In the Song Dynasty, due to the emphasis on literature over martial arts, the need for centralization and absolute monarchy was further strengthened. The imperial examination, originally aimed at breaking nepotism, has been greatly developed. Later, the grade examination system in Ming and Qing Dynasties was basically formed in Song Dynasty. However, I personally think that the greatest contribution of the imperial examination in Song Dynasty was the paste name system, which basically put an end to the phenomenon that scholars depended on relationships in Tang Dynasty. This further put the imperial examination on the track of fairness and justice and brought great gospel to poor children. The legacy of hereditary nobles in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, that is, the phenomenon of relying on the network formed by ancestors to obtain golden rice bowls, is becoming less and less. Even though some officials have formulated policies and systems based on the grace of their ancestors, the children of officials don't think so. They still think that it is extremely noble and proud to be admitted to Jinshi and be an official on their own. So in the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination system really became the qualification examination for selecting officials.
Later, the Mongolian people in the northern grassland abused their invincible hand all over the world, and the Song Dynasty was completely conquered by him. In China, for the first time, ethnic minorities really became the rulers of unified China. However, after the Yuan Dynasty entered the Central Plains, although it also attached importance to Han intellectuals, it also respected Confucianism. But after all, the world of the golden family is really broken by fists. So unlike later Qing Dynasty, they really worshipped and integrated China literature. Therefore, although the imperial examination was not completely interrupted, it was still built one by one, and it was not very hard. Moreover, the grassland rulers at that time divided the people in the society into ten classes: one official, two officials, three monks, four doctors, six workers, seven craftsmen, eight prostitutes, nine men and ten beggars (from which we often called smelly Laojiu). Confucian intellectuals are worse than prostitutes. To what extent do you think the rulers attach importance to the imperial examination system?
However, the descendants of the golden family have brought serious consequences because of discrimination against Confucian scholars. Without the support and guidance of the vast number of Han intellectuals, the ruler from the grassland was driven back to the grassland by an Anhui person in less than a hundred years.
It was none other than Zhu Yuanzhang, the famous founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who drove the Jin rulers back to their hometown. Zhu Yuanzhang's birth can be said to be the lowest among emperors of all ages. Father, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-grandfather have been pushing up, all illiterate mud legs, all landless tenants (farmers who rent land to farm). However, in the peasant uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang stood out and eventually defeated various governors and became the founding monarch of Daming.
Although Emperor Mao was born in a purely illiterate family, he himself did not exclude Confucian intellectuals and Confucian culture like his predecessor Liu Bang. He likes reading very much and respects readers very much. Adding the imperial examination system is indeed the best means to strengthen centralization and autocratic monarchy. Therefore, the imperial examination system prevailing in Tang and Song Dynasties is bound to enter his outline of governing the country.
As soon as the Ming Dynasty was established, Taizu resumed the imperial examination system throughout the country. Taizu carefully designed the imperial examination system from the perspective of centralization and autocracy.
First of all, it is stipulated that the topics of the imperial examination must come from the contents of the four books and five classics. The Four Books refer to Daxue, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects of Confucius and Mencius, and the Five Classics refer to The Book of Songs, The Book of Rites, The Book of Changes and The Spring and Autumn Annals. Since the Han Dynasty, emperors of all dynasties have flaunted Confucianism as the rule of the world, and it is understandable to find out problems from the four books and five classics. However, the following provisions have nakedly exposed the real purpose of Emperor Mao. At that time, it was stipulated that the angle of candidates' answers could only be within the scope of Zhu Cheng Neo-Confucianism, and they could not give full play to it, which was what many people called "speaking for the ancients". In other words, the smartest people and the most valuable brains in these empires are put on invisible shackles. Why is it so stipulated? Very simply, it is to control the brains of the best talents in the country and unify their thoughts in order to benefit their own monarchy and rule.
Secondly, Emperor Mao should not only control the readers in the outline of questions and the way of answering questions, but also set rules and regulations in the form to train these people's thinking mode. At that time, candidates were required to write articles in the prescribed format, which was later called eight-part essay. What is eight-part essay? In other words, writing an article must follow the following steps: breaking the topic, receiving the topic, opening the lecture, entering the topic, starting the stock, middle the stock, ending the stock, and bundling the stock. And the words in the article should also pay attention to antithesis, parallelism and parallelism. This, together with the above provisions, really fetters and destroys the scholars too much. If a person does not understand the boundary between reality and regulation, it is easy to get possessed. The light one is a bookworm, and the heavy one is a madman. For example, Zhou Jin and Jin Fan in The Scholars, which I am going to read next, are typical examples.
But realistically speaking, the rules of the imperial examination are strict, boring, boring and imprisoning human nature, but so many scholars were crazy about it during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (including Wu, the author of The Scholars, Pu Songling, the author of Liaozhai, and other stereotyped critics), which must have his great charm and temptation. Where is the charm and temptation of the imperial examination? The charm and temptation of the imperial examination lie in the following points: the imperial examination divides those who pass the examination into young students, Jinshi, Juren and Jinshi according to their grades. Among them, once you win a scholar, you can be exempted from tax and labor, and the government gives you dozens of scholarships every year. You don't have to kneel when you see the county grandfather, so you can eat and drink together on an equal footing. Take one more step, and you will be lucky to have won the provincial exam. It's really a smoke from your ancestral grave. From then on, you have the qualification to be an official. Hai Rui, a famous upright official, prickly head, Taoist and super noisy family in Ming Dynasty, was born as a juren and finally became a court official. Moreover, not only did the scholar lose the task of delivering food, but the county boss would also take the initiative to send you money, houses and beautiful women, and immediately become rich and poor in Gao Fushuai. Not only do you not have to kneel down when you see the county grandfather, but the county grandfather has to be your brother. One step further, I will take the exam in Beijing and become a high school scholar in Gongkao. It must be your ancestors who have accumulated the virtue of 18 generations, which is your great luck. The emperor personally gave a banquet to celebrate, the daughter of a court official was readily available, glistening money was constantly cashed in, high-rise buildings and beautiful servants were constantly given away for free, and everyone gave you envious eyes-it was really "the spring breeze was proud, the horseshoe was light, and Chang 'an flowers were seen in one day", which was described as "awesome" in three words!
It can not only bring great comfort to the spirit, but also improve material life. Any normal person would pursue it. Therefore, it is very natural for literati to be obsessed with imperial examinations and literati. However, the admission quota is limited and the elimination rate is high. Some people have been in the exam for decades and can't even get a scholar. If the ability to withstand blows is not good, there is also madness.
However, since the Sui Dynasty, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the imperial examination system was aimed at the personal power and family of the emperor. But objectively, it does provide a very fair and just way for the country to select talents. Children of ordinary people at the bottom have the opportunity to change their fate, but in fact, many children from poor families have passed the imperial examination, realizing their wish of "being a Tian Shelang and entering the emperor's palace day and night".
So excluding some negative factors, the imperial examination is a very fair way to select talents. This can explain why when we abolished the imperial examination and learned from the west, Britain saw the advantages of the imperial examination system and used it to select its own civil servants. However, Zhou Jin, Jin Fan and others in The Scholars were fascinated by the authorities because of historical conditions. They suffered more harm than benefit.