It's really interesting. The imperial examination system was developed in the Ming Dynasty, not since the Ming Dynasty. Although there were imperial examinations in the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were few places for admission, and there were often only a few dozen people in one subject. In the third year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (1370), the imperial examination was opened and the enrollment was expanded. Now, people who want to be officials are crowded. One after another took reading as their profession, and these people were the foundation of the civilian regime in the Ming Dynasty.
At that time, the exam was divided into three levels. The first level is the college exam, and the examiners are collectively called "scholars". Don't think that all the students who come to take the exam are scholars in their seventies and eighties. The scope of the exam is all counties, and the qualified personnel in this exam are "scholars" we are all familiar with. Don't think that a scholar is easy to take the exam, and the score is six. Only in this exam can they get the title of scholar and get one.
Now you are a scholar, free from the status of a civilian and an intellectual. You have certain privileges, such as avoiding the corvee alone and not kneeling at the sight of the county magistrate. But you are not an official, and you are still far from it.
Learning is so difficult, but in order to be an official, comrades still have to continue to struggle!
The next level exam is called provincial exam. Don't misunderstand me. This so-called provincial examination does not refer to the village-level examination, but the provincial unified examination. Please note that you can't take the rural exam if you want to. Only once every three years, usually in August, the questions are given by the province and there are places. Those who pass this exam are called juren. This juren is very powerful and qualified to be an official. You are qualified because you can't be an official at this level, just like today's college graduation does not include distribution.
How to be an official? It's simple. If the official dies, you have a chance.
So if you go to a memorial service for a Ming Dynasty official and see some people poking around at the door, their faces are all beaming. If you don't have a grudge against this family, it's usually a juror.
Now, everyone knows why Comrade Jin Fan went crazy after being promoted in the exam. You may be crazy, too.
The person who won the first place in this exam is called Xie Yuan. This is the first of the three elements.
Well, you took the juren exam and finally got out of the provincial capital. Now you're going to Beijing. To be an official, go ahead!
Since it is a juren, please pack your bags and prepare your pen and ink. You will meet the real test of life in February next year? I will try my best.
Only people with jury qualification can take this exam, that is to say, your opponent will be the elite from other provinces, and the court will select 300 people among you (there may be changes), but it should be noted that these 300 people are not the scholars we often say, they are just "Gong Sheng". If you want to be a scholar, you have to go through another level.
The first place in the exam is Hui Yuan, and the second place is Sanyuan.
Before talking about the next level, let's introduce the examination room of the imperial examination. At that time, the examination room was not the brightly lit classroom today, and there were a lot of parents waiting for you with watermelons outside. The examination room in the Ming Dynasty was called Gong Yuan, but in fact, from its structural environment, it could be called a prison cell.
There are tens of thousands of rooms in Gong Yuan (the occupancy rate can be estimated), all of which are single rooms. Some people may think that a single room is very good. Don't be busy. Let me introduce what kind of single room this is. This single room is called room number. It is five feet long, four feet wide and eight feet high.
When you measure it, you can feel that it is almost a cage. Candidates should be searched before going in. They can only bring books and lamps, and each person gives out three candles. After entering, the door will be closed and locked immediately, and candidates will answer questions inside and rest in the evening. But because the room is too small, candidates can only curl up and sleep, which is really uncomfortable.
However, in such a difficult environment, under that lonely lamp and in unbearable loneliness, our ancestors wrote wonderful articles with strong perseverance, which really deserves our respect.
Everyone who has experienced this exam deserves our applause, not only those who have succeeded, but also those who have failed.
The final test that the elites who pass the exam will face is the court exam. In this exam, they will face the ruler of this empire. The examination method is that the emperor asks questions and the candidates answer them. The content is mainly policy issues. These poor candidates dare not and cannot look up. They can only answer questions with trepidation, then quit and wait for fate.
According to the candidates' performance, emperors and ministers will be graded. There are only three people in Grade A, namely, Jinshi Ji, Champion, Champion and Flower Exploration. Everyone knows that. There are several people in grade B, called Gi Jinshi, and there are several people in grade A, called Gi Tong Jinshi.
And the number one scholar is the third of the three yuan.
If you are still on the list here, congratulations, you will be appointed as a formal position. But don't expect too much. At this time, the official positions assigned are not high. After so much suffering, what you get is probably just an eight-product Xiancheng, which is far from the county grandfather, but anyway, you are finally an official.
Imperial examination is not only a way to obtain official position, but also a way for scholars to pursue honor. For them, the number one scholar is their goal. Although there is no first place in literature, the first place is what everyone wants. The number one scholar is human, why not me? !
The same is true, but although there are few champions, there is only one in three years, and the output is very low, but there are still some. Therefore, the highest honor in the minds of scholars is not the number one scholar, but another title, which is what every scholar yearns for. The person who wins this title will become a legend and be admired by thousands of people!
This title is "Lianzhong Sanyuan", specifically "Xie Yuan", "Hui Yuan" and "Top Scholar". This is a very difficult action. We must ensure that the province takes the first place in the exam, then the whole country takes the first place, and finally the court exam is also the first in the emperor's mind. This requires that knowledge is not enough for candidates. They must be witty and handsome to get this title. Therefore, it takes some luck to get this title. There is more than smoke on the ancestral grave, it is simply fire.
In the 276-year history of the Ming Dynasty, there was only one such person, Shang Lu in the orthodox period, who was very powerful. He has a certain position in history, and we will mention him later.
Since the imperial examination in Sui and Tang Dynasties, only thirteen people have won this honor, namely, two in Tang Dynasty, six in Song Dynasty, one in Jin Dynasty, one in Yuan Dynasty, one in Ming Dynasty and two in Qing Dynasty. These people really deserve our worship.
The purpose of taking part in the imperial examination is to be an official. With more and more officials, the secular elite gradually faded, and the imperial examination scholars formed the so-called imperial examination forces, which were later civilian groups. This group had a great influence on the politics of the Ming Dynasty, and they formed an organizational structure similar to the underworld. It is terrible to threaten the emperor from above and rule the people from below. Here, let's take a look at the operation sequence in their organization.
As I said before, if a Jinshi is admitted, he can be an alternate officer, but it is much more difficult to be an official. They must take three exams. If they are really worthless and still fail to pass the exam, they can go to the official department to register. In a few years (ranging from one to dozens), many officials will die. As soon as there is a vacancy, they will bring these juren out and choose some people to be officials. This is called "big pick". So what is the standard of big pick? Speaking of which, you may not believe it. It depends on your appearance. The choice method is similar to that of the current police station. People are like suspects, and dozens of people stand in front of the officials to be elected.
At this time, it is really shameful to be ugly. There must be no one for you. Go home early.
Actually, it's not your fault that you are ugly.
The selected juren can become an official. Although these juren failed to get into the Jinshi exam, they are still on the list, so they are called single-list origins, while Jinshi is called double-list origins. After all, everyone was tested, so Jinshi also regarded Juren as his own kind. The so-called clean stream.
It is interesting to distinguish the internal order of these Puritans, which needs to be discussed in detail. After you understand these laws, you can better understand many historical events that happened in the civil service group in the middle of Ming Dynasty.
We listed five officials to illustrate this problem, named A, B, C, D and E respectively. The positions of these five people are as follows: A is an assistant minister of the Ministry of War (five products), B is a doctor of the Ministry of Justice (five products), C is a foreign minister of the Ministry of Justice (five products), D is an assistant lecturer of imperial academy Bachelor's degree (five products), and E is a participant in the history of the Ministry of Political Affairs.
These five people, A, B, C and D, are all Jinshi, and E is a juren. They met in the lobby of the War Department. After distinguishing the official positions, they sat down in turn and everyone began to talk. Since what they say is not official business, it is natural to start with their origins. At this time, e will definitely quit first. Why?
Because he is smart enough! Although his official position ranks second among five people, people are talking about Jinshi. You haven't even taken the imperial examination, so what's the fun? This is similar to the education required now. He is from Peking University and I am from Tsinghua. You can't say that you graduated from Clayton University. It sounds like asking for trouble at this time. Moreover, these people who came from Jinshi like to talk about things when they graduated from college. As soon as they opened their mouths, they thought, how did Laozi handle himself well in the palace exam, and so on. Just like the famous saying in the besieged city, "Brother, when I was in England", they would throw out a sentence from time to time.
In fact, he probably answered irrelevant questions and climbed out in despair. Who knows? This is the first step to meet, and you are born.
This is the second step. Since everyone is a scholar, it's easy to say. Let's talk about the next question. When did you get into Jinshi? In short, A was born in Hongwu 16, B was born in Hongwu 19, D was born in Hongwu for 22 years, and C was born in Hongwu for 3 years. This is similar to meeting someone today and asking: When did you graduate? Oh, it's my big brother. I don't respect you. At that time, it was not possible to solve the problem in a few words. At this time, those three people will salute C. This is the rule. No matter how old your rank and age are, you will salute those who graduated earlier than you. This is the second step, showing qualifications.
The third step is to compare the rankings. Even if they are all Jinshi, there is also a problem of excellent ranking. A said: I am the top three in the top draft, B smiled: I am the top two in the top draft, and C also smiled: I am the fifteenth in Dimethyl.
At this moment, Ding said, I am.
That a few immediately stopped laughing, obediently stood up and saluted, this is because Jishi Shu really has a lot.
Of all the Jinshi, only three people can directly enter imperial academy, and only those who choose elite exams from the second and third grades can become Jishi Shu. Their duty is to explain classics and history books to the emperor and help him draft letters. They are the secretaries of the emperor and have great power. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it was no longer customary for Jishi Shu not to go to college.
Do you think Jishi Shu is good?
Put these three sets down, and everyone has a good idea, so take care of them in the future. The imperial examination forces were arranged in this way, forming a powerful force.
Being admitted to Jinshi was too tempting for people at that time, and getting a good ranking also had extra attraction. People in China pay attention to going home in official clothes, that is, going home to show their poor brothers and neighbors' aunts and brothers. At this time, the greater the ostentation and extravagance, the greater the face.
Everyone has seen on TV that ancient officials had to take a lot of people when they traveled, with gongs in front and signs in front to clear the way. I don't know if you have noticed those people holding signs, their knowledge is on the signs!
If you are the champion, you will be down a peg or two. You can write Chinese characters such as "No.1 scholar" and "Hanlin hand-picked" on the sign, and parade in the city, attracting countless people to sigh and shake their children's heads. You must learn from him in the future
How to write the brand names of Di Mei and Sanjia? Their brands will list the words "from the same Jinshi" and "from the second list", which is also highly respected by many people.
The brand of Jinshi is easy to write. After all, people have seen the world. What about raising people? We won't write a Chinese scholar, nor will we write two lists. Don't worry, people came up with the solution. We bring people out, and they give full play to their creativity because there is not much to write about.
For example, he was promoted by Ding Yin after having obtained the provincial examination in Jiangxi, so he wrote a sign of "Ding Yin Juren". Think again, Lao Tzu is the main book in the county government, and his position is a little low, but he is also an official, so the second sign is "the main book of one county" Besides, you can write down what year and month you were commended and what achievements you made. Anyway, you can cheat the people.
It is this temptation that makes countless people bravely move forward towards official positions, but as mentioned above, it is not so easy to be an official. Zhu Yuanzhang has set the most difficult level for them. This checkpoint not only changed the imperial examination system with a long history, but also caused countless people to fall into extreme pain. To some extent, it also affected the fate of China in the next few hundred years.
This level is stereotyped writing.
Stereotyped works
This is a phenomenon worth mentioning. Stereotyped writing can be said to be an invention of the Ming Dynasty. This set of things developed and perfected from Zhu Yuanzhang to the middle of Ming Dynasty, and influenced intellectuals for nearly 500 years.
Students' examination subjects are divided into three sections. The first study was about the classic meaning, that is, the four books and five classics, the second study was about practical writing, and the third study was about current events, that is, something for you to analyze, which was quite practical. The most important one is Confucian classics, which is the key to selecting scholars.
Candidates at that time were not like students now. They must review a lot of content before the exam. For them, all they have to do is recite the Four Books and Five Classics. Questions can only be raised here, and there can be no other questions. It's quite narrow and easy to recite. Moreover, there is a prescribed number of words for writing articles, which generally does not exceed 500 words, unlike some propositional compositions that often need more than 1000 words. In this way, the exam that year seemed a little easier, but it was not.
The key lies in the format and personal play. Eight-part essay can be divided into four parts: breaking the topic, undertaking the topic, starting the topic, starting the stock, starting the stock, stopping the stock and stopping the stock, among which the essence part is starting the stock, starting the stock, stopping the stock. You can't write these four parts casually, but you must use parallelism. * * there are eight shares, so it is called.
This writing is very old-fashioned. You can't write more than one word, which is really harmful. Many people just make up while writing, just to make up the number of words and achieve a double effect. On the surface, the handwriting is neat. Read the content carefully and talk nonsense.
It is not only the candidates who suffer, but also the teachers who give questions. There are only so many words in the Four Books and Five Classics, and exams at all levels give questions from them. The questions that have been given are generally unusable, so teachers are full of tricks, separating the upper and lower sentences of the Four Books and Five Classics and giving questions separately. For example, beheading in one sentence, only using the middle words to test people. This statement is unreasonable, even the teacher doesn't know what it is.
As a result, I was very confused during the exam. The questioner doesn't know what it means, and neither do the people who take the exam. What kind of talent did I get in this way?
Stereotyped writing is just a form after all. Even if it is old-fashioned, it should not cause too much negative impact. Don't worry, the rulers of the Ming dynasty still have a killer weapon, which is the most powerful.
The Ming dynasty stipulated that all articles should not have their own thoughts, and they must imitate the ancients and write articles according to the thoughts of saints. Who is this saint? Chu Hsi
What is this saint who almost became the ancestor of Zhu Yuanzhang? He has always advocated that heaven is the foundation and human desire is the sacrifice. Hunger is a trivial matter, and shame is a big thing, which is the embodiment of his thought. Such a person is full of benevolence and morality and should be a Taoist, but he also has a hobby, that is, picking up ashes (you can look up books if you don't know) and getting his daughter-in-law pregnant. It is also appropriate to call him an animal for this kind of behavior.
It is such a scum that he is regarded as a saint. He once wrote notes to four books, that is, marked his own understanding. However, these understandings are favored by the rulers, and all students are required to answer questions according to Zhu Shengren's ideas.
Oh, my God! Zhu Shengren may have thought of one sentence when he went to the toilet, wrote it down, and thought of another sentence when he was eating. He is not sure when he wrote it down. Hundreds of years have passed, and it is simply torture to ask everyone to think according to his way of thinking!
This is a painful experience and unnatural for the students of the Ming Dynasty. Who knows what kind of thinking this guy was in those days? He can only guess and grasp slowly by himself. The so-called asking people what they don't understand, teaching people what they understand and asking God what no one really understands is not just a joke for these students.
Countless candidates dream back in the middle of the night, and what lingers in their minds is Zhu's not handsome appearance and not burly figure. Over time, some people who woke up began to say hello to Zhu's parents and ancestors, which seemed to be the only way to export evil spirits. The problem is that you have to take the exam after scolding. If you don't take the exam, there will be no official to do it. This is a practical problem.
Under the fixed thinking and fixed mode, the students of Ming Dynasty began to finish their articles. What we have to marvel at is that in such a difficult environment, the candidates have still written many wonderful articles, and I have also read two eight-part essays, which are beautiful in writing and profound in conception. Really let our younger generation admire them for writing these articles under so many restrictions.
The authors of these excellent eight-part essays skillfully use the existing laws, intentionally or unintentionally insert their own views and express them in beautiful words. They are undoubtedly the real winners in this rule competition.
There are many disadvantages of stereotyped writing examination, and many selected talents are nerds. Song Lian, a famous scholar in Ming Dynasty, described some talents selected by stereotyped writing as "talking with them, staring at them, unable to justify themselves" and acting like an idiot.
But the eight-part essay is still useful. For example, Wu Zeng wrote in "The Scholars" that "the eight-part essay is well done and you can do whatever you want. If you want to write a poem, you should give it. It's a whip and a scar, a slap in the face and a palm of blood. " It can be seen that eight-part essay is the basis of many stylistic writing. More importantly, under such restrictions, many outstanding talents can stand out, such as Xu Jie, Gao Gong and Zhang. Who didn't get high marks in stereotyped writing? These talents are the best of the best.
Generally speaking, this system still does more harm than good, imprisoning people's thinking and harming people. Its influence is far-reaching. Until modern times, people were proud of having passed stereotyped writing. For example, Chen Duxiu and Jiang Menglin, then president of Peking University, were both scholars before the Qing Dynasty. Chen Duxiu once asked Jiang Menglin what kind of scholar he was taking. Jiang Menglin replied that he was a scholar in strategic planning, and Chen Duxiu was very proud. He laughed and called himself an eight-part essay scholar, more valuable than a strategic planning scholar. Jiang Menglin hurriedly bowing. This shows how powerful stereotyped writing is.
After the demise of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty was established and the imperial examination system entered its heyday. The rulers of the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to imperial examinations, and their methods were more rigorous than those of previous dynasties.
Before the Ming Dynasty, the school was only one of the ways to transport candidates for the imperial examination. In the Ming dynasty, becoming an official became the only way for the imperial examination. People who entered imperial academy to study in the Ming Dynasty were generally called Guo Jianzi. There are generally four kinds of supervisors: those who send students to prison for study, those who send bureaucratic children to prison, those who send people to prison, and those who donate money to prison. Guo-zi-jian diploma can be an official directly. Especially in the early Ming Dynasty, many officials were appointed by Guo Jianzi as central and local officials. After the Ming Dynasty became a ancestor, Guo Jianzi had fewer and fewer opportunities to be an official directly, but he could directly take the provincial examination and pass the imperial examination to become an official.
In addition to the students in Guo Jian, there are also those who take the imperial examinations in the provincial examinations. Only when you enter school and become a student can you go to prison or become a student in the imperial examination. In the Ming Dynasty, Fuzhou County School was called County School or Confucianism. Those who pass the examinations at all levels in this province and enter government, state and county schools are generally called students and scholars. The entrance examination for obtaining students' qualifications is called children's examination, also known as test or test. Delivery test includes three stages: county test, government test and hospital test. The college examination is presided over by the provincial academic affairs office, also known as the prefect college, so it is called the college examination. Those who pass the college entrance examination are called students, and then they are divided into official, state and county schools to study. Students are divided into three grades: students, students, and students. The food provided by the government is called foodie, or foodie for short. Those who increase beyond the quota are called co-opted students, and the branch is called proliferation; In addition to the growth of students, the number of places will be increased, which is attached to the end of students and is called an attached student, and the branch is called an attached student. Getting a bachelor's degree is the starting point of fame. On the one hand, students from schools in various prefectures, prefectures and counties were selected as palace students, and they could go directly to imperial academy to become children. On the one hand, provincial academic promotion officers hold two-level examinations, namely, annual examination and science examination, which are divided into six grades according to the results. Ranked first and second in scientific research, those who are eligible to take the provincial examination are called imperial examination students. Therefore, admission is the first level of the imperial examination ladder.
The imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty were divided into three levels: after having obtained a local exam, the senior high school entrance examination and palace examination. The rural examination is a local examination held by the southern and northern Zhili provinces and ministries. The location is in the south, where the Beijing government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are stationed. Held once every three years, it is every child, noon, Mao, and unitary years, also known as. The examination place is called Gong Yuan. The examination period is in August of autumn, so it is also called Autumn Wei. Candidates and invigilators in this province can take the exam. There are two examiners, four co-examiners, one transfer, and several other officials who preside over the provincial examination. The exam was divided into three sessions, which were held on August 9th,12nd and15th respectively. Jurors in rural areas are commonly known as Lian Xiao, and their first name is Xie Yuan. Tang Bohu was named Tang Jieyuan because he ranked first in the provincial examination. After passing the provincial examination, it is called B list, also called B section. When the list was released, it coincided with the fragrance of osmanthus, so it was also called Guibang. After the announcement, the governor presided over a banquet. During the dinner, Luming Literature was sung and Kuixing Dance was performed.
The examination is a national examination presided over by the Ministry of Rites, also known as the Ministry of Rites. It was held in the second year of the rural examination, that is, every day, every day and every year. The national juren will take the exam in Beijing, and the exam time is in February of spring, so it is called the end of spring. There are also three exams, held on February 9th,12nd and15th. Because the final exam is a higher-level exam, the number of examiners is twice that of the provincial exam. Officials such as examiners, examiners and transfer officials are all senior officials. The examiner is called the chairman, also known as the seat owner or seat teacher. Gong, commonly known as Gong Chu, is called Mingjing, and his first name is Huiyuan.
The palace exam was held in the same year after the meeting, and the time was originally the first day of March. Ming Xianzong changed to March 15th from eight years ago. The candidate is Gong. The palace test did not fail, but was rescheduled by the emperor. The court exam was presided over by Angel, who only took the current affairs exam. After the palace exam, I will read the papers the next day and release the results the next day. Admission is divided into three classes: first-class and third-class, respectively, for Jinshi and top scholar Ding, runner-up and flower exploration runner-up, collectively known as Sandingjia. Second, I am a scholar, and third, I am a scholar. Second, the first of the top three is called biography. A, B and A are collectively referred to as Jinshi. Jinshi list is called Jiabang, or Jiake. The Jinshi list is written in yellow paper, so it is called Huang Jia, also known as the Golden List, and the sergeant base is called the champion.
After having obtained the provincial examination, the first place was Xie Yuan, and the first place was Hui Yuan. Together with the number one scholar in the palace examination, it is called the three principles. Three yuan in a row is a much-told story in the imperial examination field. In the Ming Dynasty, only Guan Xu in Hongwu period and Shang Lu in orthodox period participated in the tripartite confrontation.
After the court examination, the champion awarded imperial academy the editor-in-chief, the second prize and the flower detective editor-in-chief. The rest of the Jinshi passed the exam, known as Jishi Shu of the Imperial Academy. Three years later, those who pass the examination are awarded the positions of editor, reviewer and so on, and the rest are assigned to the ministries as directors, or the magistrate of a county gives priority to employment, which is called scattered libraries. People born in Jishi Shu are promoted very quickly. After Yingzong, the imperial court formed a situation that Jinshi or Hanlin did not enter the cabinet.
Eight-part essay in the first session of the rural examination and unified examination in Ming Dynasty. Whether you can be admitted depends mainly on the quality of the eight-part essay. Therefore, ordinary readers often spend their whole lives on eight-part essays. Eight-part essay takes the sentences in the Four Books and Five Classics as the topic, and can only explain the meaning according to the meaning of the topic. The wording should be in the tone of the ancients, that is, the so-called generation of sages. The format is also dead. The structure has certain procedures, the number of words is limited, and the syntax requires duality. Eight-part essay is also called Zhi Yi, Zhi Yi, Shi Wen, Barbie and Si. Eight-part essay is an article composed of eight pairs, generally divided into six paragraphs. Use the first sentence to solve the problem, two sentences to bear the problem, and then explain the reason, that is, the origin. The main part of the eight-part essay consists of four parts: initial sharing, middle sharing, post-sharing and binding sharing, each of which has two paragraphs. At the end of the article, a big knot is used, which is called a big knot. Eight-part essay evolved from Confucian classics in Song Dynasty. Eight-part essay is extremely harmful and seriously binds people's thoughts. It is a tool to maintain feudal autocracy, and it also leads the imperial examination system itself into a dead end. Gu, a famous scholar in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, said indignantly: "Eight-part writing is flourishing, six classics are weak, eighteen are flourishing, and twenty-one is abolished." He added, "I think stereotyped writing is more harmful than burning books."