We read all the lead to present a different history.
In the previous article, Ziyuan gave you a detailed introduction to the tang dynasty's all-round reform of the imperial examination system, and today we will talk about the innovation and improvement of the imperial examination system in the Song Dynasty. Although the transformation of the imperial examination system in the Song Dynasty was not as subversive as that of the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty was also an important dynasty in which the imperial examination system was carried forward and the future, and it was also a dynasty in which the imperial examination system was mature. It can even be said that since the Song Dynasty innovated and improved the imperial examination, until the end of the Qing Dynasty, the imperial examination system basically did not have any essential changes in China.
▲Tang Dynasty imperial examination scene painting
<h1>First, how to examine the Song Dynasty examination</h1>
In the first year of Jianlong (960 AD), Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, responded to zhao pu and others' request for the yellow robe to be added to his body, and launched a mutiny at Chen Qiaoyi to establish the Northern Song Dynasty. In this year, the various places had not yet been unified, and the country was also in a state of semi-war, but Zhao Kuangyin did not slacken off in the slightest for opening up the science and taking the soldiers, and held the first imperial examination of the Great Song Dynasty in a busy schedule, and a total of 19 jinshi were admitted. Regarding the number of jinshi, in fact, there is also exquisite, since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the number of jinshi in each section has generally been controlled at about twenty or thirty people, and the first examination of the Great Song Dynasty must set an example for the future, so in the spirit of Ning Que and no abuse, it was repeatedly selected, and finally selected these 19 outstanding people. In the second year of Jianlong (961 AD), Zhao Kuangyin held an examination again, and this time there were fewer jinshi, and only 11 people were admitted. In the following years, each rank of jinshi was about ten people, and qiande only admitted at least six in the fourth year (966), which was a rare existence in the history of the imperial examination for more than a thousand years.
▲The old site of the Chen Qiaoyi Mutiny
Zhao Kuangyin established an ancestral system for the Song Dynasty to treat the literati well, requiring "to rule the world together with scholars." In order to win over the literati, Zhao Kuangyin issued an edict to the ceremonial department who presided over the imperial examination in the third year of Kaibao (970 AD), ordering him to organize people to sort out the files of the sons of the zhou and even the Later Han dynasty in the past ten years, and count how many scholars who had not yet passed the final examination after 15 examinations. After careful verification, the Rebbe listed the names of a total of 106 people headed by Sima Pu, and Zhao Kuangyin understood that it was not easy for these tried and failed scholars, so he issued a holy decree to give them all the birth of jinshi. Since the Song Dynasty, such jinshi have had a special name, called "Enke Jinshi", that is, the jinshi specially given by the emperor Kai en. Zhao Kuangyin's "Enke" this time is huge, but it is not unreasonable - after all, the country is in ruins and in urgent need of talents. It is not difficult to find the superb flexibility of its means of governing the country. Since then, the scale of the successive "Enko" has been limited, involving only a very small number of people, and there is no obstacle to the overall examination.
▲Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin seated statue
In addition to the special case of "Enke", the routine scientific expeditions in the early Song Dynasty basically inherited the practices of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, and were still the two major systems of changke and system. "Changke" is a permanent section, in addition to the most well-known Jinshi section, there are also various disciplines, such as the Nine Classics, the Five Classics, the Kaiyuan Ceremony, the Three Histories, the Three Rites, the Three Transmissions, the Ming Classics, the Ming Fa, the Ming Characters, and so on. Everywhere, the townspeople gather in the capital city of Bieliang at the end of winter, and wait until the spring of the following year to participate in the national unified examination presided over by the Ministry of Etiquette, the meeting test.
▲Ancient gongyuan model
<h1>Second, what the Song Dynasty examinations</h1>
The so-called "Nine Classics" section examines the nine Confucian classics established by the Tang Dynasty; the "Five Classics" section corresponds to the five Confucian classics determined during the Western Han Dynasty; the "Kaiyuan Li" section refers to a large ceremonial book organized and revised by the Tang Dynasty government, which can be used as a specialist examination for practical "etiquette"; the "Three Histories" section refers to the "Historical Record", the "Book of Han" and the "Book of Later Han" and the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which can be understood as a specialist examination for history; the "Three Rites" section refers to the "Zhou Li", "Rites" and "Rites" in the Thirteen Classics. That is, the specialized examination of etiquette theory; the "Three Transmissions" subject is the "Spring and Autumn Three Transmissions", that is, the "Zuo Chuan", "Ram Biography" and "Chuanliang Biography", which is a special examination for the history books of the Jingbu; the "Ming Jing" is similar to the Tang Dynasty, and all the scriptures examined, that is, the examination of traditional scriptures and exhortations; the "Mingfa" subject is a special examination for legal knowledge; and the "Mingzi" subject is a literacy examination for character literacy.
▲ "Biography of Yu Liang" book shadow
Since the Tang Dynasty, the most important subjects for juzi and scholars are the two disciplines of "Jinshi" and "Mingjing", and among the two disciplines, the Jinshi section is the one. The reason is actually very simple, the future career of the Zhongjin soldier is smooth and optimistic, often able to occupy the high position of Zaifu and heavy subjects, the future of the Ming Jing and the first is bumpy, and can become a rare morning star for high-ranking officials of the dprk. As for the other small subjects, from the name, we know that even if they pass the examination, they are just swords and pens under the chief political officer, and it is difficult to enter the core of power.
▲Portrait of Zhao Zhen of Song Renzong (partial)
As for the second type of "system of subjects", it is a small-scale examination presided over by the emperor himself, which can be traced back to the archery strategy of the Han Dynasty, which was developed in the Tang Dynasty, and gradually formed some "changke" nature of the system of subjects by the Song Dynasty, that is, the system of subjects that often repeat the examination. For example, Song Taizu set up three disciplines: "Xianliang Fangzheng Can Speak Straight and Extremely Well-Advised", "Jingxue Excellent and Profound Can Be a Teacher", and "Detailed Idle Officials Li Da Yu Indoctrination"; Song Renzong's three disciplines set up "Xianliang Fangzheng Can Speak Bluntly to Extreme Advice", "Botong Tomb Classics Are Clear in Education", "Talent and Maoming in Physical Use", "Detailed Officials Can Make Politics", "Knowing Dong Tao's Strategic Planning", and "Military Strategy, Grand and Far-reaching Talents", and so on, all of which were inherited from the Tang Dynasty.
▲ The Imperial Palace of the Song Dynasty, which was imitated by modern people
Although the scope of the subject examination is narrow, the qualifications for the examination are extremely relaxed. Both incumbent officials and yamano komin can be recommended by the prime minister to take the relevant examinations, and those who have already passed the entrance examination can also take the examination. The famous northern Song Dynasty minister Fu Bi originally wanted to take the jinshi examination and enter the career as a jinshi, but unexpectedly went to the examination when his father-in-law Yan Shu served as the main examiner, and in order to avoid suspicion, he could only choose to participate in the examination of the system of the subject in that year; the two brothers Su Shi and Su Rui, who were originally admitted to the jinshi in the second year of Jiayou (1057 AD), but felt that the rank was not high enough, so they participated in the examination of the system of subjects in the sixth year of Jiayou (1061 AD) and entered the third class. According to Song Ren Lang Ye's research, the great scholar Su Shi should be "a virtuous and good party can speak bluntly to the extreme advice".
▲Statue of Su Shi
It is worth noting that the Song Dynasty had a large number of scientific examination questions, and it was not at all possible to obtain a meritorious name by answering only one paper. Taking JinShike as an example, it is necessary to "test one poem, one fu, and one treatise each, plan five ways, post ten posts in the Analects, and ten articles on the Spring and Autumn Period or the Book of Rites." Among them, the most important are the three items of poetry, endowment, and discourse, and the other "thesis" is called "thesis", that is, the passages in the classics are silently written; the "ink meaning" is the pen answering the meaning of the scriptures, which is generally stipulated as ten articles. The silent writing of scriptures is called "thesis" because this kind of examination is to cut off the front and back sentences of the original text of the classic, only to reveal one or two sentences or one or two lines in the middle, and let the lifters silently write the front and back texts to complete. In addition to the "Thesis" and "Moyi", it is also necessary to answer the three articles of "Current Affairs Policy", these three are additional items, the role is not large, but to the Ming Jing Section is very important, almost the entire content of the subject examination, and this is also the reason why the Jinshi calendar looks down on the Ming Jing and the first - the Ming Jing Exam can achieve good results by rote memorization, and it is not at all like the Jinshi Section that requires extraordinary writing and talent. Because of the large amount of test questions, whether it is a township test or a test, the children must "retreat" in the examination room for three or four days to answer all the content.
▲The examination hall was restored
<h1>Third, the Song Dynasty's scientific examination innovation and perfection</h1>
The rulers of the Song Dynasty perfected the various drawbacks of the previous examinations and established the best content of the examinations. Compared with the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty had many innovative changes, and among these changes, the most affirmative of these changes was the following four points:
First, the system of pasting names is determined. That is, all the information that may be cheated, such as the name and place of origin filled in by the candidate, is sealed, and the examiner and the examiner cannot know who made each paper when they evaluate and correct it. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the atmosphere of asking for trust and offerings remained the same, and it was not until the time of Emperor Zhenzong of Song that the system of pasting names began to be adopted. At that time, many famous confucians objected to this, the most famous being Fan Zhongyan, Su Song and others, who thought that it was too risky to paste names, and were afraid that people who were usually notorious would achieve good exam results and thus enter the career. This concern is not unreasonable, but with the passage of time and the proof of practice, the pasting system has ensured the fairness of the examination to the greatest extent.
▲Portrait of Zhao Shu of Song Yingzong (partial)
Second, establish the examination time. The Tang Dynasty examination was held once a year, and the state needed to use huge financial, material and human resources for this purpose. In the second year of Emperor Yingzong of Song's reign (1065 AD), the imperial examination was set at three years and one big ratio, and this provision was not changed until the abolition of the imperial examination, and the "year of the great ratio" contained in the ancient books often refers to the "Spring Festival" examination held by the Ministry of Rites in this year and the subsequent temple examination. By reducing the frequency of examinations, the state can save a lot of manpower and material resources.
▲Ouyang Xiu statue
Third, change the style of writing. In the second year of Jiayou (1057 AD), Ouyang Xiuzhi Gongju presided over the imperial examination that year, and he had always hated the stylized articles of disease-free groaning, so in this examination he deposed all the Cheng Wen examination papers that had lasted for a hundred years, and the articles taken were all "ancient texts" that had material and reasonable. The two brothers Su Shi and Su Rui, who were good at discussing the theory of success or failure in ancient and modern times, took a big advantage in this examination and successfully stood out, and Ouyang Xiu thus became the "standard-bearer" of the ancient literature movement of the Song Dynasty.
▲Painting of song dynasty officials' trial scenes
Fourth, change the content and subjects of the exam. In Wang Anshi's reform measures, a large number of changes were made to the content and subjects of the imperial examination, "The ancients are based on learning, please build a school to retrospect." The Ming Scriptures and the various branches want to be deposed, and the number of ming scriptures is increased. This means that all complicated subjects such as the Ming Classics and the Ming Fa have been abolished, leaving only one subject for the Advancement of Scholars, and in the future examinations, only the scriptures will be examined, and there is no need to take the examination of poetry and endowment. The reason given by Wang Anshi is that a person who has written poetry since childhood is familiar with rhymes, but knows very little about the words of saints, and is bound to lack experience in governing the country and the people when he is an official. Although the Ming Classics and other subjects were not abolished in the end, it was from this point that later generations no longer examined poetry and gave specific examinations to scriptures.
▲ Statue of Wang Anshi of "Xianggong"
<h1>Fourth, the difference between the Song Dynasty Keju Family A and the B Family</h1>
From the time of Emperor Wude of Tang Gaozu to the early years of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, all the jinshi were called "B sections", and Tang Xuanzong later issued an edict to show wende to establish the A section. In the final Tang Dynasty, "Jia Ke" was only a synonym for the top three in the Jinshi Branch (Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua). In the early Song Dynasty, the entrance examination, A branch, B section are only referring to the jinshi, and the A section is not necessarily better than the B section, such as the famous minister Zhang Yong, but the Song Taizong Taiping Xingguo five years (980 AD) "Jin Shi Yi Ke", Ouyang Xiu's son Ouyang Tang, the great literary hero Su Shi are also B section. By the late Northern Song Dynasty, the A and B sections became the concept of jinshi sub-files, that is, the A section was the first grade, the B section was the second grade, and even the third grade of the "C section".
▲Qing Dynasty Imperial List (replica)
During the Southern Song Dynasty, the imperial court clearly stipulated that the entrance examination was divided into five grades, such as the fourth year of The Song Lizong Baoyou (1256 AD), and the list in the Wen Tianxiang Examination enrolled a total of 601 people, of which 21 were 1st and 40 were 20, and Xie Fang was the first of the second class, and the rest were the third, fourth, and fifth. The Biography of Song Shi Xie Fang de records, "Meaning Promoted Gao Di Yi, and Song Name, Zhongyi Branch." Except for Fuzhou Sihu who joined the army, he abandoned it. That is, Xie Shi originally wanted to ascend to the first high school, but the result was only "Zhongyi Branch", and he was dissatisfied in his heart and simply gave up his meritorious name. It can be seen that the "second class" and "B branch" of the Southern Song Dynasty are equivalent concepts, and it is from this point that the official name of "B branch" is not official, but the folk also call the second grade jinshi "B branch". During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the imperial examinations were again known as A and B, and this time it was easy to distinguish: all regular jinshi who passed the temple examination were all A sections, and those who had not passed the temple examination were all B subjects, and the hall examination A section was divided into one, two, and three.
Resources:
"History of Chinese Imperial Examinations", "History of Chinese Imperial Examinations"