the houses standing here and there.
‘It doesn’t feel real.’
It was a little strange to attach the phrase ‘Peach Blossom Spring (Utopia)’ to Confucianism, but when it came to describing this village, could there be any expression better than ‘A Paradise Realm of Confucian Scholars’?
“…..It really is incredible.”
At their voices of admiration, So Jung-gyeong opened his mouth with a bitter smile.
“Does it look good to you?”
Everyone nodded vigorously.
“Yes. Very. It really feels like a Peach Blossom Spring. I think it would be wonderful to live in a place like this.”
“Who could possibly dislike a sight like this?”
“…It seems there is someone?”
At those words, the disciples of Hwasan turned their heads.
“Ugghhhhh…….”
Chung Myung, clutching at his hair, let out a groan of agony and despair.
“Mumbling, mumbling here. Mumbling, mumbling there. What kind of books are those damned bastards reading so much…”
“…”
The disciples of Hwasan looked at one another with slightly dejected expressions.
“Is it normal to suffer that much at the sound of people reading?”
“Doesn’t he look like an evil spirit being exorcised [제령(除靈)]?”
Tang Soso, who had been shaking her head, said.
“It’s not so much that he hates the sound of people reading… The teachings of Confucius and Mencius [공맹(孔孟)] are all about discussing how people ought to live righteously, aren’t they?”
“That’s true.”
“And that’s completely incompatible with Sahyeong.”
“….What is he, some Black Path bastard?”
Baek Cheon shook his head.
If Im Sobyeong, someone who actually mingled with the Black Path, saw this sight, he would be shedding tears and saying he wanted to settle down here for life, yet this so-called Just Sect member was acting like that…
Watching Chung Myung, who apparently could not endure it any longer, stuff his ears shut with a piece of cloth he had gotten from somewhere, Baek Cheon let out a sigh.
“If it looks pleasing to you, then that is fortunate. But the circumstances that gave rise to this village are rather heavier than they appear.”
“Heavier?”
At those words, Jo Geol tilted his head. This beautiful village and the word ‘heavy’ seemed like a terribly ill-matched combination.
But So Jung-gyeong opened his mouth bitterly, as if he had expected even that reaction.
“You must have heard the phrase, ‘The rule of Qin Zheng was cruel and severe.’*”
At those words, everyone smiled faintly and nodded.
“Of course.”
“Ah, yes. We know it well.”
“We talked about that often, didn’t we?”
“…You don’t know it, do you.”
“Haha…“
Having grasped the situation from their reactions, So Jung-gyeong cleared his throat once and opened his mouth.
“The burying of scholars. I mean. The burning of books and burying of scholars [분서갱유(焚書坑儒)].”
“Mm, what a fine phrase.”
“I don’t think it’s supposed to be a fine phrase…”
So Jung-gyeong looked back to the group with a flustered expression.
“Y-You don’t know this either?”
“…”
“Hmm. My apologies. It seems I have lived too long surrounded by Confucian scholars. I should have considered that Taoists might not know.”
“There is no need for you to apologize. The problem is not that we are Taoists, but that we are ignorant.”
“You didn’t have to put it quite like that, Sasuk.”
“Shut up. Because of us, all the Taoists under heaven are about to look like fools right now. We have to prevent that much, at least.”
“What about Hwasan looking stupid!”
“That, we have no choice but to accept. Since it is true.”
“…Please don’t say that with such grim resolve. It’s embarrassing.”
So Jung-geong laughed awkwardly and began his explanation again.
“In the past, Ying Zheng of Qin was capturing all the Confucian scholars under heaven and buried them alive.”
“…..Ah, Qin Shi Huang.”
Only then remembering the phrase ‘The burning of books and burying of scholars,’ the disciples of Hwasan nodded.
“We’ve heard that Qin Shi Huang buried Confucian scholars alive and burned the classical texts.”
At their now cautious reaction, So Jung-geong laughed hollowly.
“It is all in the past. It happened so long ago that even calling it the past feels awkward. But that incident left deep concern in those who study Confucianism. No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it left fear rather than concern.”
“When you say fear?”
“That someday……“
So Jung-geong’s gaze sank deeply.
“The one who rules all under heaven might once again become hostile towards Confucianism, and that such a thing might happen again. That fear.”
“Hm.”
Hye Yeon opened his mouth as though he could not understand.
“Qin Shi Huang’s achievements cannot be ignored, but his tyranny was also so dreadful as to be without precedent. It would not be easy for someone like that to appear again, so surely such a thing would not repeat itself?”
So Jung-geong glanced at Hye Yeon and smiled faintly.
“Perhaps it is something difficult for Buddhist monks like you, or the Taoists here, to understand. You are people who keep your distance from the secular world.”
So Jung-geong let out a sigh.
“But Confucianism, by its very nature, cannot completely leave the secular world behind. Rather, it is a discipline that has no choice but to draw close to power.”
“Ah.”
At those words, Hye Yeon nodded as if he had realized something.
“So……”
“That is right.”
So Jung-geong spoke, unintentionally lowering his voice.
“Even if a country were to ban Buddhism, it could hardly search every mountain under heaven and drag away all the monks. The same goes for Taoists. Is it not the same principle as a country being unable to capture every bandit?”
“But Confucian scholars are not like that?”
“That is right. At least those with names of any renown would not be able to avoid having their entire families exterminated. To put it simply, even if they arrested only the Confucian scholars near the Imperial Palace, would not more than half of the highly respected Confucian scholars lose their heads?”
“…..I see.”
“The same goes for those who remain. You make deep mountains and secluded valleys your foundation, but we live where people gather. It means that if someone were determined to arrest us, we could be caught at any time.”
Only then did everyone nod in understanding. Certainly, considering the nature of Confucianism, it made sense that Confucian scholars would be worried. It might be something that could happen or might not happen, but if by some chance such a thing did happen, would they not suffer tremendous damage?
“So they created a place to flee to?”
“No.”
So Jung-geong immediately shook his head.
“The purpose of Confucian scholars is to make the world better. To do that, the first thing is to assist the Son of Heaven [the Emperor] well. If such a thing were to happen again, then Confucian scholars would also bear some fault, and avoiding that responsibility would not be righteous.“
“…”
“What we feared, precisely speaking, was not the burying of scholars, but the burning of books.”
“The burning of books…….”
“That is right.”
So Jung-geong turned his head and looked at the disciples of Hwasan.
“What about you? You, too, are people who have set foot in mountains of blades and forests of swords [도산검림(刀山劍林) – the world of martial arts], so are you not prepared for the possibility that your lives may someday be cut short?”
“We are.”
Baek Cheon nodded as if it were only natural.
“Then let me ask you. Which is more frightening? Losing your life while advancing according to your convictions, or having your martial learning be lost and no longer passed on?”
“Ah…….”
Baek Cheon nodded as if he understood something.
“You mean that burning the scriptures would lead to the severing of scholarship itself.”
“Exactly.”
So Jung-geong nodded deeply, as if grateful that he understood.
“Of course, even after the burning of books and burying of scholars in the past, Confucianism continued. But not everything was carried on. Too many scholarly lineages were severed in those days.”
With utmost regret, So Jung-gyeong looked up at the distant sky.
“So the scholars who survived came to a conclusion. If the same thing were ever to happen again, then even if they lost their lives, the scholarly lineages must endure. And so they searched for a place where all the scholarly traditions could be hidden and preserved.”
“That place is…”
“That is right. Though we gave it the grand name Eunildam… when you think about it, even that name contains the dreams of Confucian scholars.”
Just as everyone was about to nod at the story filled with pain and resolve.
“Yes. Thank you for the old story that has nothing much to do with anything.”
“Demon.”
“Do you not have a human heart?”
“No, an elder is speaking.”
“Shut up.”
Chung Myung picked at his ear and asked indifferently.
“So what does that have to do with this? For a place where they gathered books with such heartfelt resolve…”
Chung Myung glanced around and shrugged.
“It seems a bit too well fed and excessively comfortable.”
“…That is true.”
At Chung Myung’s point, the disciples of Hwasan looked around with renewed gaze. There was something subtly different between the story So Jung-geong had just told and the sight before their eyes.
“Ahem. I am saying that was how it was in the beginning. In the beginning.“
As though he knew that perfectly well himself, So Jung-gyeong spoke with an embarrassed expression.
“That was how it began, but… as time passed, it changed a little. To put it another way, this place is the treasury of all Confucian learning under heaven. Even branches of scholarship that no one studies anymore still remain preserved here.”
“I suppose…… so.”
“And so, old scholars who had retired from office and no longer had anything to do began to gather here one by one.”
“Old men with money rotting away, more time than they know what to do with, and nothing to do but read books?”
“…I cannot refute that.”
A self-mocking smile touched So Jung-geong’s lips.
“By rights, they were men who should have been raising disciples, but those who still felt their own learning was incomplete began to gather here, hoping to find the answers in this place. As a result…”
“Old men who should have been sitting in thatched huts reading books instead used their overflowing money to decorate this place, and ended up creating such a splendid scenery?”
“Ugh. Must you really put it that way?”
The disciples of Hwasan looked at the village anew once again. It was a scene no different at all from a moment ago, and yet, somehow… somehow it looked a little different.
“Then all of this is…”
“A ridiculous amount of money being thrown around.”
“…I thought it was about contentment in poverty.”
“To be contented with living in poverty and take delight in abiding by moral principles – was always the exclusive agenda of the rich. They can say things like that because they have no trouble making a living.”
At the suddenly rather chilly look in the Hwasan’s disciples’ eyes, So Jung-geong smacked his lips bitterly.
“So, to summarize.”
Chung Myung said indifferently.
“This means this is a place where retired old Confucian scholars who have enjoyed everything the world has to offer play at being sages.”
“…”
“Like you, old man?”
So Jung-geong let out what might already have been his umpteenth sigh and replied.
“You have quite a sharp tongue.”
“If it feels bitter when I simply state the facts, then the facts themselves must be like that. It is not my tongue that is sharp.”
“It stings all the more because you are not wrong.”
So Jung-geong laughed hollowly.
“That is right. This is such a place. Perhaps it was not like this at first… but now, it has become such a place.”
“Hmm.”
“The problem is…. that it does not end as merely that sort of story.”
“…Pardon?”
“You will understand that if you watch a little longer.”
So Jung-geong, smiling faintly, continued.
“And… Since I have said this much, you must also understand why you have come here. Or am I wrong?”
“Hmm.”
After thinking for a moment, Tang Soso opened her mouth.
“You mean there are many people here besides you, Elder, who once held high official posts.”
“Precisely.”
“And among them, unlike you, some are probably still able to exert influence over the Imperial Palace. You intend to introduce us to those people, don’t you?”
So Jung-geong looked at Tang Soso with a slightly surprised expression.
“You are a talented young lady. I am impressed.“
“You flatter me. Anyone who isn’t stupid could guess that much… Ah, all right! I get it! I said it wrong! I wasn’t accusing my Sahyeongs of being idiots!”
Tang Soso shuddered under the sullen gazes the disciples of Hwasan fixed on her.
“But there is one thing you must know.”
“Yes?”
“I can introduce you to them, but I cannot make them grant your request. You may very well leave this place having gained nothing at all. No, perhaps…”
So Jung-geong’s gaze settled coldly.
“You may not even be able to preserve your lives.”
At this, the faces of those listening hardened.
“What do you say? Will you still go?”
Meeting So Jung-geong’s provocative gaze, Hwasan’s disciples’ eyes gleamed as they looked back at him.
Special Spinoff Chapter 37 >>>
New Side Story “Leaving home” Part I >>>
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*진정혹렬(秦政酷烈) – the whole quote would go like this: ‘The rule of Qin Zheng was cruel and severe, acting against the will of Heaven; when one person was guilty, punishment extended to the three clans.’ Three clans refers to the mother’s, the father’s and the wife’s clan. The founder of Qin Dynasty Qin Shi Huang (born Ying Zheng) was famous for his draconian laws.
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