Magistrate Qi had not read the Four Books for many years, and fearing that he might have missed something when he examined him, he asked the servant boy beside him to bring the book to him, opened a page at random, and read: "The Master said: 'It is not the strength of a horse that is praised, but its virtue.'"
This passage was from Xianwen No. 14. Not far from where he had just recited, Ryan Cui continued to recite without hesitation: "Ji is the name of a good horse. De means well-trained..."
Qi Sheng interrupted him, flipped through the book for a while, stopped at a random place, pointed his finger at the book and asked, "'This refers to the nature of temperament. It is not the essence of nature.' Which sentence is it explaining?"
Ryan Cui replied: "This sentence was said by Master Cheng, and the original text he explained comes from Yang Huo Chapter 17, where Master said: Natures are similar, but habits make them different..."
"Zilu asked about being an adult."
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