In the second year of the Great Song Dynasty (999 AD), he was the grandson of Ruyang, Caizhou (present-day Runan, Henan). Regarding the origin of this Sun Zhuangyuan, there is also Ruzhou. The surname Sun for three consecutive champions is also an interesting phenomenon in the history of the imperial examination. According to the first version of Sun Ji's place of origin, the three surnamed Sun champions are fellow villagers in the same place, and this coincidence is even more rumored to be a beautiful talk. For a time, the townspeople were all proud.
In the Kaifeng Prefecture Liberation Examination held the year before Sun Jizhong Champion, the winner of Xieyuan was Gao Fuyao, and the second was Qian Yi. Qian Yi was born in a noble background, a descendant of the Wuyue royal family, and a talent who was already very well-known, and he naturally felt good to burst. He was deeply indignant that he had not taken the first thing for himself. Therefore, he wrote a letter of complaint to his superiors, exposing that the test questions contained content that attacked the imperial court and criticized the imperial government, and suggested that the government strictly investigate. Qian Yi took the lead, and other candidates also sued the examiner for unfair admission. That Gao Fuyao was a kind person, and seeing this situation, he took the initiative to give up his title of Xie Yuan to Qian Yi.
Seeing that things were making some uproar, Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng ordered the minister Qian Ruoshui to review the examination papers. What is the result of the review, the author did not find the relevant records, it is not easy to say. But what Qian Yi did not expect was that his blackmail not only did not bring him any benefits, but also caused a relatively serious negative impact on his reputation.
Zhao Heng is a person who understands, and in his opinion, the wind of whistleblowing cannot be long. Like Qian Yi, for the purpose of personal fame and fortune, chasing the wind and making small reports is driven by a dark psychology. Such behavior is contrary to social morality and poisons the social atmosphere, and if not corrected, it is easy to disturb the value orientation of people, especially the intellectual community. Based on this consideration, he believes that the title of champion cannot be granted to a person like Qian Yi in any way. Therefore, after the undergraduate provincial examination, he directly determined Sun Ji as the champion candidate without going through the palace examination procedure. The second went to Gao Fuyao, who had a high profile, and Qian Yi could only rank third.
Regarding the undergraduate exam, there is an interesting wild history passage. There is a candidate named Liu Yong, who loves to inquire and spread some gossip. One night, he had a dream that he went to the imperial examination room (Gongyuan) to inquire about the admission news. When he arrived at the entrance of the examination room, he saw a person waiting there, so he first asked, "Can Qian Yi be a champion?" Because Qian Yi was very famous at that time, everyone thought that he was the champion, so Liu Yong asked him first. The man said, "I don't know, you come with me to see the list." "When I came to the place where the list was issued, I saw that it was dark and I couldn't see anything clearly. The man lit a torch and said to Liu Yong, "Let's take a look at Qian Yi's situation." Liu Yong saw a circle drawn on the ground, with two small black flags hanging inside, and the torches were immediately extinguished. Liu Yong asked again, "What about Wang Xian?" "The man lit another torch, and Liu Yong saw a fist-sized stone in the circle." What about Wang Qu? "This time three acacia appeared in the circle." Can Zhang Yinfang and Song Ji be admitted? Liu Yong still asked endlessly. The man told him to look down at the circle again, and there was nothing in it. "Then what is the situation of Gao Fuyao?" This Liu Yong is really a troublesome spirit. What he saw this time was a big "benefit" written in the circle, with a big knife stuck in the middle.
After waking up, Liu Yong was puzzled by the dream. Extremely curious, he ran to a senior monk to interpret his dream. After listening to Liu Yong's intentions, the senior monk shook his head and pinched his fingers carefully, and analyzed it: "Qian Yi is out of drama, and his signs in your dream are black and white." Wang Qu must be the third, because there are three acacia in the circle. Wang Xian can also be a middle-level jinshi, a stone mountain, and a middle-level warrior like a mountaineering. As for Zhang Yinfang and Song Ji, let's go home to review and prepare for the exam next year, there is nothing in the circle. Only this Gao Fuyao, I can't calculate it horizontally and vertically. After the official release of the list, Liu Yong saw that the champion was Sun Ji, the second was Qian Yi, the third was Wang Qu, and after Gao Fuyao won the fifth, he couldn't help but realize: "Back then, Wang Jun dreamed of four swords to get Yizhou, and add a knife to the middle of the word 'Yi', isn't this five, my dream is really godly!" ”
The examination rankings of the relevant people listed in this paragraph are somewhat different from the official historical records, and you have seen the right as a joke. But there is a truth implied in this paragraph that is thought-provoking. There is also a text in the paragraph that says that in terms of Qian Yi's popularity and social influence, obtaining the title of champion was originally a matter of public expectation. But he was too selfish, vexatious for his personal ranking, and accused others of black with his conscience. The result is self-defeating, and stealing chickens does not erode rice. Those who are accustomed to whistleblowing and making small reports, no matter how high-sounding they say, are actually mostly unscrupulous.
There are few historical records about Sun Ji, only that after he won the title, he served as a Guanglu Temple Cheng, and later became the son-in-law of Lü Mengzheng, the prime minister of the Great Song Dynasty. Other things, not much. Even the date of his birth and death could not be clearly recorded.
Since this Sun Zhuangyuan does not have a lot to say, the author can just spare some space and briefly introduce the relevant situation of the imperial examination system in the Song Dynasty.
Before the undergraduate examination, the Great Song Dynasty had introduced some powerful reforms to the imperial examination system. For example, in the third year of Chunhua (992 AD), before the organization and implementation of the Renchen examination, Su Yijian, the winner of the title, and others were appointed as the chief examiners. In order to ensure the fairness and impartiality of the examination and make the examiners "selfless", he put forward a suggestion - "lock the hospital". This means that on the day they receive their appointments, the examiners must gather in the Tribute Courtyard and close it, cut off all contact with the outside world, and cannot lift the closure until the examination is all over. In doing so, it can effectively avoid the occurrence of problems such as handing over slips and running out of breath. When the then emperor Zhao Guangyi heard this, he thought that this suggestion was excellent, so he ordered that this method be used for future imperial examinations, and the "locked courtyard" system was established, and the undergraduate examination naturally adopted this method.
"Locked Hospital" was later referred to as "Admission Hospital". Today, this method is still used by relevant departments in major national examinations such as college entrance examinations, postgraduate examinations, self-study examinations, and civil service examinations. During the ordering and printing of test questions, the relevant staff must be closed until the end of the test. When I was working in an institution, I participated in the self-study examination, civil service examination, selection of leading cadres and other propositional work, and was closed by the "entrance examination" many times, and I felt the taste of it deeply. This Su Yijian is really remarkable. Of course, for Zhao Guangyi's kindness this time, it is also worth praise.
Ichidot Yaogi
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