要真有那考科举的本事
“If he really had the ability to pass the imperial exam,”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
“Just a pretty boy who married into his wife's family.”
要真有那考科举的 本事
“If he really had the ability to pass the imperial exam,”
“he wouldn't be a live-in son-in-law.”
“He is totally useless and couldn't accomplish anything on his own merits.”
Passing the Keju exam was the ultimate proof of a man's worth; conversely, marrying into the wife's family as a matrilocal husband (shangmen nüxu) was traditionally viewed as a humiliation reserved for men with no means or talent.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
take the imperial civil service examinations
A historical term referring to the imperial exams that were the primary path to social mobility in pre-modern China.
have that kind of capability / skill
A colloquial phrase often used skeptically or sarcastically to doubt someone's real qualifications.
