If you want to know why the imperial examination sprouted in China as early as the second century BC and lasted for two thousand years, you have to start with the origin and evolution of scholars. Under the "feudal" system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, "scholar" was the lowest among the ancient nobles, but since the Spring and Autumn Period, the "feudal" system has gradually disintegrated. On the one hand, the upper class aristocrats were reduced to "scholars"; On the other hand, some lower-class "Shu Ren" also rose to "scholar", so the number of "scholar" began to surge. At the same time, the nature of "scholar" has also undergone important changes: from an ancient scholar who does not distinguish between civil and military, he has become a scholar who studies "poetry, calligraphy, etiquette and music", which is equivalent to what sociologists call "experts in cultural affairs". This social change was completed in the Warring States period. As a special social stratum, "Scholar" officially entered the historical stage of China, and the first two schools of Confucianism and Mohism represented the prototype of "Scholar".
Although there are ideological differences between Confucianism and Mohism, the establishment and maintenance of political order is the most important task of the "scholar" class. Confucius' famous saying that "scholars aim at Tao" has made clear the social function of "scholars": they must shoulder the heavy responsibility of changing "there is no Tao in the world" into "there is a Tao in the world". Today, although Xia Zi's phrase "learning to be an excellent official" was criticized by everyone, it was obviously giving play to the meaning of Confucius' "A scholar's ambition lies in the Tao" at that time, and it was spiritually complementary to Zeng Shen's so-called "A scholar must be loyal and faithful, and the road is long and Xiu Yuan is Xi". Mozi lived in the early Warring States period, and "scholar" was much more active politically than in the Spring and Autumn Period. Therefore, he further demanded that the monarchs of all countries should be "Shang Xian" and "pro-scholars". On the positive side, he emphasized that "virtuous people" are "the treasure of the country and the help of the society" because they are "rich in virtue, eloquent words and Taoist learning"; The monarch must treat them "generously, expensively, with respect and dignity". On the negative side, he even issued a warning: "No one can survive in his country by delaying sages and forgetting scholars. 」
The transformation of social structure and the advocacy of Confucianism and Mohism eventually led to the quite common monarch's "respecting the sages" movement. Since the turn of the 5th and 4th centuries BC, it has been recorded that Wei Wenhou was ruled by "Jing Yi" in Xia Zi, and Lu Miaogong respected Li Zidi's thoughts. In the middle of the 4th century, Qi Xuanwang rebuilt Jixia Academy, which was the largest and longest-lasting institution of respecting sages during the Warring States Period. Since then, in order to reform the powerful country, all countries have taken "recruiting talents and talents" as their primary task, and the political arena has been completely controlled by "scholars". But the scholars at that time were all so-called "tourists" and were not restricted by the "national" world; Their number is very large, and they often move between "countries" and form a decisive "international" force. Because of this, when measuring the strength of a "country" or a political group (such as the "quadruplets" of Qi, Zhao, Chu and Wei). ), the number of scholars has become the most important indicator. It is no accident that the political motto of "those who gain the scholar prosper, those who lose the scholar perish" was widely circulated at the end of the Warring States Period.
The above summary is enough to show that "scholar", as a professional social stratum, was formally formed in the middle and late Warring States period. This new class has two most important characteristics: First, the "scholar" has changed from the bottom of the ancient aristocracy to the "head of the four people" in the new social structure. There is a sentence in the biography of Spring and Autumn Valley Liang that best illustrates this change:
There were four kinds of people in ancient times: intellectuals, businessmen, farmers and workers. (the first year of success)
"Ancient" is nothing more than the saying of "reform from ancient times". In fact, this sentence accurately reflects the social reality of the Warring States period. Scholars, businessmen, agriculture and industry are professional categories, and scholars and businessmen were undoubtedly the two most active classes at that time. The concept of "scholars are the first of the four masters" has since solidified (as for the order of the four masters in the future, it was revised because of "attaching importance to agriculture and neglecting business"). Second, because of spiritual training and classic education, the major of "scholar" is mainly to serve as the leader of all aspects and levels of the government; By the end of the Warring States period, this was also recognized by the society. So "Shi" and "Shi" were inseparable in the language at that time. Mencius said a meaningful sentence a long time ago: "A scholar's official position is better than a farmer's accomplishment. This is clearly an acknowledgement that "scholars" take "officials" as their major, and also affirms the social division of labor of the four people. Later, Xunzi even created the word "official", specifically referring to "official" to compare with the concept of "Chu Shi".
The formation of the "scholar" class and its huge social motivation were the fundamental reasons why the Han Dynasty had to open its political power to the "scholar". As we all know, Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang was born as a "rogue" and won the world. At first, he completely ignored the "scholar". He publicly said: "Nai Weng will soon take over the world and settle down in poetry books." ? But when he became emperor for eleven years, he suddenly changed his ways and tried to imitate Zhou Wenwang and Qi Huangong. This means that he has realized the truth that "the world can be won at once, but it cannot be cured at once". "The imperial edict frankly admits that he is willing to' honor' all the' sages and doctors' who are willing to travel with me, so as to' serve the ancestral temple for a long time'." But why did it take 70 years for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to formally establish the system and open up a road from "scholar" to "official"? This was also forced out step by step by the forces of the "scholar" class. In order to consolidate Liu's world, Emperor Gaozu established many independent hereditary kingdoms and vassal States, which were ruled by Liu's children respectively. The political pattern in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period almost reappeared in the unified empire. "Han dynasty history. "Zou Yangchuan" is clearly written:
Han Xing, vassals and kings were all autonomous and hired talents, while Wu attracted tourists from all directions.
It can be seen that the diversification of political centers has also caused the revival of the "tourist" atmosphere. At the end of the Warring States period, the ranks of scholars were very spectacular, but generally speaking, they were "humble places, places where they lived for a long time" (see Historical Records by Li Si). In order to "promote their official career", they had to travel between "countries" because this was their only livelihood. In the early Han Dynasty, the situation of "scholars" remained the same, so before Emperor Wu implemented the policy of "reducing vassals" (BC 128), they were active as "wanderers" in the small court of the independent kingdom, adding fuel to the fire for the separatist forces under the unified situation. The rebellion of Wu and Chu in Jingdi period was closely related to the political activities of "You". This situation even lasted until the early years of Emperor Wu. Notes on Chao Cuo s Theory of Salt and Iron;
Japanese scholars Huainan and Hengshan study literature and recruit scholars widely. Shandong Confucianism and Mohan gathered between Jianghuai, giving lectures and writing dozens of books. However, he died of betrayal, rebellion and clan.
Grasping this specific historical background, we can truly understand why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up imperial academy in the central government on the one hand, and let the counties and counties inspect the filial piety scholars on the other. Under the influence of Confucian scholars such as Dong Zhongshu and Gong, he knew that only by broadening the way of being an official could "You Shi" be introduced into the system of the unified empire as much as possible and centrifugal force be transformed into centripetal force.
In a word, the emergence of the "scholar" class, the first of the four people, and its political power is one of the important reasons why the unified empire in Han Dynasty had to "learn from the scriptures". This is the origin of the imperial examination system and its continuous development under the later unified dynasty. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, "scholar" has been separated from the stage of "wandering". On the one hand, they have established more and more close relations with clans, relatives, township parties and others. On the other hand, they have started "permanent production" and settled in the countryside. In this way, scholars often have great influence in the counties where they live, relying on a solid social and economic foundation. Because the influence of "scholar" has gradually spread from the cultural and political fields to the social and economic aspects, and the two are inextricably linked and unbreakable, its leading position as the "head of the four great people" is increasingly consolidated. After the Han Dynasty, in order to create a legacy, the unified dynasty had to consider how to establish a cooperative relationship with the "scholar" class. The imperial examination system reconstructed after Sui and Tang Dynasties must be understood from this angle. From the late Southern Dynasty, the so-called "cold people" of the "scholar" class began to rise. They wanted to break through the political monopoly of the gate and strive for the opportunity to enter the "official". This is the historical background of the new imperial examination replacing the nine-grade system. The Tang dynasty was a period when aristocratic families gradually declined, and the middle and lower class "scholars" gradually rose politically through the imperial examination. Therefore, the importance of "Jinshi" will become more and more obvious in the future. The complete decline of the gate valve occurred in the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty, so the so-called "four-people society" was generally established from the Song Dynasty. Scholars are still the leaders of these four people, but social mobility and the other three people-agriculture, industry and commerce-have entered a brand-new era. On the one hand, literati can no longer maintain the status handed down from generation to generation, and may be reduced to agriculture, industry and commerce at any time. Therefore, scholars in the Song Dynasty, such as Lu You and Yuan Cai, are concerned about how future generations should choose their jobs when they can't be "scholars". On the other hand, agriculture, industry and commerce are not fixed hereditary occupations, and they also have the opportunity to become "scholars", so in the second year of JaeHee Ning (1069), Su Zhe said:
Today, where there are agriculture, industry and commerce, no one abandons the old and follows the literature.
This sentence is enough to prove that the social foundation of "scholar" has been far expanded than that of Tang Dynasty. The "scholar" in Su Zhe's book refers to the participants in the imperial examination. This is a new trend in the social history of China, which will be supplemented slightly below and will not be discussed here. In short, the imperial examination system has become a major pillar of the traditional imperial examination system since the Tang and Song Dynasties. No matter Zhu Yuanzhang, who was deeply hostile to scholars, or the Manchu dynasty occupied by foreigners, he could not but rely on the integration function of the imperial examination.