After the 1880s, with the spread of Western studies and the development of the Western affairs movement, the imperial examination system that had been practiced in China for more than 2,000 years was also changing. In 1888, the Qing government set up a numeracy discipline to take the entrance examination, and for the first time included natural science in the examination content. In 1898, a special section of economics was added to recommend talents who had changed through the times.
(Imperial Examination)
The Restorationists have always been critical of the imperial examination. Kang Youwei pointed out that the eight shares are useless, and the reform of keju is not eager to abolish the eight shares, demanding that "the eight shares of the test be stopped and the six sections of the economy be promoted."
Guangxu had decreed the abolition of the Eight Shares of Scholars, and all the township examinations and the Tongsheng examinations were changed to test strategies. However, after the failure of the change of law, Cixi resumed the imperial examination system.
The torrent of the times cannot be stopped. On September 2, 1905, the Qing government issued an edict stating: "Since the beginning of the Bingwu Section, all township examinations will be stopped, and the examinations for the provincial grades will be stopped.
In short, the system of the ancient school of the academy is no different from the imperial examination. The previous chapters were originally based on self-cultivation and Bible reading; each science was especially practical. It is in the officials and gentry to affirm the purpose, hear the wind rise, build more schools, popularize education, and the country will benefit from the people, that is, the local area will also have glory. ”
This edict proclaimed the end of the imperial examination system, which had been in place for more than 1,300 years since the Sui Dynasty.
(List of Examinations)
As a way for the promotion of the people, the imperial examination has always been the gathering point of the country's political, cultural and social systems. The abolition of the imperial examination also means the severance of the traditional path of advancement and the reform of the social system. However, it is surprising that the abolition of such a major system as the imperial examination has not caused much social repercussions.
The subjects of the imperial examination include: Jinshi, Juren, Bagong, Yougong, Vice List (Vice Gong), Engong, Shigong, Shengyuan (廪生, Epiphyte, Augmentation), Teaching, Transcription; Donation categories include: Gonggong, Zenggong, Fugong, Gongsheng, Gongsheng, Zengjian, Zengjian, Auxiliary Supervisor, Auxiliary Supervisor, Supervision And so on.
The examination system is not only an education system, but also a system of electing officials. In the Qing Dynasty, there were two main ways to enter the army, and the imperial examination was the most important way to select officials.
However, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, there was a division within the Chinese gentry class, and the proportion of those who were admitted to the chinese court declined, and the proportion of donations increased. There have even been strange phenomena in which more officials are donated than section officials, forming a strange phenomenon that different paths overwhelm the right path, and it is difficult for those who come from the right path to obtain real positions.
(Qing Dynasty Gongyuan)
In the first year of tongzhi, Yin Jiang Qiling of Shuntianfu sang: "Recently, the officials have chosen the law, and the people in the right path have hardly arrived at the day of the shift, and those who have been chased should not try the Chinese style." In the context of the great opening of donations at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the final examination naturally could not cause a great sensation in society.
For ordinary scholars, the imperial examination is still the only way for them to ascend. With the abolition of the imperial examination, the academy was developed, "the imperial examination was abolished, and all those who were born in the academy had the hope of a future, but there was no difference in the future, so the students who entered the hall did not suffer from not many of them." ”
In the process of abolishing the imperial examination, the Qing government also paid attention to how to match the traditional meritorious name with the new type of education, so that the readers could find a way out in the new school system.
Kang Youwei and others put forward the idea of reforming the imperial examination and abolishing the eight shares of the imperial examination on the disadvantages of the Penghu Reform Law, but with the failure of the reform method, this proposal was not effectively implemented.
In April 1901, Yuan Shikai suggested that the examination be changed and that the practical study be added to the examination, and after the years, the scholar who was more practical and the person who studied practically was taken. Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi proposed in "Jiang Chuhui Playing Three Folds" that the imperial examination be changed, the number of examinations should be reduced by sub-disciplines, the examination should be replaced by the academy, and the imperial examination should be abolished, so that "all students and members of the imperial examination are from the academy."
They designed a set of corresponding rules, and graduates of primary schools, middle schools, colleges and universities corresponded to the appendages, students, tribute students, juren, and jinshi respectively. Zhang and Liu believe that this is a way to "take into account the overall planning and subtlety without suffering from its suffocation and difficulty".
On December 5, 1901, the Qing court approved the "Constitution for the Encouragement of the Election of the Academy in Accordance with the Will", which formally stipulated that the graduates of the academy should be given meritorious births of gongsheng, lifters, and jinshi after passing the examination.
(New Style Academy Teachers and Students)
The abolition of the imperial examination cut off the path of the traditional scholar's career, but the opportunity for the scholar to gain fame was broader than before. The "Declaration" commented that the academy is no different from the imperial examination, and after the students graduate, the middle school compares the students, the provincial school compares the people, and the university compares the jinshi, which is a great thing for the school to advance and merge into one.
If the imperial examination is combined with the school, the school will be prosperous because"
The way of Lilu, the direction of the crowd"
。
After the abolition of the imperial examination, how to arrange the way out for the old scholars?
Cixi also asked Zhang Zhidong about this:
If you abolish the examination and fear of losing the heart of the disciples, what if it is? ”
Zhang Zhidong believes:
It is not possible to take the scholar from the academy, and the abolition of the examination is inconvenient, but the ears of the thirty- and forty-year-old students, who are rich and powerful, can enter the hall, and the school is wide open, and most of the thirty- and forty-year-old students can teach for the primary school, and they can raise a way out for it, not once the examination is stopped, that is, there is nothing to do.
In fact, the examination is not abolished immediately, so it must be reduced to the three subjects, and it is precisely for this reason. In these three subjects, if you can no longer use Chinese style, you are all fifty or sixty years old, and you will not want to enter the school again. ”
It was Zhang Zhidong's explanation that dispelled Cixi's concerns."
The decree was immediately agreed with the Administration Office."
(Zhang Zhidong)
After the abolition of the imperial examination, the Qing government proposed several ways to solve the problem of the way out for the readers: first, to set up primary and secondary schools so that all students can enter the church to study with peace of mind; second, to set up teacher training centers in provincial cities to enroll the elderly students; third, higher schools and teacher training halls are all added to the quota, and all students who are more than 20 years old are selected for admission, and those who have insufficient primary school level are allowed to make up for their studies.
Due to the perfect measures, it has solved the worries of readers.
After the abolition of the imperial examination, the Qing government demanded that all governors and governments study politics."
The gentry are exhorted to set up a wide range of primary schools, to cut the expenses of the officials who are not in a hurry, and to donate to the gentlemen's rich houses, to cooperate with each other, and to do so at the same time."
Although the gentry opposed the abolition of the imperial examination system, after the abolition of the imperial examination, they quickly sent their children to the church and were keen to open schools. For example, in Jiangsu Province, except for the government schools, other schools were founded by gentry.
(New Style School in the Late Qing Dynasty)
According to the Qing government, in 1903, before the abolition of the imperial examination, 67% of modern schools were established by the government, in 1904, this figure was 85%, and after the abolition of the imperial examination in 1906, it dropped to 37%.
The share of private schools is rising rapidly. Especially in the economically developed Jiangnan area, the number of private schools far exceeds that of government schools. In Shanghai alone, there were 125 primary schools in 1906, of which 27 were government and 98 were private.
During this period, the gentry took advantage of the abolition of the imperial examination to cooperate with the officials, so that the lower gentry gained more benefits.
China's traditional society is a society with a "super-stable structure".
From the Qin and Han dynasties to the late Qing Dynasty, although there were changes in dynasties, the entire history and culture were continuous, and the important reason was the existence of the scholar class.
Chinese always thought"
Everything is inferior, but the reading is high", "Learning and excellence"
The abolition of the imperial examination and the no longer produce "scholars", and the social basis of the traditional Chinese "scholars, peasants, industrialists, and merchants" has also been changed.
Old photo: A family of gentry and wealthy people in the late Qing Dynasty
With the abolition of the imperial examination, the link between the elite and the system was broken. The overall trend of the elite is to go to the periphery, and eventually the marginal forces rise.
The representatives of the marginal forces, the local gentry, not only used the academy and so on to gain status for themselves and the clan, but also intervened heavily in local public affairs, causing the differentiation and reorganization of local social classes.
After the abolition of the imperial examination, the status of the gentry class has undergone great changes, and more and more readers have entered the gentry class through the academy, which is also a new change brought to the Chinese class after the abolition of the imperial examination.
Resources:
"The Statutes of the Ding Ding School", "Ding Guo is the Edict", Xie Junmei's "Political System and Modern China"