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Word count: 2183, Reading time: 6 minutes
The examination system is equivalent to today's examination for civil servants, and is an important way for ordinary readers to enter their careers. However, due to the reasons of the times, the one we are most impressed by the imperial examination system of the Ming and Qing dynasties is the Eight Strands of Literature. It is true that the Eight Strands of Literature were very important in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but the Eight Strands of Literature was not the only criterion for the Imperial Examination. Especially after entering the temple examination, when the emperor came up with the question, he did not take the eight strands of text at all, but the examination of the strategy text. That is, if you only know eight strands of text is useless. The officials of the Ming and Qing dynasties were definitely not simple examination machines, at least they had a certain logic of governing the country.
The reason why the eight-strand text is called the eight-strand text is because the whole text is composed of eight parts: breaking the topic, undertaking the topic, starting to talk, entering the topic, starting the stock, starting the stock, the middle share, the back stock, and the bundle stock. The Eight Strands of Literature need to follow the Four Books and Five Classics and tell the problem in Zhu Xi's tone. Mainly rely on Zhu Xi's "Four Books, Chapters and Sentences Collection Notes" and other content to write articles. Because of the excessive restrictions, it has been criticized as a manifestation of institutional rigidity. Of course, the Ming and Qing Dynasty Examinations Eight Strands of Literature are generally used as the first. If the eight strands of the text are not qualified, the examiner will basically not read the following articles. But in fact, the Eight Strands text is just an entry brick. There are also many examinations such as arguments, judgments, and cases. It's like our college entrance examination, mathematics is very important. But not only to do well in mathematics, chinese and English are not far away if they do not work. The imperial examination is divided into the prefectural examination, the township examination, the meeting examination and the temple examination. The first three have to take the eight strands of text, the government test is Xiucai, the township test is to lift people, if you will pass the test is to enter the soldier. After the test is successful, it is necessary to enter the last link, that is, the temple test.
Cewen can be said to be the core content of the temple test. The minghui canon details the process of the temple examination. The officials of the Ministry of Ceremonies introduced all the soldiers into the main hall, and then the emperor himself wrote the question. At this time, the deacon wrote the title on the copywriting. The officials of the Ministry of Ceremonies began to hand out examination papers and began to let the soldiers answer. The jinshi answered according to the questions from the emperor, and the results of the examination came out. The so-called policy is divided into policy and countermeasure. Among them, the policy is that the emperor gives the exam questions, and the countermeasure is that the candidates answer. Cewen's answer is also the emperor's ruler for jinshi, relying on Cewen to select talents.
Generally, the emperor inquires about the major state events that he is more concerned about. For example, the problem of Ming Taizu Hongwu's thirteen years is that the Heavenly Son's indoctrination of the people is the mission given to him by heaven, but the quotation of "the ancient sage king set up punishment to bow the five religions" shows that the ancient philosophers could not rely solely on indoctrination to make society stable. Criminal law must be relied upon as a supplement. We all know that Zhu Yuanzhang was from a poor background, so he re-ruled the country after he became emperor. Those who pervert the law are punished with heavy punishments. That year's Yuanyuan was very able to understand Zhu Yuanzhang's meaning, and his strategy was that the ancient sages relied on the five punishments to govern the country. Therefore, criminal law should also be used today.
When the emperor came up with a policy plan, he would come up with three aspects: politics, economy and culture. The emperor attached the greatest importance to politics. For example, the emperors from Jiajing to Wanli belonged to the lords who had not been in the dynasty for a long time, and their policy was mainly based on the inability of their courtiers. After all, if you don't work, you need your courtiers to work more, and then the courtiers don't govern the country well, so they are not very happy. Of course, their policy will complain that this minister is incompetent. In the Two Dynasties of Heavenly Revelation and Chongzhen, the emperor's policy changed. During this period, internal and external troubles were worrisome, internal peasant uprisings were raging, and outside Jin often harassed the border.
It is precisely because of this that the emperors of both dynasties have shown a desire to seek merit in their policies. For example, Chongzhen's seven-year policy is: "If the morale of today is not correct, the soldiers are eager to make quick gains, and when they see the small profits of the fly, they are eager to do so." What should I do if I want to be a proper soldier? That time, Liu Lishun answered very well. In his countermeasures, he grasped the problem of Chongzhen's improper morale and deviance to criticize. Then he proposed that the hearts of the people in the world should be settled. However, the problem was not solved in the final Chongzhen Dynasty. After all, the person who is most eager for success is Chongzhen himself. Both Yuan Chonghuan and Hong Chengyu were ultimately ruined by Chongzhen's shortcomings of being quick to succeed and suspicious. Of course, there is also an important relationship between the Economic Withering of the Ming Dynasty and the emptiness of the national treasury, which cannot be supported logistically. In the end, Chongzhen could only hang himself on coal mountain, saying a sentence: "The king is not the king of the subjugated country, and the subjects are all the subjects of the subjugated country!" ”
As for the cultural aspect, this belongs to the expertise of these scholars. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, more attention was paid to the issue of indoctrination. Because the Economy of the Ming Dynasty at this time was relatively stable, the main thing was to maintain social order. For example, Chenghua's eleven-year policy is: "Use agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry to support the people, and then use schools to educate the people." How should it be executed? The countermeasure given by Xie Qian, the head of that year, was to elect virtuous officials to educate the people, and then set up a system of examination for merit. Officials with political achievements are promoted, and officials without political achievements are punished.
In terms of economy, the early Ming Dynasty mainly raised the issue of the field system, and in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it was replaced by a tax system, and in the late Ming Dynasty, due to the continuous financial embarrassment of military disasters, the problem of insufficient military salaries was mainly asked. Most of the ming dynasty temple examiners did not hear anything out of the window and read only the books of the sages. These questions are generally discussed according to the situation around them. There are not many who can really get to the point. That being said, it's not completely useless. Many of these scholars are ordinary readers living in the folk, and they feel more deeply about some things in society. Some arguments often made the emperor more aware of the suffering of the people.
For example, in the twelfth year of Zhengde, the countermeasure is to criticize the social problems of the Zhengde period through the real feelings around him. He expressed through the method of comparison that the government system in the Zhengde period had been rigid for a long time without reform. Due to the abolition of discipline, the sergeants in society are drunk and dreaming of death, and they are corrupt and pervert the law. As a result, the people's livelihood is withered, and the wind of social pleasure prevails. Just like Zhengde's twelve-year countermeasures. Although the countermeasure is a functional article similar to kumon, the literary nature is equally important. The policy is divided into three parts: the head of the policy, the policy item, and the policy tail, and the policy head should first throw out the arguments, and the policy items mainly highlight the utility, timeliness and politics, and when it comes to the end of the policy, it is necessary to show the literary style to express the intention.
Of course, the quality of the countermeasures depends entirely on the mood of the emperor and the examiner. After all, many countermeasures are not practical. Before the Sui and Tang dynasties, there was a door valve system, and because most of the families were officials, they were more familiar with state affairs. After the Sui and Tang dynasties, the bureaucracy became more specialized. Without being an official in the court, it is difficult to really understand how the empire works. However, this does not mean that there is a problem with the selection system of the imperial examination. The imperial examination is only a stepping stone, and whether it can become a famous minister depends on the later development.
References: The Imperial Examination System and Chinese Culture, The Five Classics, The MingHui Classics
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