From the end of the Yuan Dynasty to the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to the forty-fourth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, it experienced the rise and fall of a dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Wang Mian, a farmer's son from Zhuji, Zhejiang, became a self-taught scholar. Because he did not want to be associated with the county magistrate Shiren and the gentry, he avoided Jinan, Shandong and sold paintings to make a living. The story begins here. . .
In the era of the imperial examination system where "everything was inferior but only those who studied were good", scholars spent their whole lives studying Confucian classics just to seek fame. The book's narrative mainly has two lines: one is the bright line, which depicts the pedantic and profit-driven image of the scholars and the eight-year experience. The brainwashing numbness and ignorance of the scholars; the other line is a hidden line. By describing the changes of the secondary characters, it reflects the corruption of the officialdom. The deterioration of the imperial examination system caused by the strengthening of the monarchy has led to the corruption of social atmosphere, and people's ugly faces are undoubtedly exposed.
