Thirty Years of Diligent Study

During the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty, ten-year-old farmer’s son Zhou Yanqing discovers his dream of becoming an imperial scholar through a tattered copy of The Analects, never realizing the path will consume thirty years of his life. From topping the county exams to failing six times, from youthful ambition to graying temples, he bears the ridicule of being called “Fan Jin” and the promise from Shen Zhitang, the merchant’s daughter: “I bet you’ll pass the jinshi exam.” He is swept through the whirlpools of the imperial examinations and human nature, upright officials and powerful ministers.

When Zhou Yanqing finally stands in the palace on the day the successful candidates are announced, the jinshi certificate in his hands is stained with his mentor’s blood and conceals the injustice done to his closest friend. And Miss Shen, who sold her dowry for him and worked herself into an old medicine woman, has already coughed off half a finger during an epidemic in Jiangnan…