The ancient imperial examination system was much more complicated than the college entrance examination. Eligible readers are recommended to participate in the township examination and obtain the qualification of "child student", and a group with excellent results are called "xiucai". The show is the lowest merit, and it is also the threshold for participating in the next step of the test. According to statistics, in the entire 275 years of the Qing Dynasty, there were about 2 million people who passed the child examination, of which only 450,000 were awarded xiucai.
Having the meritorious name of Xiucai means that he has basically separated from the civilian class, begun to have a certain social status, and enjoys privileges such as not kneeling to see officials, exempting himself from military service, and being exempted from punishment. Under normal circumstances, Xiucai can directly serve as a teacher, or he can serve as a minor official at all levels of yamen. Talents with a certain family background can hold up to eight official positions through dotting relationships, such as the top leaders of various departments in the county.
Theoretically, Xiucai cannot serve as an official of more than seven pins, but there are exceptions. For example, during the Ming Dynasty's Wanli Dynasty, the number of officials in Shaanxi was insufficient, and the Wanli Emperor neglected political affairs, so the Shaanxi Governor could only promote a number of Xiucai as county officials, and these people were extremely lucky types.
The ancients said: "Destroy the prefect of the door, break the order of the county", and the official holds the power of life and death in his hands. The first step in obtaining these powers is to pass the imperial examination to become a person. Compared with Xiucai, it is much more difficult to pass the examination. In the entire 276 years of the Ming Dynasty, there were more than 100,000 people, an average of less than 400 people per year. In the 24th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, the number of people in Henan was only 50. At that time, a large county with a population of more than 100,000 people could produce 1 person per year, which was already very remarkable, and the average county only produced one in a few years. That is to say, as long as you pass the exam, you can become a household name in the county.
Here, we must mention the textbook "Fan Jin Zhongju". Before Fan Jin was lifted, he was bullied everywhere in the village, and even the butchers did not pay attention to him. After Fan Jinzhongju, the county officials and squires immediately came to meet and give gifts. The reason why the status and status of the person is so high is that the person who is selected in the examination can hold an official position. Under normal circumstances, a person can serve as a County Official of Qipin County. Those with poor connections and family conditions can also obtain an 8-pin teaching (equivalent to the Education Secretary). After several years of hard work, as long as you do not make mistakes, it is not difficult to promote people to the prefect of the 5 pins before retirement. If a person is not willing to take up an official position, he can also enjoy the subsidies issued by the imperial court, which can basically ensure that there is no worry about food and clothing.
Finally, let's talk about the elements. In the college entrance examination, there are also titles, which are divided into provincial titles and national titles, and there are liberal arts titles and science titles. The number of college entrance examination winners is several dozen every year, while the number of winners in the imperial examination system is only 1 every 3 years.
In the Qing Dynasty, the imperial examination system was organized every 3 years, producing about 200-300 jinshi, divided into the first, second and third divisions, of which the first name in the first division was The champion. In many costume dramas, we all know that The Crown is to pass the emperor's face examination, not only to be able to parade the streets to receive congratulations, but also to have the privilege of riding horses in Miyagi, and if you are lucky, you can also be married by the emperor. Of course, it is not a good article, and if it is liked by the emperor and the examiner, it can become a champion. In ancient times, the imperial court had certain requirements for the appearance of the yuan, and the ugly jinshi could not be the champion. For example, Zhong Kui of the Tang Dynasty was an unfortunate champion, who was rejected by Tang Dezong because of his ugliness and lost his title.
According to statistics, in the more than 1300 years since the existence of the ancient imperial examination system, only 504 titles have appeared. If you can become a champion, it basically means that you can serve as an official with more than 5 pins. Because after being hand-picked by the emperor and assessed in person, the champion can often get more training and promotion. It can be said that the identity of the emperor is the first step to becoming a courtier or a famous courtier throughout the ages.
It can be seen from this that from the perspective of the difficulty of the examination, the status of identity and the impact of life, the college students who stand out in the modern college entrance examination can obviously not be directly compared with the champions, people and talents in the ancient imperial examination system. If we have to compare the imperial examination identity with the modern identity, I personally believe that:
1. A child is equivalent to a college student. The identity of a child is equivalent to a university diploma, which is an affirmation of the hard reading career of several years, and also a basic certification of the amount of knowledge and learning ability. For example, the excellent boy Kong Yiji, not only proficient in the Four Books and Five Classics, knows that there are 4 ways to write the "fennel bean" character, and even can write a beautiful calligraphy, modern college students may not be able to win.
2. Xiucai is equivalent to graduate student. In ancient times, there were only a few talents in each village, who were not only qualified to serve as the leaders of the county court, but also had the ability to teach and lecturer. Objectively speaking, the show is superior to the graduate student.
3. Lifting a person is equivalent to a doctor. The number of doctors produced in China every year is more than 70,000, while the Ming Dynasty produces 400 people per year, even if the population base factor is considered, the number of people is much more scarce than doctors. Doctors in politics are generally cadres at the level of the department, and the worst person is also a 7-pin county official, at least a deputy department level.
4. Jinshi is equivalent to an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. There are more than 1,100 academicians in the Chinese Academy of Sciences in China, and there are 61 newly elected academicians in 2017. The Qing Dynasty produced more than 200 jinshi every 3 years, which is basically close to the number of academicians.
5. The title is equivalent to a Nobel Prize winner. This is really not a good analogy. At present, there are two Nobel Prize winners in China, namely Mo Yan's Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012 and Tu Youyou's Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2015, about once every 3 years. It is hoped that the frequency of China's Nobel Prizes can be maintained for a long time, and these winners are the leaders of modern China.