“Seeing My Son off at School”
Written by Wang Shuqing Compiled in the Saoye shanfang lithographic edition of Remarks on Poetry by Guixiu by Lei Junyao and Lei Junyan in 1928
During the Qing dynasty, numerous paintings and writings on parents instructing children, respectively referred to as “kezi tu” and “kezi wenxue,” emerged, which demonstrate that the imperial examinations were a family affair; that is, the parents—especially the mother—often played the role of supervisor in their son’s education. Author Wang Shuqing, mother of jinshi Liang Zhangju (1775–1849), begins her well-known poetic work “Seeing My Son off at School”: “A pig or dog is better than a son who is not studying.” This one line encapsulates the expectation of the parents as well as the immense pressure that the son had to carry as an exam candidate.
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