The Commoner Scholar's Quest to Save the World

Shen Yan, a scholar whose policy essays dwell on the practical concerns of the people, fails the imperial examination. Taking advantage of a hundred-day study tour through the prefectural academy, he sets out with Liu Qinghe, a bookshop manager, and others to journey across seven prefectures. They survey river dikes and granaries, untangle the chaos of weights and measures, resolve the paper-mill scandal, and confront the flaws of the system head-on. Letting go of his obsession with official honors, he joins hands with people from every walk of life to compile a practical-knowledge volume, Rivers and Mountains on Paper, bringing pragmatic learning to the countryside and embodying what a true scholar's ideals should be.