Cao Jingnian: Tang Dynasty "filial piety" name and reality examination - also on the issue of "Mencius" ascending to the scriptures

Confucianism has been an important part of traditional Chinese culture since ancient times. The moral concept of filial piety and honesty is the essence of Confucian culture. In the Tang Dynasty, as the early stage of the imperial examination system, the old and new systems alternated, and the meaning of the word filial piety has always seemed to be incomprehensible.

Was there a subject of filial piety in the Tang Dynasty? What does the word filial piety mean? This issue has been the subject of considerable controversy. Based on a large number of historical documents, this article will conduct a comprehensive investigation of the name and reality of the term "filial piety" in the Tang Dynasty, and discuss the status of Mencius in the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty, hoping to give readers a satisfactory answer.

The mysterious name of "filial piety".

Since the establishment of the imperial examination system in the Sui and Tang dynasties, the term "filial piety" has been common in the literature. However, a closer examination of the texts reveals inconsistencies and incomprehensible definitions of the term.

During the Kaiyuan period, the famous poet Meng Haoran wrote in the poem "Sending Zhang Shenming Jingju and Jingzhou Province" that "filial piety and honesty pay tribute to the year, and Huai Tang to Qinchuan". Meng Haoran clearly equated "filial piety" with the subject of the Ming Classics. Similarly, an epitaph in the eleventh year of Kaiyuan (723) also bluntly stated that "the county is filial piety, and the first department is shot", and "filial piety" is regarded as a synonym for the Ming Jing examination.

However, contrary to the above-mentioned usage, the subject of filial piety is unheard of in some important institutional documents of the Tang Dynasty. The New Tang Dynasty Book and Election Chronicles lists in detail the various subjects of the regular course, but there is no trace of filial piety and honesty among them. It was not until the second year of Daizong Baoying (763) that the official record of "filial piety" was seen for the first time. Yang Juanshangshu, a waiter of the Ministry of Rites, suggested that "please follow the ancient inspection of filial piety and honesty", set up a filial piety and honesty department as one of the regular subjects, and introduce the assessment of moral integrity. This move was also seen as a correction to the shortcomings of the imperial examination system.

In the face of various contradictory usages, scholars' views are also controversial. Mao Fengzhi, a Qing scholar, believed that "in the Tang Dynasty, filial piety and honesty were a subject, and they were repeatedly stopped", "the Tang people's subjects were valued as Jinshi, and although there was a subject of filial piety and honesty, it was also in vain." "I think that filial piety has always existed, but occasionally suspended. However, Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty believed that "filial piety and honesty of the Tang people are not today's subjects, but the alias of the Ming Jing." This means that filial piety is not an informal subject name, but just another name for the Ming Sutra.

This controversy continues to this day. In recent years, a number of epitaph murals have been found in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, among which there are many cases of the words "filial piety and the first", which can be called another twist and turn in the mystery of filial piety. What is this filial piety? Is there really any trace of it in the imperial examination system of the Tang Dynasty? What is the relationship between filial piety and the Ming Sutra? This question needs to be answered by more literature.

Unveil the clues of ancient books

Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there has been considerable disagreement on the meaning of the term filial piety and whether there was ever a subject of filial piety. It was not until the second year of Baoying (763) that Yang Juan asked for the establishment of the Filial Piety and Lian Section that this mystery was revealed for the first time.

By combing through the relevant historical materials, we can find several important clues:

First of all, Yang Juan clearly mentioned "please follow the ancient times to observe filial piety" in his recital, but did not indicate that there were filial piety subjects in the Tang Dynasty before. This shows that before the second year of Baoying, there was no such subject as filial piety in the regular department. If it is true, as some scholars say, that there was a filial piety and incorruptibility department before, Yang Juan should mention it, and would not use the term "Yigu".

Secondly, the New Tang Dynasty Book and Election Chronicles did not mention the name of Xiaolian when listing in detail the subjects of the Tang Dynasty. This further confirms that before Daizong, the filial piety branch did not occupy a place in the regular department.

Thirdly, judging from the reason for the establishment of the filial piety department in the second year of Baoying, Yang Juan pointed out that the imperial examination at that time was "still trying to make a strategy", which led to "scholars reciting contemporary texts, but not through the scriptures and history". He hoped to correct this defect by examining moral integrity and the level of learning. It can be seen that the establishment of the filial piety department was an adjustment to the bias of the imperial examination system, aiming to revive the traditional moral education of Confucianism.

Finally, Yang Juan also elaborated on the specific examination content and score level of filial piety and honesty in the recital, including "ten articles, three countermeasures", "upper, middle and lower three", etc., showing its complete system design. These details show that filial piety is a completely new subject, and it is not simply a continuation of the previous system.

It can be seen from this that combined with various evidences, Dai Zongbao's practice of setting up a filial piety and honesty department in the second year was actually an institutional innovation, aiming to select talents with both ability and political integrity by assessing the character of filial piety and honesty and the ability to understand the scriptures, so as to correct the shortcomings of the imperial examination at that time. Although this attempt was quickly scrapped, its impact on future generations was not insignificant.

Ethics and knowledge are integrated

The establishment of filial piety and honesty in the second year of Baoying in the Tang Dynasty embodies a new type of talent selection concept that integrates moral character and knowledge level. This assessment method is mainly reflected in the content of the test paper of filial piety.

First of all, in the examination of moral character, filial piety and honesty section will be filial piety as the core content. According to Yang Xuan's recital, he hoped that "those who are filial piety and honest in their hometowns will be recommended by the county." It can be seen that traditional virtues such as filial piety, faithfulness, and honesty have become the primary criteria for filial piety and honesty. This is quite similar to the ancient practice of the probationary system to promote filial piety and morality.

Secondly, in the examination of knowledge level, filial piety will mainly focus on scripture and learning. Yang Juan clearly demanded that "the scriptures learned, take the righteousness, and listen to the learning of all families". Candidates need to be familiar with the Confucian classics and be able to thoroughly understand the spirit of righteousness in them. Undoubtedly, this is a rigorous test of the candidate's academic attainments.

Specific to the content of the exam, the filial piety section has set up a subject of "ten articles per person and three countermeasures". The so-called "Ten Articles" refers to an open-book examination of the gist of the Confucian classics to test whether the candidates are indeed familiar with the scriptures and understand the general righteousness. The "Three Countermeasures" is a highly practical essay test, which requires candidates to put forward opinions and countermeasures on current political issues to test their ability to control words and analyze problems.

It is worth mentioning that the filial piety section also combines the Analects, the Book of Filial Piety, and Mencius as a whole into the same subject. This shows that Mencius had already attained a high status as a classic in the Tang Dynasty, placing equal emphasis on the core works of Confucianism.

In addition, the filial piety department also divides the candidates into upper, middle and lower grades, and the best performers can directly become officials of the ministry. This strict grading system is conducive to truly selecting talents with excellent character and learning into the career.

In general, the establishment of the Filial Piety and Honesty Department aims to regain the spirit of the ancient probation system, and organically integrate the traditional filial piety and honesty education with the assessment of scriptures, so as to select talents with both ability and political integrity. This concept of talent not only conforms to the spirit of Confucian culture, but also reveals the appeal of the Tang Dynasty imperial examination to return talents to the tradition.

The ups and downs of the Tang Dynasty were gloomy

To discuss the reasons for the establishment of the Filial Piety Division, it is necessary to mention the background of the times and the social situation at that time. In the Tang Dynasty, the changes in literary style and Taoism were intertwined with the corruption of officialdom, which became an important reason for the emergence of filial piety and honesty.

Since the late period of Wu Zetian's reign, the literary style of the Tang Dynasty has been declining day by day. At that time, extravagance was prevalent among the ruling class, and political corruption and corruption were common. This not only exacerbated social contradictions, but also made the ethics of literati and artists more and more indulgent, and they were keen to pursue a flashy and hypocritical literary style. For example, Shi Beiwu wrote in "Poems of the Late Dynasty" that "the lyricist is rarely simple, and the elegance is too delicate."

Entering the prosperous era of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, although the culture was extremely prosperous, the style of extravagance and flashiness was also becoming more and more intense. The great poet Li Bai is a representative of this trend. The famous poetry critic Yuan Xingba said in "Tang Poetry Chronicle": "Li Bai is free of spirit, but he is wild, his words are gorgeous, and his color is sometimes excessive. ＂

These remarks hit the nail on the head. Sure enough, in the middle and late Kaiyuan period, the poetic temperament became more and more pretentious, detached from the simplicity and simplicity of the traditional literary style. "The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty • The Biography of Wenyuan" contains: "Bo Qia is a superficial text, and he has learned and criticized words from the outside, and he has to correct the world and make a tomb." That is, this is the malpractice.

It can be seen that the corrupt ethics of the literati and artists at that time not only led the literary style to the extreme, but also exacerbated the phenomenon of lack of morality and disintegrity in society. To counter this tendency, courtiers actively sought a way out. In the twenty-sixth year of Kaiyuan (738), Zhang Shuo, who was then a scholar in the middle of the book, wrote to the emperor and said: "The scholar is a scholar who is a scholar and a scholar, and he is still in the modern world, but he is only engaged in literature." It was also suggested that the edict should be issued to "the province selects the resources of filial piety and friendliness in the township".

These cries continued for quite some time. Thirty years later, in the second year of Dai Zongbaoying (763), Yang Xuan's performance finally led to the establishment of the Filial Piety Section, trying to curb the bad influence of the unscrupulous literary style from the institutional level by attaching importance to moral education.

As mentioned above, the emergence of filial piety and honesty reflects a certain bias in the social atmosphere at that time, and also reflects the appeal of the government and opposition intellectuals to revive the traditional morality of Confucianism. This was not only an exploration of the imperial examination system, but also a counter-force to the anomie of the literati at that time. Although the execution was not ideal, its purpose is a testament to the tradition of Zenache.

The historical significance of filial piety is far-reaching

Although the establishment of the filial piety department only lasted for a few years, the concept of selecting and employing people embodied in it and the influence on the imperial examination system in later generations are difficult to erase. To some extent, filial piety can be regarded as an important source of the traditional Chinese imperial examination system.

First of all, the emergence of filial piety represents the passing of the torch of filial piety in Chinese culture. Since ancient times, Confucianism has regarded filial piety as a core virtue, believing that "filial piety is the best, and there is no suspicion". Through the establishment of the Filial Piety and Honesty Section, filial piety was officially listed as an important criterion for the selection of scholars in the imperial examination of the Tang Dynasty, and this traditional value was institutionalized and concretized to ensure that it was demonstrated in the selection of officials.

This not only fits the cultural consciousness of the Tang people that "those who survive are good at succeeding", but also reflects the call of the society at that time to revitalize moral education and eliminate the frivolous literary style. In the imperial examination system of later generations, although the moral examination link is not always called "filial piety", its spiritual essence has a long history, and it can be said that the remnants of filial piety and honesty are not exhausted.

Secondly, Xiaolianke's emphasis on the concept of "both ability and political integrity" has had a significant impact on later generations. The ancients said that "the choice of people is noble and virtuous, and the time is important", which is exactly the idea of employing people in filial piety. Through the dual examination of moral character and academic attainment, it strives to take into account both "morality" and "talent", and avoids the drawbacks of simply focusing on talent and learning while ignoring ethics. Since then, whether it is the Bagu Wen or the Hui Examination, the imperial examination has absorbed this concept to varying degrees.

Thirdly, filial piety and honesty also have a certain significance for the stereotype of the status of Confucian classics in the imperial examination. Mencius is deliberately listed as the same subject as the Analects and the Book of Filial Piety, which shows that Mencius's thought has gained a high recognition status in the Tang Dynasty. This laid a certain foundation for the establishment of the Four Books and Five Classics as a compulsory content in the imperial examination in later generations.

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Finally, on the whole, although the establishment of the filial piety department was limited to the Tang Dynasty and the implementation effect was not outstanding, the concept of emphasizing virtue and accepting talents and the rationality of the system embodied in it were not exhausted. It not only reflects the Tang people's conscious pursuit of traditional culture, but also indicates the direction of continuous improvement and reform of the imperial examination in later generations. It can be said that filial piety is a beginning of the imperial examination system in ancient China, and it is also an important milestone in the manifestation of the spirit of Confucian culture in the imperial examination.