“名落孙山” (“Míng Luò Sūn Shān”): Falling behind Sun Shan
Definition: “Ming Luo Sun Shan” literally means “falling behind Sun Shan” or “failing in a competitive examination”
Historical figure: Sun Shan
Origin: In Fan Gongcheng’s Guoting Lu (Records of the Courtyard) written in the Song Dynasty, there is such a line: “The list ended at Sun Shan, while your worthy son’s name was still beyond.”
Sun Shan: a man, not a mountain
The idiom “Ming Luo Sun Shan,” meaning “falling behind Sun Shan,” is widely known among Chinese people. It refers to the situation in which one fails in an examination or is not on the list of successful candidates of a competition. In other words, the person does not make the cut. The origin of this idiom is connected to a native of Suzhou: Sun Shan.
According to Fan Gongcheng’s Guoting Lu (Records of the Courtyard) written in the Song Dynasty, Sun Shan, a native of Wu, was a scholar known for his quick wit and sense of humour.
While traveling to another prefecture to take the imperial examination, a fellow townsman entrusted his son to Sun Shan to accompany him on the journey. The townsman’s son did not pass, while Sun Shan’s name appeared as the last one on the pass list. Sun Shan returned home first. When the townsman inquired about his son’s test result, Sun Shan replied: “The list ended at Sun Shan, while your worthy son’s name was still beyond.”
The humorous and witty scholar Sun Shan, a native of Suzhou, took the provincial imperial examination together with his fellow townsman’s son. He was lucky enough to pass as the very last one on the pass list, while the townsman’s son failed. Perhaps feeling disheartened by the result, that young man did not return home immediately after the result was announced. Sun Shan, buoyant with success, returned at an earlier time. When faced with the father’s anxious inquiry, Sun Shan found himself caught between courtesy and honesty. Unable to tell the old the result directly yet unwilling to hide the truth from him, Sun offered a tactful reply: “The last name on the pass list is Sun Shan, while your worthy son’s name was still beyond.” With these words, he first modestly claimed that his own position was at the very bottom of the list, and then gently conveyed the unpleasant news of his fellow candidate’s failure. Such a response, neither boastful nor humiliating, demonstrated Sun Shan’s remarkable communication skills. Living up to his reputation as a “quick-witted scholar,” Sun exemplified that “True learning lies in one’s understanding of the ways of the world, and the art of life lies in one’s mastery of social graces.”
Apart from the account in Guoting Lu (Records from the Courtyard), there have been no other records mentioning Sun Shan. The reason might be that Sun Shan achieved neither high official ranks nor scholarly honors. Yet, as the saying goes, “one phrase can carry more weight than ten thousand sentences.” The name Sun Shan has endured through the idiom “Ming Luo Sun Shan” (“to fail in a competitive examination”). It makes him the most widely known “fortunate” figure for later generations in terms of successes in the imperial examination.
Guoting Lu (Records from the Courtyard), family notes by the Fan clan of Suzhou
The idiom “falling behind Sun Shan” (or “to fail in a competitive examination”) is associated with Suzhou not only because Sun Shan was a native of the place, but also because its source, Guoting Lu, is a collection of notes compiled by the Fan family of Suzhou.
Guoting Lu was written by Fan Gongcheng (1126–1158) of the Southern Song Dynasty. The work consists of one volume which contains 114 entries. The title Guoting Lu (literally “Records of the Courtyard”) derives from “Ji Shi,” meaning “The Ji family” of The Analects of Confucius. According to this chapter, Confucius’s son Li “hurried across the courtyard” to listen to his father’s instruction. Hence, the phrase is used to describe the situation that a child listens to paternal teaching. The book largely records stories of earlier generations of the Fan family, which were all noted down by Fan Gongcheng around the years 1147–1148 based on the oral accounts of his father Fan Zhifang (1083–1152). That’s why the work was titled Guoting Lu.
Fan Gongcheng was the great-great-grandson of the eminent Northern Song statesman Fan Zhongyan (989–1052) and the great-grandson of Fan Chunren (1027–1101). Little is known about his life.
“The Annotated Catalog” of Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries) includes the following comments on Guoting Lu:
Fan Gongcheng was the great-grandson of Fan Chunren. The book largely recounts the virtuous deeds of his ancestors, which he heard from his father in the years 1147–1148. Hence, he titled the book Guoting. The accounts are restrained in praise and retain a sincere, unadorned tone, which befits the family’s tradition. … It also occasionally touches upon poetry and literary anecdotes … many of which are noteworthy.
Guoting Lu focuses on the deeds of earlier generations of the Fan family, such as Fan Zhongyan and Fan Chunren. Its contents are mainly concerned with governance, and family teachings. Most of them are factual and well-documented, free from exaggeration and unrealistic praise. The book makes a valuable source for studying the Fan family. For example, the book offers the following background about Fan Zhongyan’s “On the Yueyang Tower”:
Teng Zijing was a man of great talent, so he was envied and resented by his contemporaries. After being demoted from his post as military commissioner of Qingyang to serve in Baling, his writing was sometimes charged with indignation and frustration. Wenzheng (Fan Zhongyan was posthumously honored as “Wenzheng”) had sat the imperial examination in the same year as Teng, so he was on friendly terms with Teng. Fan Zhongyan appreciated his ability, and cautioned him that such conduct might later bring him trouble. However, Teng was bold and self-assured, seldom accepting others’ advice. Just when Fan was concerned about having no chance to offer counsel to him, Teng wrote to Fan requesting a copy of “On the Yueyang Tower.” Thus, in the piece Fan wrote, “Not delighted by external things, not saddened by personal loss,” and “Be the first to bear hardships and the last to enjoy comforts.” There was surely a deeper intent behind these words.”
After Teng Zijing was demoted and assigned to govern Baling, his sorrow and indignation were evident every day. As a close friend, Fan Zhongyan worried that Teng might bring trouble upon himself with his words. However, knowing Teng was bold and self-assured, Fan found no suitable time to offer advice. Therefore, when Teng demanded that Fan write an essay on the Yueyang Tower, Fan seized this opportunity to caution his friend. Through the account preserved in Guoting Lu, we gain insight into Fan Zhongyan’s sincere care and thoughtful intent embodied in these words written centuries ago.
In addition, Guoting Lu contains records related to politics and officials of the Song Dynasty, which can serve as valuable reference materials for verifying and supplementing official historical accounts. The work also deals with literati figures, poetry, and various literary anecdotes of the period. Poems, prose excerpts, and stories that are not written by famous writers or from classic works can be found in this book as well, for example the origin of the idiom “Ming Luo Sun Shan.” Guoting Lu proves to be a notebook of high scholastic and historical value.
