The formation of the civil official system of the Song Dynasty: The Dynasty is Tian Shelang, and the Tianzi Hall of The Heavenly Son

What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo

In the selection and appointment of cadres, the Song Dynasty followed the Sui and Tang Dynasty examination system, and at the same time, the Song Dynasty's examination for the Examination for Examination was perfected on the basis of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. However, in the final Song Dynasty, the Jinshi Section selected the most people, and the Jinshi Section mainly examined poetry, theory, policy, Analects, Moyi, Spring and Autumn, etc., and the Song Dynasty's imperial examinations were divided into: township examinations, provincial examinations and temple examinations. The township examination is counted as the candidates sprinting to a higher level of the qualification examination; the provincial examination is a unified examination at the central level, which is supervised by the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Rites of the Song Dynasty called it Shangshu Province, so it is called the provincial examination; the temple examination is a re-examination presided over by the emperor himself.

It is precisely because the Song Dynasty abolished the door valve system and issued the No. 1 document of the Central Committee, stipulating that all readers can realize the dream of "carp leaping dragon gate" through their own efforts and through formal examination channels, and truly embody the principle of employing people who "learn and excel", so the world's reading talents will sharpen their heads and crash into the big net of the imperial examination. History of Song. The Biography of Wen Yuan describes that "those who are subordinate to the people, from the prime minister to the order, all of them are promoted to the rank of subject, the scribes of the sea, and the polite generations." "The great masters of the Song Dynasty, such as Lü Mengzheng, Ouyang Xiu, and Fan Zhongyan, all came from humble backgrounds, but through their own efforts, they all passed the recruitment examination (imperial examination) as they wished, and became the pillars of the country. The power of example is infinite, so everyone in the world who reads is rushing to the one-wood bridge of Keju.

Since the imperial examination can change the fate of a reader, then exam cheating has become the ultimate shortcut for some readers to realize their dreams, Song Dynasty officials in order to prevent candidates from a variety of cheating methods, invented and created many rules and rules of the examination hall that have been used in later generations, these system names with the brand of the Song Dynasty, it is interesting to read today, the most important of which is probably counted as "locking the courtyard"; "Mi Feng"; "transcription"; "don't try" and other systems.

The "locked hospital" system is aimed at the wind of "please entrust". According to the regulations, once the emperor designates an official to serve as an examiner, he must be sealed and locked in the tribute court, so that the person is isolated from the outside world and prevents the candidate and the examiner from reaching an agreement for personal gain. Modern examinations still use this method, but the Song people have long commented that in order to eradicate this kind of fraud, the quality of the examiner is the first, and according to the development of today's communication equipment, it is more difficult to completely control the examiner. Even in the Song Dynasty, once the examiner determined that if he had the heart to pass on the news, the examiner often delayed the time to the Gongyuan, and only a simple time difference was enough to leak the heavenly opportunity, and the wild history "Crane Forest Yulu" once disclosed that the famous Song Shi had done similar troubles, but the organ was too clever, but it was cheaper for others.

The "mi-seal" system is aimed at the disadvantage of "nesting private". It is to paste the candidate's name and hometown, and decide on the admission paper before opening the seal. It is said that during the song Dynasty Emperor Taizong Chunhua adopted the suggestion of Chen Jingzhi, a minor official in charge of examination affairs, but there is also a problem here, when proofreading names and marking the numbers, it is inevitable that the assistants of the examiners will take the opportunity to leak their names and replace them. In the process of sealing the examination paper, the entire examination paper is exchanged, "first send the direct white paper to seal the mi, transcribe the official paste and collect, but please prepare the paper when entering the test." The official was instructed to specialize in fishing rolls, and transcribed the whole article. His Yuan Na prepared the volume, but it was destroyed and concealed, so there was no examination" (see "Song Hui's Compilation and Election"). There are policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom, and what is often invincible is internal and external collusion, and it is desperate to take risks for the sake of small profits. It is precisely for this reason that the Song Dynasty invented the "transcription" system ingenuity.

The "transcription" system is aimed at the disadvantage of "reading people by words". Equivalent to the candidates on the examination paper to make a mark, and the examiner secretly communicate the song, the Song Dynasty stipulates that after the candidates hand in the papers, "the internal ministers collect it, pay the arranger, go to the first township of the volume, do not use the font number; Pay the Seal Mi official transcription proofreading, and use the Royal Academy seal." This trick can effectively prevent those who are beautiful in calligraphy from being loved by the examiner; they can also block the little clever people, agree on the logo in advance, but it is not impeccable. At that time, some Song Dynasty ministers pointed out that in the process of transcription, there were both good writers and those who were not good at writing, and there were also those who copied out key sentences in the process of copying, requiring improvement in the treatment and quality of transcription. However, an important reason for the miscarriage of transcription, and then the extinction, is that the intensity of transcription is too great, you think, thousands of candidates, just transcribe will make these copywriters dizzy and exhausted, therefore, this method later, only to walk away, fool the emperor old man.

"Don't try" system: It is aimed at "the difference between inside and outside the family". In order to provide a fair examination and political participation opportunity for lower-class people, the Song Dynasty began to implement the "don't head test" from the time of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty. "Don't take the test" is also known as "don't test", that is, the system of setting up a separate examination room for the relatives of the main examiner and the children of powerful people, and sending an examiner to take the exam. The "don't try" system helps to avoid fraud by the elite and enhances the impartiality of the examination system to some extent. But the emperor and the designer's starting point is good, they are afraid that the crooked monks will read the wrong scriptures, and the biggest problem of the "don't try" system is the impartiality of the examiners, which is often the most headache for the examiners when facing the children of these powerful people.

Although the Song Dynasty set up many seemingly effective preventive measures to prevent cheating, it is impossible to eradicate the method of cheating, because the temptation to enter the career is too great, you think, there is no threshold setting, and the official of the Song Dynasty is the most abundant in the dynasties, once you embark on the career, not only do you have no worries about food and clothing, but also the official road is frank, the white-clothed Qingxiang is not a dream, and once you become an official, as long as it is not too excessive, basically in terms of private life, you can do whatever you want, and the emperor is very respectful and courteous to the scholars, Even if you occasionally make a big mistake in the line and policy, it is a dismissal or a demeaning person, and the song dynasty officials, big and small, have two brushes, and it is not a big deal to travel leisurely in the rivers and lakes, sing poetry and harmony, broaden horizons, and cultivate sentiments. Therefore, the more the Song Dynasty scientific expeditions prevent cheating, the more various cheating methods are. Electoral Chronicle II" Yun: "To the Lizong Dynasty, the treachery has become more and more serious. ...... The five evils of the people are: the transmission of righteousness, the change of volumes, the change of numbers, the outgoing of the volumes, and the destruction of transcriptions. ”

Of course, the Song Dynasty's royal recruitment is not only the road of the imperial examination, but there is no doubt that this road is relatively fair and just, during the Song Dynasty, it also adopted the method of being recommended by famous courtiers and nobles, but this road is limited to people who have reached their peak in seniority and fame, but even if these figures can be based on the imperial court, they are also looked down upon by those eunuchs who passed the imperial examination and became state officials at that time, although the emperor can give him the same as the birth of the soldier, that is, it is equivalent to the birth of the soldier, but even if others do not laugh at you, You yourself will feel disgraced. In any case, the Song Dynasty still created a path of fair competition for the readers, and with their true talents and practical learning, they could justifiably embark on the career path, and in the end of the Song Dynasty, a total of 118 times of science and technology were opened, and more than 20,000 people were recruited, which was an amazing number, among them, the number of bai-clad Qingxiang and outstanding figures selected through examinations was innumerable, such as Xue Juzheng, Lü Mengzheng, Kou Zhun, Wang Qinruo, Lü Yijian, Fan Zhongyan, Wen Yanbo, Wang Anshi, Li Gang, Wen Tianxiang, and so on.