The imperial examination was the most important way of selecting officials in ancient China, and it has lasted for more than 1,300 years since the Sui and Tang dynasties. So what social factors promoted the establishment of the imperial examination system during the Sui and Tang dynasties, and gradually eliminated the Nine Pins Zhongzheng system? Let's take a look at them one by one.
1.
The rise of the Shu landlords and the decline of the Gatekeeper clan
The Jiupin Zhongzheng system was implemented for about 400 years from the Sui Dynasty, and by the last year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, due to the privileges and status of the Nine Pin Zhongzheng system to give the Menmen clan transcendent, the sons of the Shi clan rarely had politicians like Wang Dao and Xie An, and most of them were like dogs and horses, pursuing luxury, and driving the mendi to be self-conscious, which was the internal cause of their decline. In addition, the twelve-year-long peasant revolt initiated by Sun En and Lu Xun also dealt a heavy blow to the Gate Valve Clan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and Wang Xie and other families lost their original dominance, as reflected in the following, after Xie Yan was killed, the Beifu soldiers were controlled by the Han people, and the military power was no longer controlled by the Shi clan. Secondly, this uprising was originally caused by the serious feudal exploitation of the Mengmen clan and the inability of the peasants to afford it, and the spearhead was directed at the various clans of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In order to alleviate class contradictions, Liu Yu had to introduce some measures to reduce the burden on the peasants, and at the same time restricted the power of the rich and powerful clan.
The Shu landlords also began to rise during this period, and Emperor Wen of Sui promulgated the "equalized land system", which made almost every family own land, and at the same time straightened out the household registration, lightly assigned them, and liberated the tenant farmers and slaves who were dependent on the noble clan. So a few years later, small and medium-sized landlords rose rapidly, during the Sui and Tang dynasties, the power gap between the Shu and the Menmen clan became smaller and smaller, in order to safeguard the interests of its own class, the Shu landlord class demanded political power, actively sought ways to enter the army, and laid the mass foundation and class foundation for the implementation of the examination system.
2.
The emperor's need to strengthen the centralization of power
The imperial examination originated in the Sui Dynasty and was eventually shaped in the Tang Dynasty, and also met the needs of the great unification of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The Jiupin Zhongzheng system is the product of the local division of the Gate Valve Clan, and the evaluation of local officials is an important criterion for the selection of officials, and the right to elect officials is not in the hands of the emperor, but because the Wei and Jin regimes rely on the Scholars, they can only choose to compromise.
However, this phenomenon of ceding political and economic privileges was unacceptable to any despotic emperor, so the Sui and Tang emperors abolished the Nine Pins Zhongzheng system and used the imperial examination in line with the needs of autocratic imperial power. The selection of scholars can form a vertical selection from the central emperor to the local level. The children of the Cold Gate can meet the emperor in layers of examinations, "Chao Wei Tian Shelang, Twilight Heavenly Son Hall" is the benefit of the imperial examination system, and at the same time, the officials who receive the emperor's appreciation and are appointed are often more loyal to the emperor, so the tianzi masters more administrative decision-making power with human rights, which is conducive to the emperor's expansion of the basis of rule. In addition, by eliminating the dissatisfaction of the middle and lower classes caused by the lack of upward mobility, it can also alleviate political contradictions and contribute to political stability.
3.
The cultural monopoly of the Wei and Jin clans was broken
During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the Mengmen clan occupied the position of academic and cultural center with scripture as the core, and education was mainly based on private learning, and the scholars could rely on the family's method to interpret the Confucian, Shi, and Taoist classics. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Kong Yingda revised the Five Classics, and the Tang government promulgated the "Five Classics of Justice" throughout the country.
The development of economy and science and technology has promoted cultural prosperity, created certain learning conditions and cultural atmosphere for the disciples of the HanMen, and various new trends of thought have emerged in an endless stream, while the Mongol clan generally passes on the family of scripture, so it has gradually lost its original academic center status, which is also an important reason for the implementation of the imperial examination system.