As we all know, Wang Wei was a great poet in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, he was born into a famous family, the famous Hedong Wang clan, since childhood, intelligent and versatile. Wang Wei is good at painting, calligraphy, and music, and poetry is famous all over the world.
At the age of fifteen, in order to seek greater development, Wang Wei left the small world of his hometown and came to the big stage of the capital Chang'an. Wang Wei, who had a list of talents, immediately became the darling of the princes and nobles, and the princes treated him like a teacher, and Princess Yuzhen was amazed to see him, and then became a guest of Princess Yuzhen.
"Being a stranger in a foreign land alone, thinking of my relatives every festive season." It is the ancient famous sentence made by Wang Wei when he was seventeen years old.
At the age of twenty-one, Wang Wei took the imperial examination, and as people expected, he won the high school. It is said that Wang Wei's high school title is not only a simple poem written well, but also the main reason is that Princess Yuzhen, the sister of Tang Xuanzong Li Longji, greeted the chief examiner, and the relationship between Princess Yuzhen and Tang Xuanzong Li Longji was very good, and the chief examiner was not a fool, how could he not know, how could he not do it.
102 years after Wang Wei's birth, that is, in 803 AD, the great poet Du Mu of the late Tang Dynasty was born in Chang'an, and the Jingzhao Du clan was a famous and prestigious family at that time. Du Mu's grandfather, Du You, was the prime minister, and Du Mu was a true son of an aristocrat, but he did not have the wind of cunning. He received a strict education from an early age, and was familiar with the subset of the history of the scriptures, "Six kings bi, four seas and one; Shushan Wu, AFang out." At the age of twenty-three, he wrote the famous text "AFang Gong Fu".
In this way, Du Mu and Wang Wei have many similarities, both come from famous and prestigious families, received a good education from an early age, and are both talented young talents. However, the twenty-five-year-old Du Mu took the imperial examination in the second year of Emperor Wenzong of Tang 's reign (828), but he did not have a high school title like Wang Wei, and was only ranked fifth in the rank of jinshi.
This has to start with the Imperial Examination of the Tang Dynasty. The imperial examination was originally taken care of by the officials of Shangshu Province, presided over by the official Wailang, and during the first year of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, it was changed to be specifically responsible for the Ceremonial Department, and the chief examiner was the Libu Shilang, known as "Quan Zhi Gongju".
When the examiner evaluates the papers to determine the candidate's ranking, he does not simply look at the poetry level of the test, but also comprehensively considers the candidate's reputation, including the praise of the people at the time, especially the praise of celebrities, which can also be said to examine whether the candidate has both moral integrity and ability. In this way, the examiner has a lot of discretion, and it can be said that it directly determines the fate of a candidate.
However, the chief examiner is also a person, he has relatives and friends, there are also superior colleagues, and some social elites, their opinions and suggestions, the chief examiner must also listen to and refer to. Not to mention the royal family, that is the holy will, does the chief examiner dare not obey the order? This was the so-called "general list" at that time.
Wang Weikao zhongzhuangyuan is the result of Princess Yuzhen's participation in the "General List".
Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty's imperial examination, there was a rather practical secret practice among the candidates, that is, the so-called "line scroll". Candidates will edit and organize their excellent poems on weekdays, write them into a scroll, and send them to people of status and prestige before the examination in order to obtain their praise, publicity, and recommendation to the examiner, so that the candidate can increase the possibility of entering the rank and the first rank and strive for a better rank.
The chief examiner of the imperial examination in the second year (828) of Emperor Wenzong of Tang was Cui Hao (崔郾), Cui Hao (768-836), also born in a famous and prestigious family: the Qinghe Cui clan. He was a jinshi and the first born, starting from the position of school secretary lang, and gradually promoted to the rebbe shilang, responsible for the imperial examination in the eastern capital Luoyang. He was specifically responsible for the second imperial examination, and was able to read the examination calmly and carefully select talents, and the promoters later became more than a dozen people who became assistant secretaries.
On this day, Cui Hao prepared to leave Chang'an and go to the eastern capital Luoyang to preside over the examination. According to the custom of the time, colleagues set up a banquet to send him off, and the banquet was staggered and the atmosphere was warm.
At this time, a person came uninvited, Cui Hao took a look, knew, old friend Wu Wuling, this Wu Wuling was Tang Yuanhe's second year (807) jinshi, and the famous poet Liu Zongyuan was like-minded, Liu Zongyuan and he traveled with him to the landscape of Yongzhou, mentioned in the "Record of Little Stone Pond" that he was "the same traveler: Wu Wuling". In the early Taihe Dynasty (827), Wu Wuling was promoted to doctor of Taixue, equivalent to a senior professor at the highest institution of learning in the country.
"Dr. Wu, you're here, please sit down." Cui Hao smiled and greeted Wu Wuling.
They were all acquaintances, and Wu Wuling was not polite, sat down, and said directly: "I heard that you are going to Dongdu, I have come to send you off." ”
Wu Wuling then said: "They are all old friends, I am not polite, I have come to another thing, that is, I want to recommend someone to you, my student Du Mu in Taixue, Du Mu is the grandson of the old prime minister Du You, the old prime minister and his son died early, although Du Mu is talented, but no one to help him do the roll, I can't see it anymore, so I came to help him." I will first read one of his articles, "A Fang Gong Fu", you can listen, how is his literary style. ”
After speaking, Wu Wuling took out a scroll from his sleeve, opened it, and read it.
Cui Hao is of course an expert, and after listening to it, he exclaimed: "This article is written too imposingly, to be honest, I can't write at this level." ”
Wu Wuling smiled triumphantly and asked, "You have praised him, so du Mu's level can be a champion, right?" ”
Cui Hao listened, very embarrassed, embarrassed to say: "I'm sorry, old friend, you said late, someone has already passed the list, the title has been booked." ”
Of course, Wu Wuling knew about the tongbang, there was no way, he could only blame Du Mu for finding himself too late, but he was still angry, and looked at Cui Hao with his eyes and said: "It would be a pity not to give him a top three!" ”
Cui Hao said with a bitter smile: "You are not an outsider, let's make a deal with you, the top three are also set." ”
Wu Wuling was a little unable to hang up, and his voice became louder: "What about the top five?" This level does not give a top five, can not convince the public. ”
Cui Hao's face was red and his voice was muffled.
Wu Wuling got angry and said loudly, "I don't want this old face, you don't give a face, but you can't mistake people." ”
After saying that he was going to leave, Cui Hao hurriedly held him down and said, "Old man, what are you in a hurry, you have to think about it for me, just according to what you said, give him a fifth place, you are satisfied!" ”
Wu Wuling laughed and said, "People praise you for knowing people, and that's true." ”
So the crowd continued to drink together.
In this way, the final ranking of the Du Mu Keju examination was the fifth place, and a total of thirty-three jinshi were admitted, and the name of the current leader was Wei Chip. The specific situation of Wei Chip is unknown, and there should be no big action.
Judging from the fact that Wang Wei and Du Mu took the imperial examination, the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty was not very standardized, and there were drawbacks such as general lists and line papers. Although the examiner is highly respected and good at selecting talents, he is sometimes involuntary and cannot be admitted according to the true level of the candidate.
Like Wang Wei is directly listed by Princess Yuzhen, the strength is strong, and the chief examiner does not dare not listen. If Du Mu is not Wu Wuling's general list, the final result is still difficult to say.
This drawback, in the Song Dynasty, was completely changed, and the imperial examination adopted measures such as pasting names, sealing seals, and special transcriptions, which eliminated human interference, and completely through reading the examination papers, the chief examiner discovered and selected talents, realizing openness and fairness. Therefore, the culture of the Song Dynasty reached the peak of feudal society.
Du Mu himself knew very well that although he was born into a famous family, his grandfather and father died early, and by this time he had already fallen in the middle of the family road, people were cold, and if it were not for the teacher Wu Wuling to help him, I am afraid that this fifth place would be difficult to get. Therefore, Du Mu was very satisfied with this result, and for this reason, Du Mu wrote a famous poem "And the Later Sending of Chang'an Deceased":
Dongdu put the list did not blossom,
Thirty-three men walked back.
Qindi teenagers make more wine,
Spring has been brought in.
Friends, after reading this article, what do you think about the imperial examination of the Tang Dynasty? Welcome to share, discuss and forward together.