China's imperial examination system began in the Sui Dynasty, but after the death of the Sui Dynasty II, the imperial examination system was not fully formed. The real formation of the imperial examination system was in the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty inherited and developed the imperial examination system and established the process and content of the imperial examination, but in the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination was far less strict and standardized than that of later generations.
The candidates for the Tang Dynasty examination were mainly composed of two groups of people, namely "sheng disciple" and "township tribute". Apprentices are students of government-run schools. Township tribute means that people from all over the country study on their own or in private schools, go to counties and states to take the exam, pass the local exam, and then take the exam in the Beijing Division. Every October, the township tributes were sent to the imperial court together with the grain tax specialties that paid tribute to the Beijing division, which was called "Fa Xie". The first name of the state and county pre-test is "Xie Yuan".
The Tang Dynasty imperial examination was held every spring in Shangshu Province, Chang'an, beijing, referred to as the "Provincial Examination". In the early Tang Dynasty, the administration of the imperial examination was under the responsibility of the Shangshu Provincial Officials. During the first year of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites was changed, and the dynasties have remained unchanged since then. There is a tribute court under the ministry of ceremonies, and examinations, examinations, and lists are held in the tribute court. The Tang Dynasty imperial examination list is usually in February. The admission is called the first, or denko, dengdi, promotion, and so on. The first name is Yuanyuan.
Candidates in the Tang Dynasty who wanted to pass the examination had to pass the examination of the Regular Examination presided over by the Ministry of Etiquette, and the outstanding feature of the Examination of the Standing Examination at that time was that the results of the examination paper did not determine the result of the examination. This also gave many people the space to cheat on the exam or go the door, and at that time, if they wanted to cheat on the common exam, they mainly passed the "line paper" and "general list".
The so-called "line paper" is that candidates ask celebrities to create a reputation for their works in order to facilitate admission. Before taking the provincial examination, candidates write their usual works into scrolls and give them to dignitaries or academic celebrities for their appreciation and recommendation to the examiner.
The "general list" is the admission list that the examiner asks people of status, reputation, and close relationship with them to jointly determine the admission list. The "general list" does not look at the examination papers, and the list he proposes is mainly determined based on the "line papers".
According to the "Biography of Tang Caizi", when the great poet Wang Wei took the imperial examination, he used such a means and walked through the back door of Princess Yuzhen, which was the high school champion.
Statue of Wang Wei
"Line rolls" and "general lists" were legal means of fraud at that time. In addition to this means, there were also a large number of substitute examinations and imposters in the Tang Dynasty examinations.
In ancient times, there were no photos, no fingerprint recognition and other technologies, at that time, in order to prevent the examination, candidates were required to submit their detailed resumes, and the resume should indicate their physical characteristics and five generations of origin. When entering the venue, there are special recognition officials to recognize candidates, but there are major loopholes in this method, and many people with hearts provide false resumes from the beginning.
The examination is only the first step, and those who pass the examination must pass the official examination before they can be awarded the official. The official examination is also the link with the most impersonation and fraud. One of the criteria for the selection and promotion of officials by the bureaucracy is their origin and seniority, which has led many people to falsify their origins and qualifications, and the history records that "there are false lords who accuse and become officials, there are those who take on other names and participate in the transfer, and there are distant people who have no relatives and are on guarantee."
In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the feudal towns were divided, political instability, social unrest, since the Anshi Rebellion, the capital fell six times, the Tianzi moved nine times, whether it was the central or local personnel files were seriously scattered, there was no way to check. Many of the official candidates died unexpectedly, and there was no proof of death. This has also led to an increase in the phenomenon of imposters.
By the late Tang Dynasty, imposters had become a common phenomenon. At that time, folklore said: "If you enter the examination without a proper body, there are three or four out of ten; if you go to an official who is not in the right body, there are two or three out of ten." ”