Author: Mo Yu Pian Editor: Lilith
From the Sui and Tang dynasties, the feudal dynasty implemented the imperial examination system to select talents for officials at all levels. During the Ming Dynasty, it gradually developed and perfected and reached its peak. In 1905, the Qing Dynasty announced the abolition of the imperial examination system. This system has existed for more than 1,300 years in history and has had a profound impact on the development of Chinese history.
Many people believe that the eight strands of the Ming and Qing dynasties bind the minds of readers and are not conducive to cultivating real talents. Although there are various shortcomings of the imperial examination system, it is undeniable that it is a relatively fair way to select talents in feudal society.
In feudal society, there were many illiterate people. When watching TV, there is often a shot of a group of people surrounding the notice, and then one person reading it aloud. Because many people have not solved the problem of food and clothing, let alone go to school.
Only some people who have a good family will let their children go to school. After all, after a long period of development, the imperial examination system has formed in people's minds the concept of "everything is inferior, only reading is high". In modern society, when I go to school, I read it from kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, high school, and university.
Figure 1 Illustration of the ancient imperial examination
This was not the case in ancient times. The place where students go to school is called a private school, usually in the teacher's own home, ancestral hall or temple. Of course, there are also some rich and powerful people who will invite teachers to teach children at home. Like in "Dream of Red Mansions", Lin Daiyu's teacher Jia Yucun went to work in Lin Mansion.
Private school, as the name suggests, is a private school run in ancient times. We know that now private schools, government management is relatively strict, and various conditions such as teachers and teaching space need to meet the standards. But in ancient times, there was no need for government censorship. The teachers of private schools are usually Xiucai or children.
Students are generally six or seven years old, and at the beginning of the school, students must first kowtow to the portrait of Confucius and the teacher. Heaven and Earth Jun is a teacher, and the status of the teacher is very high. Enlightenment education is carried out before admission, and the teaching materials are generally "Three Character Classic", "Hundred Family Names" and "Thousand Character Text", that is, the so-called "three hundred thousand".
Figure 2 Ancient book of the Three Character Sutra
The enlightenment textbooks are all mastered, followed by formal study, the content of which is mainly based on the four books and five sutras. At this time, students had not yet taken the unified examination organized by the government, and were generally called "literary children", "raw children" or "confucian children". The four books and five classics are almost studied, and then go to the county examination and the prefectural examination, and those who pass are called "children's students". Don't think that children are young. Fifty or sixty years old, gray-haired children, there are many people.
After the examination of children, go to the college examination, and the only people in the examination are called students, commonly known as Xiucai. The academic examination is an examination administered by the provinces.
Influenced by some operas and television, when it comes to Xiucai, many people feel that they have no ability, and they even use poor Xiucai and acid Xiucai to ridicule. In "The Legend of Wulin", there is a Lu Xiucai, who speaks in a crepe manner. Because he did not win the exam, he often became the object of everyone's ridicule.
Figure 3 Lv Qinghou (Lv Xiucai) is a character in the TV series "The Legend of Wulin", played by Yu Entai
So, is Xiucai really that unbearable? If you put it today, what kind of education is Xiucai?
Because Xiucai is selected by each province, some people think that Xiucai is roughly equivalent to ordinary undergraduates now, and some people think that it is a key undergraduate. There is also a view that in the late Qing Dynasty, about 20,000 talents were admitted every year, while there were about 400,000-500,000 talents in the country. The number of talents admitted each year accounts for about 1/15,000 of the population. At present, 75,000 doctors are admitted to the mainland every year, accounting for about 1/20,000 of the population. Therefore, some people think that Xiucai is equivalent to the current doctor.
Although they are all ways to select talents, there is still a big difference between the ancient imperial examination and the current college entrance examination. Because if you show talent in the exam, it is often accompanied by some political rights. Ruxiucai saw that officials could be exempted from military service, without paying public rations, with slaves, without punishment, and so on. These are all things that current college entrance examination students do not have.
Figure 4 Tang Yin (1470-1524), also known as Tang Bohu
After taking the exam, he can't be an official. Next, it is necessary to continue the examination, and the talents from all over the country will go to the provincial towns to take the exam, which is called the township examination. It is generally held in autumn and August, so it is also known as autumn. Those in the exam are called lifting people, and the first place is called Xie Yuan. Xie Yuan's most famous figure is Tang Bohu.
The township examination is held every three years, and more than 1,000 people are admitted each time in the country, and each province allocates places according to the target. In culturally backward provinces, about 50 people are admitted. In culturally developed areas, about 100 students are admitted. This achievement is now likely to be able to go to Peking University and Tsinghua University, in addition, people can also enjoy state subsidies.
If you raise people in the exam, you can become an official, but they are generally some small officials of county orders and county officials, which is equivalent to the current deputy department level. Many people are unwilling and will continue to take the exam. If you want to become a big official in the future, looking at the academic qualifications is a person, it will affect your career. Of course, there are also people who can eventually become high officials, the most representative are Hai Rui of the Ming Dynasty and Zuo Zongtang of the Qing Dynasty, but there are relatively few.
After the township examination, people from all over the country go to the capital to participate in the national examination, which is usually held in the spring of the following year, so it is also called "Spring Festival". The name in the exam is "Gongshi", and the first name is Huiyuan.
Figure 5 Qing Dynasty official plaque
After the examination, the gongshi participated in the palace examination, and the emperor was the chief examiner. The temple examination is only used for ranking, and those who can participate can usually become jinshi, and there will be no more failure.
The first, second and third places of Jin Shi are called champions, list eyes, and tanhua respectively. In successive township examinations, conference examinations, and temple examinations, they have won the first place, which is called: Lianzhong Sanyuan. This is the dream of all readers, but it is too difficult to practice. During the entire Ming Dynasty for nearly three hundred years, there were only two or three people.
Jinshi, known as the protégé of the Son of Heaven. Most people will stay in the capital to obtain official positions, which belong to the central government. And the Jin Shi who is released outside can also do prefectural orders or county orders in the local area.
Although the official position of the first rank of the jinshi is not high, but with the status of the jinshi, it is relatively easy to be promoted. In particular, those who were selected to join the Hanlin Academy among the Jin Shi belonged to the special service of the emperor and had more opportunities for promotion. Some jin shi, after decades of tempering in the officialdom, and finally do well, can enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister, and if they are slightly worse, they can also become members of the imperial court.
Figure 6 Ming Dynasty imperial examination
Some people say that the academic qualifications of Jin Shi are equivalent to the current doctoral supervisors. However, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, about 300 people were admitted each time, that is, an average of about 100 people were admitted every year. And now there are many doctoral supervisors.
According to the official website in November 2017, there are 800 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and 882 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, adding up to a total of 1682 academicians. Considering that China now has a population of about 1.4 billion, according to the proportion, Jin Shi is estimated to be equivalent to the current academician of the two academies.
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the accompanying pictures originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author