This Saturday, a large number of graduate students will rush to the examination hall, and in the struggle of day and night, finally ushered in this moment of testing.
Some people have said that it is really tiring to take so many subjects in the exam now, or to cross to the ancient exam, just take a writing essay, how simple!
In fact, it is far easier to take the imperial examination than we think, and it is ten times more difficult than today, which is not false at all. Even a great talent like Su Shi and Wang Yangming had to do everything in their power to get through.
So what does a complete set of imperial examination procedures look like? Today's ancient time will take you to an "immersive examination".
What do we need to prepare for the imperial examination?
We often hear that in film and television works, "entering Beijing to catch the examination" is mentioned, and the so-called "entering Beijing to catch the examination" refers to going to Beijing to participate in the examination and the palace examination, but this is already the content of the second half of the imperial examination, and before entering Beijing to catch the examination, the imperial examination has several qualification examinations and primary examinations.
Candidates must pass the qualifying examination before the official imperial examination. This type of qualification examination is called the "child examination", after which you are eligible to take the "main examination" of the imperial examination. The child examination has to go through three levels of examinations, namely "county test", "government test" and "hospital test". The county examination is the first official examination taken by ancient readers, the examination place is in the county where they are located, and it is generally presided over by Zhi County (equivalent to the county chief). The prefectural examination is generally held in the second month of the lunar calendar every year. One month before the test, the county government will announce the specific test date. Candidates need to register in advance and submit three supporting documents at the time of registration: "Confession", "Mutual Knot" and "Tie Knot".
Examination process
The personal confession is equivalent to today's candidate's basic information table, which contains three generations of ancestral information, including your name, age, place of origin, physique, appearance characteristics and the names and resumes of great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents of three generations to ensure that your family is a good family.
The so-called mutual knot means that the candidates should find five candidates who refer to it together to write a letter of commitment, promising that if one person cheats, five people will sit together, which is a helpless means to prevent cheating in ancient times.
The so-called "confirmation" is to ask the county's twins (excellent xiucai) to provide "recognition" materials, to prove that the candidates do not impersonate the nationality, do not hide, do not stand-ins, do not pseudonyms, and are born innocent, are not the descendants of prostitutes or soap officials, and have not engaged in "unworthy business" such as drama. This link is similar to today's political trial.
The county examination is generally five times, which are divided into eight strands of literature, examination poems, scriptures, legal endowments, and policy theories. Lu Xun once participated in the county examination in the late Qing Dynasty. According to the diary of Lu Xun's younger brother Zhou Zuoren, Lu Xun ranked 137th out of more than 500 candidates that year, but did not take the government examination after the county examination, but went to the Nanjing Mining School to study in a new school.
In the grass hut of the student resting place - it resembles a Nanjing tea house. Yao Tuansi: "A Small Scene of tianjin examination field" (one), Times Comics, No. 28, 1936.
Those who pass the prefectural examination will take the second level of the qualification examination, which is called the prefectural examination. The prefectural examination is generally held in the fourth month of the lunar calendar every year, and the examination place is in Fucheng, which is equivalent to today's city. The prefectural examination is generally presided over by the prefect (equivalent to the mayor) and is held three times in a row. Candidates who pass the government examination are called "children". Although the name Tongsheng looks very young, many readers will find it difficult to even take the Tongsheng exam in their lifetime. Young children may be twelve or thirteen years old, older children, sixty or seventy years old are also many children, and even in some families, grandfathers and grandchildren may be children.
Children who pass the government examination next have to participate in the final level of the examination, the "hospital examination".
The college examination is held twice every three years, and each time there are two consecutive examinations. The abbot of the Academy is the academic government of each province. Xuezheng is the official in charge of official schools and college examinations in each province, and his functions are equivalent to those of the provincial education minister. However, unlike ordinary provincial officials, Xuezheng was appointed directly from the central government by the emperor to the localities, and its nature was similar to that of a Chincha minister, with a high rank and status. The term of office is three years, and during the term of office, it is successively to the province or state under the jurisdiction of each province to preside over the examination.
Candidates watch the admission list Qiu Ying, "Guan Bang Tu"
After passing the college examination, the identity of the candidates is no longer a child, but a "student", commonly known as "Xiucai". Xiucai's social status is higher than that of ordinary people, and he enjoys some privileges. For example, when I saw Zhi County, I didn't have to kneel, and I didn't need to serve the state's errands and servitude. In addition, Xiucai is also eligible to enter the official school, the best grades are called "twins", and they can also receive grain and rice distributed by the state on a monthly basis. It is not easy to show talent in the examination, and the proportion is not higher than 8%. According to the number of people lu Xun participated in the county examination, more than 500 candidates were finally admitted to 40 xiucai.
Cheating shirts
Although Xiucai already has a certain social status, because of the large number of Xiucai, it is not rare in society. Moreover, Xiucai was not yet qualified to serve as an official, so in the ancient times of the officialdom, no one took Xiucai too seriously, at most respecting. In the "History of Ru Lin", when Fan Jin was in the middle of the Examination, his father-in-law Hu Butcher also taunted him for his "sharp-billed monkey cheeks" and did not pay any attention to him. However, when Fan Jin was raised in the examination, the Hu butcher immediately changed his face and called Fan Jin "The Virtuous Son-in-law". The reason for this change comes from the disparity between talent and identity.
The qualifiers were won and the finalists now begin
So how does the show become a lifter? The answer is to continue the exam. After the examination, candidates are eligible to take the main examination of the imperial examination. The main examination is also divided into three levels, namely the township examination, the meeting test, and the temple examination. The township examination is held once every three years, and is generally held in the year of zi, 卯, noon and unitary in the year of the Tiangandi branch. Because the examination time is mostly in the eighth month of the lunar calendar, it is autumn, so the township examination is also called: "Autumn".
Wen Feiqing's Seven Volumes of Poetry Collected Poems, One Volume of Collected Poems (Tang), written by Wen Tingjun describes his process of taking the imperial examination
The chief examiner is generally a jinshi-born official in Jinghanlin or a ministry. The examination place is generally in the provincial city, and there is a special examination room, called the Tribute Temple. There are three township examinations, one on the ninth and twelfth days of the first year, and one for each exam. The list is issued in September, when the osmanthus blossoms are blooming, so it is also called "gui list". After passing the township examination, the identity of the candidates changed from a show talent to a lifter. After becoming a person, it means that you have broken away from the popular class and officially entered the class of "scholars", and you can become an official.
Not only are people exempt from military service, but they are also exempt from taxation, so many people who own land prefer to put their land in the name of the person to avoid state taxes. In addition, the local government could not use torture on the lifting of people, and even if they committed serious crimes, they had to be reported to the imperial court to remove the qualifications for the lifting of people before they could be used. Of course, the admission rate of people is also very low. Someone once calculated that the admission rate of the township examination in the Ming Dynasty should be 7.26%; the population of the Qing Dynasty increased sharply, and the admission rate of the township examination was even lower to 1.68%. If lu Xun's child test show admission rate of 8% of the comprehensive calculation, a reader from the first county test, to the township test to lift people, the success rate of no more than 0.6%.
Eight-strand literary examination paper of the Ming and Qing dynasties
After passing the exam, the candidates can not be busy and happy, and must immediately prepare for the examination after the township examination. The examination is generally held in the third month of the lunar calendar of the second year after the township examination, when it is spring, so it is also called "spring". The examination is presided over by the Ministry of Rites, and the chief examiner is appointed by the Emperor. The examination site of the examination is in the Rebbe Gongyuan in Beijing, and most of the people's living places are far away from Beijing, and the general township examination will start to set off in the waxing moon of the year when the township examination is completed, and the real "entering Beijing to catch the examination" will begin. The cost of the road, the state will prepare for them.
During the Shunzhi period in the early Qing Dynasty, the people who participated in the examination were subsidized by the state for the travel expenses of the children, depending on the distance of the road, ranging from ten to twenty-two per person. During the Shunzhi period, the purchasing power of silver was higher than that of the Kangxi Qianlong period, and the purchasing power of this silver was equal to today's one or two million yuan. In addition, the gentry landlords of the same village will also fund the travel expenses, first, to attach importance to culture, and second, to make friends with the future of the gentry class. At the same time as the road fare, there is also a road guide prepared by the government for the lifters.
In the second year of the Wanli Calendar (1574), the painting shows the scene of the Ming Dynasty Gongyuan holding an examination.
In the Ming Dynasty, traveling more than 100 miles had to be accompanied by a road guide issued by the government, similar to the introduction letter in the era of planned economy. In the age of despotism, those who have no way to go out privately will be punished according to the law once they are discovered. Before leaving, the person can also go to the official palace to receive a fire sign. The fire sign is a voucher for the use of the stations along the way, and the ancient stations only served the government and the people had no right to use them. However, if a person enters Beijing to catch the examination and holds a fire card, he can use three servants at the station along the way, and when there is no servant at the station, he will also discount the silver to the person.
The bus that people take to beijing to catch the examination is called a bus, and the bus is inserted with a flag made of yellow cloth (yellow is the royal color), and the flag is written with four big characters: "Fengzhihui Test" or "Rebbe Huihui Test", which is very imposing. At the sight of this flag, all cards along the way must be released unconditionally and no tolls may be charged. The bandits along the road will also look away when they see this banner, not that the bandits also attach importance to culture, but that robbers cannot grab a few dollars at all, and the risk is extremely high, because the official government punishes the case of robbing people who enter Beijing to rush to the examination, after all, people are "taking the test according to the will".
Late Qing Dynasty Hunan Guild Hall
So when you get to Beijing, where do the people live? Those who have relatives and friends can live in inns, those who have no relatives and friends can live in inns, and more people live in "guild halls". The so-called guild hall is the office of the province in Beijing, which is mainly used to entertain officials from their hometowns who come to Beijing for official business or people who rush to take examinations. As soon as most people enter Beijing, they go straight to the provincial capital hall, which is safe and convenient, and the food is also in line with the taste of their hometown. Because the guild hall often lives with some local officials who come to Beijing to wait for orders, the guild hall is also a place where people learn about the official field and make contacts. After living in the guild hall for a while, it is time to usher in the ceremonial examination. The test will be held in three sessions, one for three days, and you need to bring your own food and oil lamp.
Sidney M. Sidney David Gamble photographed the Henan Gongyuan House in Kaifeng in 1918, and there were 10,009 surviving houses at that time.
When taking the exam, one person and one exam shed, one exam shed can only accommodate one table, and its space is as large as a squat seat in today's toilet. The process of the test is very hard. The people who participated in the examination were already the best among the readers in the provinces and the winners after the big waves, but the majority of the people who would be tested still had to be cruelly eliminated. Take the Ming Dynasty's five-year examination for example: more than 4,500 people took the exam, and only 300 people were admitted. The admitted person after the examination is called a gongshi, which is literally a taxi that pays tribute to the son of heaven. One month after becoming a gongshi, candidates will take the ultimate examination of the imperial examination, the temple examination.
The temple tried
The final has already begun, just one step away from the dream
The temple examination was presided over by the emperor himself, and the examination hall of the Qing Dynasty hall was changed to the Bohol Hall after the Qianlong of the Taihe Hall in the Forbidden City. The temple examination is only one day, and after the examination, the examination is read by the examiner hand-picked by the emperor. When reading the papers, each examiner should read all the examination papers and draw five symbols representing the first grade on the examination papers, and the symbols of the highest grade are circles. Finally, the ten examination papers with the most circles were selected and handed over to the emperor himself for review and selection of the top three. Finally, it is time to release the results. All candidates are divided into three grades according to their grades: "First Class", "Second Class" and "Top Three".
There are three people in the first division, who are the emperor's soft point, the first name is Yuanyuan, the second name is Bangyan, and the third name is Tanhua. There are more than 100 people in the second division, and one hundred people in the third division. Seeing this, everyone can also see that there is no elimination mechanism in the temple test, just a qualifying match. In other words, all the gongshi who take the temple examination will pass the examination to become a jinshi. The difference is only in the level of the jinshi, the first is called "jinshi and the first", the second is called "jinshi birth", and the third is called "tongjinshi birth" in fact, they are all jinshi.
[Qing] Yao Wenhan's "Purple Light Pavilion Gift Banquet Map". The Purple Light Pavilion was built in the Ming Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty was the place where the emperor paraded and tested martial arts.
After passing the entrance examination, the road to career officially began. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were generally three ways out after passing the entrance examination. The best way out is to enter the Hanlin Academy, where high-ranking officials gather and are also the training places for high-ranking officials. Entering the Hanlin Academy is similar to entering the Central Party School today for further study. The title is generally written by the official Hanlin Academy, and the Compilation and Revision of the Hanlin Academy by the Officials of the List eye and the Tanhua Award, respectively, from the six pins and the seven pins, which are equivalent to today's department-level cadres. Some of the second-class students with good grades will also enter the Hanlin Academy and serve as Shu Jishi. Shu Jishi did not hold an official position, equivalent to an intern, and learned from senior officials in the Hanlin Academy as an official. The sub-optimal way out for Jinshi was to stay in Beijing and become an official in various departments of the imperial court, that is, to become a Beijing official.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was a saying in the official field: "Among the people, there is a jinshi in the middle of the people, and the upper one is in Hanlin, and the second period is given to the matter, and the second period is the imperial history, and the second period is the main affair." "Hanlin is the best choice, and if you can't go to The Hanlin Academy, you have to serve in the central departments." The worst way out for jinshi is to go to the local office, generally starting from the level of Zhixian County. In other words, if you pass the entrance examination, you can become a county magistrate at worst.
Taking the Ming and Qing dynasties as an example, we have completed the full process of the imperial examination.
Our current examination environment and difficulty are much simpler than those of our ancient predecessors, but they still overcame the difficulties and realized their dreams.
Mountains and rivers are doubtful and there is no way, willows and dark flowers are bright and another village, may everyone who works hard have courage and luck. Here, I also hope that the students of the graduate school can be titled in the gold list, "early ashore"!