The imperial examination system in China has a thousand-year history from birth to demise, and it provides the most important means for the ruling classes of feudal society to select human resources and establish talent echelons. As an important part of Chinese history and culture, the imperial examination system has also become the object of study by a large number of scholars. The records and descriptions of the imperial examination system in various domestic museums are very detailed, but there are not many that can preserve relevant historical relics, especially the examination papers of the imperial examination, and the examination papers of the Imperial Palace that can be preserved are even rarer. Today, Orange Peel will choose a few temple trial scrolls from the cultural relics of nearly 100 domestic museums that I personally visited to share with you.
The National Museum of China lists the ming and qing imperial examination flow charts
First of all, in order to better appreciate the temple examination papers, let's first look at the general process of the imperial examination in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and briefly introduce the three most important thresholds in the Ming and Qing imperial examinations: the township examination, the meeting examination and the temple examination
Township test
To put it simply, the village examination is like the qualifiers of the World Cup on all continents, which is also held every three years, (although the World Cup is held every four years, the qualifiers usually start one year in advance, so orange peel is considered to be counted as a triennial). The township examination is also called "lifting people examination", which has the meaning of "promoting" talents, and Orange Peel believes that "lifting people" has more meaning of Lide tree people. The township examination is basically held in the provinces and the tribute court of the Capital Division Suncheonfu, and the chief examiner who presides over the township examination is appointed by the emperor, and the chief examiner of each province is the first and last, just like the chief referee and the assistant referee. Those who are admitted to the main list after the township examination are called lifters. New keju people can enter the examination after a re-examination.
Try
The examination is generally held in the spring of the second year after the township examination, so it is also called "spring". Because the examination is presided over by the Imperial Court Ceremonial Department, it is also called "Ceremonial Ceremony". A person who is successfully promoted after passing the examination is called a gongshi. Because it is recommended to the country, the talent who contributes to the emperor is called a tribute. Gongshi who passed the examination also needed to take the re-examination before they could participate in the final temple examination.
Actually shoot the statue of Wuxi Museum
Temple test
The palace examination is like the final of the World Cup, and the venue of the final is mostly selected in the palace. Historically, the mysterious Taihe Hall and the Bohol Hall were once the examination sites of the temple examination. The temple examination was held in the name of the emperor himself. Officials who read and score papers with the emperor were called ministers of reading papers. These reading ministers, along with the proctors, were probably made up of eight to twelve people, and were also appointed by the emperor himself. The examination questions for the temple were drafted by the Minister of Reading and finally selected by the Emperor. The temple exam questions are strictly confidential, and those who leak it will be sentenced to capital punishment. The temple test is set to hand over the papers at the day's entrance time, and the hall test hall is relatively dark, so more candles are lit for lighting. No one has the right to add candles to extend the completion of the exam. In the past, there was a scene in a very popular TV series "Yongzheng Dynasty", Yongzheng personally held a candle in the hall of the temple examination, hoping that the candidates could complete the examination questions as soon as possible, and the love for talent was revealed, which also reproduced the scene of the temple examination from the side.
After the temple examination, the minister will evaluate the top ten examination papers (only recognize the article, do not recognize the name), and then the emperor selects the top three to become the top three of the first class, the top three of the first one are the champions, the list of eyes, and the tanhua; the last seven are the top seven of the second class. The remaining examination papers are ranked by the Minister of Reading. After the temple examination, the list of results and rankings announced to the whole country is called the gold list, and whoever appears on the gold list is called the gold list title. The title of the golden list is one of the peak experiences of ancient Chinese life.
The real shot of the Nantong Museum Garden Qianlong Qin this yuan plaque
After talking about the process of the Chinese imperial examination, let's enter the part that everyone is most interested in: the temple examination paper
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > hall examination paper</h1>
The temple examination paper will generally use the best white rice paper, and the two sides are a folding book, and each folding book can be written in twelve lines of small letters. The first half of the first fold of the test paper needs to write your resume and the names of the three generations of ancestors. It's like today's high exam papers that require filling in admission tickets and ID cards. Alterations, annotations, and punctuation are prohibited on the temple's trial scrolls. On the one hand, this is to test whether the candidate has a quick thinking and a one-size-fits-all calligraphy foundation, and at the same time, it is also to prevent the candidates from secretly colluding with the reading minister to cheat with unnecessary test paper features. According to the records of Feng Menglong's Three Sayings of Yu Shiming, there was a candidate in the Ming Dynasty who used a controversial kanji in the temple examination, so that the emperor finally endured the pain of cutting love and failed to circle the student as the champion. Although Feng Menglong wrote a novel, his description truly reflected a consensus in the examination field at that time: even the slightest omission of the candidates in the palace examination, even a typo, would ruin the candidate's efforts to break the ten years of cold window.
Well, next, please go with the orange peel to the major museums across the country to enjoy all kinds of precious temple examination papers. All the pictures in this article are orange peel in the museum site, please pay attention to the encouragement of the officials.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Capital Museum's "Examination Paper for the Nineteenth Year of the Kangxi Palace of the Qing Dynasty"</h1>
The examination paper of the Qing Dynasty Kangxi Hall of the Capital Museum was photographed
Let's first walk into the Beijing Capital Museum (a national secondary museum). Among the thousands of historical exhibits, Orange Peel finally found this examination paper of the 19th year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1754) of the Qing Dynasty (now in the Collection of the Confucius Temple in Jiading, Shanghai). From the picture, we can see that the examination paper of the temple is only a remnant of the examination paper, and there are many damages. However, this test paper is not small, and Zhu Batch, who ranked second in the first and second places, shows that this is the second most important examination paper in Qianlong's nineteenth year. And all the Qing Dynasty scrolls in our country were transported to the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan before liberation, and this first-class and second-place hall examination paper should have been the highest level of the mainland surviving hall test paper.
Orange Peel checked that the title of the nineteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty was Zhuang Peiyin, a native of Changzhou, Jiangsu (Zhuangyuan died in office after the fifth year). The second on the list is Wang Mingsheng, a native of Jiading, Shanghai. This can also be faintly distinguished from the personal resume at the beginning of the examination paper.
Wang Mingsheng was 33 years old when he participated in the palace examination, and after becoming a leader, he was awarded the Title of Hanlin Editor, and later served as a cabinet scholar and concurrently served as a ceremonial attendant. Historically, when Wang Mingsheng was 38 years old, he was demoted to a position because of the concubine problem and was sued by Yu Shi. Within three years, Wang Mingsheng resigned from the government and returned home for his mother's filial piety. Wang Mingsheng was known as a child prodigy at an early age, took the imperial examination from the age of 17, spent 16 years to obtain a meritorious name, but retired after less than 5 years in office. The nineteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty and the list of eyes have withdrawn from the historical stage within five years.
The Capital Museum has a total of two temple examination papers on display, the other of which is a palace examination paper seal by the famous Kang Youwei during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty (see picture below). Now it seems that compared with Kang Youwei, although Wang Mingsheng is not well known, he can really be regarded as the lucky one on the keju field. Although Kang Youwei is famous, his road to the imperial examination is difficult and bumpy, and it is unbearable to see. Kang Youwei Xiucai took the exam three times, and the examiner was also the exam, and actually took the exam seven times. It's tried every three years, which is like a team spending a full 21 years just trying to reach the World Cup finals. Moreover, from the historical relics, it can be seen that Kang Youwei's score in the temple examination during the Guangxu period was 2nd rank and 46th, which is obviously not hand-picked by the emperor, but judged by the minister of reading volumes.
Actual shooting capital museum Kang Youwei hall examination paper
Leaving the Capital Museum, we next come to the Wenzhou Museum in Zhejiang Province to see the second relatively well-preserved examination paper of the temple.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Wenzhou Museum's "Qing Dynasty Guangxu Dynasty Temple Examination Paper"</h1>
Actual shooting of Wenzhou Museum Hall examination paper
This examination paper of the Wenzhou Museum in Zhejiang (a national first-class museum) is also a temple examination paper during the Guangxu period. The candidate was Chen Dichen, one of the famous Zhejiang Eastern Daru and Wenzhou Three Masters at that time. From the first fold of the examination paper, it can be seen that Chen Dichen was a jinshi in the 29th year of Guangxu (1903). At that time, his result was 52nd in the second division. Although Chen's test results are relatively average, this palace examination paper is relatively complete. The seal of the test paper is stamped with the long seal of "Mi Seal Guanfang", and the seal of the Ceremonial Department is also clearly visible, which can be said to be one of the more complete examination papers of the Hall of Fame preserved in domestic museums.
Finally, let's walk into the Qingzhou Museum to see the most complete and oldest collection of Ming Dynasty Hall Examination Papers in the world today
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Qingzhou Museum's "Ming Wanli Zhao Bingzhong Hall Trial Volume"</h1>
First of all, please allow the orange peel to put a photo of the Qingzhou Museum to show your admiration for the museum. Although the Qingzhou Museum is only a county-level museum, it has become one of the few national first-class museums with county-level identity in China because it collects examination papers from the Ming Dynasty Wanli Dynasty.
The exhibition cabinet of the examination paper of the Qingzhou Museum Yuandian Hall
The treasure of the Qingzhou Museum Town Hall of the Ming Dynasty Wanli Hall was tested
The picture above is the Zhuangyuan Scroll, which is the examination paper of Zhao Bingzhong, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The volume is a 22-fold album, the beginning of the volume has the Wanli Emperor Dingge Zhu batch "the first place", the full text of a total of 2460 words, is the only authentic handwriting of China's Ming Dynasty Hall examination papers found so far. Zhao Bingzhong's examination paper not only filled a gap in the ming court archives, but also was an extremely valuable material for studying China's ancient imperial examination system. The examination paper of the temple was designated as a national first-class cultural relic, which belongs to the treasure of the town hall of the Qingzhou Museum. As mentioned earlier, on the eve of liberation, a large number of precious cultural relics were transported to Taiwan, including all the surviving Qing Dynasty Zhuangyuandian examination papers, so that after the liberation, the mainland has actually been a blank in the collection of the Yuanyuan examination papers. This gap was filled by the Qingzhou Museum in the folk collection after liberation, and because the Qingzhou Museum's collection of the Yuanyuan Scrolls was much earlier than the Qing Dynasty examination papers collected by the National Palace Museum in Taipei, the Mainland Museum came to the fore in the field of cultural relics, especially the collection of the Imperial Examination Papers, which made the Taipei National Palace Museum sigh.
Details of the real-time Qingzhou Museum volume
Next, let's appreciate the details of the Ming Dynasty examination papers. The examination paper is divided into two parts, the first part is the resume of the candidate Zhao Bingzhong and his family, which occupies a total of four folds. The first part is stamped with the four-character square seal of "Seal of the Ceremonial Department", and the long seal of "Seal of The Seal of The Seal" is also stamped on the seal of the riding seam, indicating that the test paper is very complete from beginning to end, without any defects. Interestingly, this national first-class cultural relic was stolen and disappeared in the 1990s, and then fully detected by the public security organs, so that the national treasure was revived and unscathed, which was also a miracle at that time.
Zhao Bingzhong (1573-1626) was a Native zheng of Qingzhou Yidu, who won the first place in the temple examination in the 26th year of the Ming Dynasty (1598). He was then hand-picked by the Emperor to be commissioned into the Hanlin Academy. Zhao Bingzhong once served as a bachelor of attendants, a waiter of the ministry, and a shangshu of the ministry of ceremonies, which can be said to be all the way to the clouds. He was also impeached and lost his official position by rumors. However, he was eventually reinstated by the posthumous official and posthumously worshipped the Heavenly Son Taibao. Zhao Bingzhong is not only good at governing the government for officials, but also good at calligraphy and seal engraving. He wrote the yuan scroll in small letters, and the handwriting was flowing and flowing, and it was breathtaking
Portrait of Zhao Bingzhong, the 26th year of the Ming Dynasty Wanli Dynasty
Zhao Bingzhong is from Qingzhou, and everyone may feel a little surprised today, but if it is placed in ancient times, it is natural. Because Qingzhou was once one of the ancient Kyushu. At that time, Qingzhou's status in geography, religion, culture, economy and other aspects was very important. From the middle of the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, the imperial examination in Qingzhou was in its heyday, and talents were born.
According to An Zhiyuan's description in the "Qingzhou Testament": "At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Qing County was at its peak, and there were no less than dozens of people who took the position of six secretaries, all of whom were listed in the first city. The flowing water is connected, and the gate of the plant is planted, and the crane cover is shaded, and it is nothing but the song of the song. The meaning of this passage is that by the end of the Ming Dynasty, Qingzhou was at its peak, and there were no less than dozens of officials who once ranked at the level of the ministry or equivalent to the ministerial level, and their official residences were distributed throughout the city of Qingzhou. Vehicles carrying all kinds of officials poured in like flowing water, a vivid scene of a large number of talents.
According to incomplete statistics, the Ming Dynasty produced 68 Jinshi in Qingzhou, 25 Jinshi in the Qing Dynasty, and many Keju families that won the First Rank. For example, Wang's one door three jinshi, Liu's one door four jinshi, Feng's one door five jinshi and so on. Therefore, it seems that it is not surprising that the Ming Dynasty's Zhuangyuan Hall examination papers can be found in Qingzhou folk.
At the same time, in addition to the preciousness of the cultural relics themselves, Orange Peel believes that Zhao Bingzhong's original policy during the examination can also be said to be quite insightful. In a limited period of time, Zhao Bingzhong was able to comprehensively expound the various social contradictions that had emerged during the Ming Dynasty's Wanli Calendar, and very boldly put forward the views and concepts of the rule of law. What is even more rare is that when we read through this policy today, we can still deeply appreciate Zhao Bingzhong's voice from the heart at that time. Obviously, Zhao Bingzhong did not compose for the sake of composition, but sincerely contributed to the Wanli Emperor, which was undoubtedly the biggest reason for finally impressing the Wanli Emperor.
In addition, Orange Peel also wants to talk about the temperament and psychological quality of the Literati of the Ming Dynasty who entered the temple examination at that time that could be discovered through this national treasure. Imagine being able to write 2460 words of clear-cut ideas in a solemn and majestic royal palace like the palace examination, under the gaze of the emperor and the examiner, without hesitation, and the calligraphy written must not only be neat and beautiful, but also not even a single typo, and the test paper cannot be glued with half a bit of extra ink. How many people can have such a cultural foundation, calligraphy skills, and psychological quality? Behind this is infiltrated with the hardships and efforts of many cold windows of hard reading.
And the Qingzhou Museum can have such a magnificent national treasure, and Orange Peel really feels envious, loved and happy about Qingzhou. There is also an interesting story here. After several efforts by the Qingzhou Museum to collect this national treasure from Mr. Zhao Jiguang, a descendant of Zhao Bingzhong, it took a long time for the academic community to determine the authenticity of the cultural relic, and the National Museum responsible for identifying this national treasure was interested in collecting the national treasure. However, the Qingzhou Museum finally politely declined this request for various reasons, and now the National Museum can only collect copies of it.
Finally, Orange Peel used a 24K gold scroll cast by weifang Museum to "solve the problem" for everyone. In fact, Orange Peel would like to say the most, may the treasures of China be able to help me china and help our country to be lucky, and the sons and daughters of China can feel confident and proud wherever they are! Look, you say?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > 24k gold Zhao Bingzhong zhuangyuan examination paper in the weifang museum collection</h1>
Real auction Weifang Museum gold-bound volume