Chapter 132: The Fourth Examination—Rush Weaving

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The First Zero Score Has Appeared in Examination District Two!

At this stage of the examination, a score of zero was far too abnormal. Two examiners hurried over, and the moment they saw the board, sweat broke out on their foreheads. This candidate, Mei, had truly drawn the worst luck—she had run into the foremost master artisan, Wang Ge.

The candidate had barely managed to add several circles to the two sets of concentric circles. When tested with the measuring gauge, not one passed! Fortunately, the first half lasted only a quarter of an hour. If there had been another quarter hour, Wang Ge would probably have drawn them even more densely.

In the afternoon, shortly after noon, the felt walls along the northern sides of every examination district were removed, opening the area for the fourth assessment.

Three passageways leading into the object sheds stood vertically before the hundred candidates.

“All candidates, listen carefully to the rules. The models in the three object sheds are divided according to their materials into wood, bamboo, and grass. After the timekeeping drum sounds, you will enter the object sheds in order of your results in the first three rounds, with the highest-ranked candidates entering first. Thereafter, one person will enter with each beat of the drum. You may choose whichever shed suits your abilities. However, when selecting a model, you may move only forward and may not turn back. Anyone who does so will be eliminated. You may not remain before a model rack for more than half a quarter of an hour, or you will be eliminated. Do you understand?”

“We understand!”

In other words, once they found a suitable model, they had to choose it. They could not walk past it, regret their decision, and come back. Nor could they needlessly prolong the examination as a whole.

“When a candidate’s hand touches a model, the model is considered chosen. No one else may seize it. Anyone who does so will be punished for disturbing the order of the examination grounds and stripped of their artisan rank. After completing an object, the artisan clerk will inspect it and announce that it has passed. The candidate may then proceed to choose another model, while the drum clerks will sound the drums of renown for you. If even one imitation fails to meet the requirements, you will be eliminated. If you turn back, you will leave the grounds. Do you understand?”

“We understand!”

The rule had to be understood in reverse: unless a candidate actually touched a model, even if they were standing before its rack, another candidate had the right to take it. Once the artisan clerk had declared an object passed, the candidate could move on, reducing wasted time.

“Each object shed may be entered only once. You may not return to a shed. After reaching the end of a shed, you must circle around from the outside and return to the starting point before entering another shed. Of course, you may also choose to end your examination and wait here for the results to be announced. Do you understand?”

“We understand!”

Thus, the most advantaged candidates were those skilled in woodwork as well as bamboo work and grass weaving. Naturally, being mediocre at every craft would not do either. Many models looked easy enough to make, but the moment one actually began, everything fell apart.

“Inside each object shed there is not only a work area but also a rest area. Lamps will be lit in the work area at night. This assessment will end no later than the hour of Shen on the eighteenth. If every candidate leaves the object sheds early, the assessment will end early. After this round, only sixty candidates will remain. Do you understand?”

“We understand!”

Today was the fifteenth. The round would last almost three full days and three nights, eliminating forty people!

“The examination begins now. Candidates will enter according to the order called by the patrol clerks!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After the three beats of the timekeeping drum, the patrol clerk began calling names.

The first eleven candidates to enter were all over thirty but under forty. Candidates twelve through fourteen came from He Fang Township one after another. Of those fourteen, only two entered the grass-weaving shed.

After the fifteenth beat of the drum:

“Bu Zhi Township, Wang Ge.”

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Wang Ge’s heart pounded with excitement as she hurried into the grass-weaving shed.

After the sixteenth beat came another candidate from He Fang Township—Zheng Que. He entered the woodwork shed.

In her previous life, Wang Nanxing had excelled at wood carving, followed by bamboo weaving, while grass weaving had been her weakest skill. After transmigrating and becoming Wang Ge, she had been limited by the materials available and had first perfected her grass-weaving techniques.

Wild grass grew thickly around Jia She Village. Whenever she had spare time, she would sit in the grass and practice weaving. Sometimes she would cut bundles of thatch and, before going to sleep, continue weaving blindly in the darkness for a while. Many times, when Tigerhead awoke, he would find little fish and shrimp woven by his elder sister lying beside his pillow.

Blind weaving was the best way to improve an artisan’s affinity with grass materials. The patterns of the stalks, their feel when kneaded and twisted, the differences between varieties of grass, and their varying resilience could all be sensed far more keenly than in daylight. In time, weaving speed would make a great leap forward.

Still, it had to be admitted that in the Jin dynasty, although the broad category of woodcraft included grass weaving, thorn-vine weaving, and rattan weaving, once one reached the level of master artisan, the paths of those three branches truly narrowed. They were far inferior to woodworking and bamboo craft.

After entering the object shed, Wang Ge put every distracting thought out of her mind. Each object rack was separated from the next by two wooden boards. Standing before the first rack, she could not see the racks farther ahead.

The first grass-weaving model was a pair of winter shoes, made with miscanthus as the warp and rice straw as the weft. The material basket below contained no shoe-making tool. The four candidates who had entered before her had all declined it, and Wang Ge did the same. Making straw shoes was not difficult, but it was time-consuming.

The second rack was empty. The candidate who had chosen its model was already busy in the work area.

The third rack held a coil of cattail-grass rope. It had been twisted from three strands, each strand containing seven braids! It would take even more labor and time than the straw shoes. Wang Ge stopped, regretting that she had not chosen the shoes.

The method of twisting cattail braids—over one, under one—was not difficult, and her hands moved quickly when braiding grass. But this was an entire coil of rope. Once uncoiled, it would be at least thirty feet long. Moreover, the model had all the rough fibers trimmed away, and there were scissors in the material basket, proving that she would have to clean off the prickles after finishing the braid.

Boom!

With the sound of the drum, another candidate entered. He hesitated briefly before the straw shoes and did not choose them either. Wang Ge no longer dared waste time. She hurried past the rope, swearing that whatever the next model was, as long as she knew how to make it—

Heavens!

The fourth model was an openwork incense basket woven from rushes. It bore dense, evenly sized diamond patterns. Its form was round-bellied, about the size of two fists, narrowing toward the top and finished with a lotus-petal border.

The candidate behind her wore an equally troubled expression and did not even consider the incense basket. He passed Wang Ge and hurried farther ahead.

In her previous life, Wang Nanxing had learned a style of rush weaving from Linggen in Linhai, Zhejiang, and its method resembled that of this incense basket. She knew how to weave the diamond-shaped openings, but this was simply too much work—more laborious even than the rope!

Perhaps she should just forget the oath she had made a moment ago?

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Another candidate entered and immediately chose the straw shoes.

Wang Ge sighed. She stopped moving forward, stopped hesitating, and chose the incense basket.

There might be something simpler farther ahead. There very well might be! But her mind would grow increasingly restless each time she passed over a model, and more and more unsettled. Among the candidates in the second examination district, she currently ranked only fifteenth. If her state of mind collapsed, she would certainly be eliminated from this assessment.

Rush stalks were thin, round, straight, and soft-skinned. She turned the incense basket over to examine its base, where the weaving began. The warp and weft were each made of four rushes grouped together. The first group passed over and under, the second followed the opposite pattern, and the third repeated the first. Thus the warp and weft interlaced.

After every two groups were woven, they had to be pressed flat with the small wooden block provided among the materials. Otherwise, the bottom would form a shallow depression once the weaving was complete.

There were many patrol clerks in the work area, with a drum of renown standing every thirty feet or so. After Wang Ge began working, more candidates passed through the narrow lane between her, the work area, and the object racks. Yet that coil of grass rope remained untouched.

After half an hour, she had imitated the base of the incense basket and began weaving the diamond pattern. The method was not difficult. The challenge lay in making every diamond identical so that the surface would not appear lumpy.

“Whew…”

After weaving two rows, she released a long breath.

Do not rush. Steady your mind again, Wang Ge. Steady your mind… steady… steady… steady!

“Whew…”

She continued weaving the diamond pattern.

Rush weaving was almost the most delicate of all grass-weaving techniques. An impatient person could not learn it. This incense basket was not large, and every stalk used in it was whole. The supplied materials contained not a single extra stalk. Its body narrowed at both ends and swelled in the middle. While weaving, she had to take care not to break any stalk, for the model was perfectly smooth, without any traces of broken stems being stuffed into gaps.

One diamond after another took shape, resembling the latticework of the windows in her quiet room. Time slipped away inside those little diamonds.

Outside, all the candidates had entered the object sheds.

Woodwork shed: sixty-seven people.

Bamboo-work shed: twenty-one people.

Grass-weaving shed: twelve people.

End of Chapter

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