First, the background and embryonic form of graduate students
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties before the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, all regimes have adopted the "Nine-grade Official Law" when selecting officials. The "Nine-grade Official Law" originated from the suggestion of Chen Qun, a senior official of the official department, and was adopted by Wei Wendi Cao Pi in 220 AD. The specific method is to set up large zhongzheng in each state and small zhongzheng in each county, all of which are held by some experienced central officials, so it is also called "nine-level zhongzheng system" Zhongzheng is responsible for evaluating the talents in each county from three aspects: quality, appearance and family background. The evaluation results are divided into nine grades, namely: up, up, up, middle, down, down, up and down. (1) After the results are judged, Xiaozhongzheng is Dazhongzheng, Dazhongzheng is verified by Stuart, and then selected by the official ministers. Since the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the influence of the gentry's gate valve has become increasingly great, and it is very common for the gentry to serve as local leaders. Almost all the talents who evaluate the excellent are the sons of the gentry, and there has been a situation that "the top grade is not poor, and the bottom grade is not powerful". The "nine-grade official law" has completely become a tool for the gentry to strengthen their power.
In February of the first year of Northern Zhou Dynasty (58 1), Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty proclaimed himself emperor on behalf of Zhou Dynasty, renamed himself Sui Dynasty, established Yuan Dynasty as emperor, made Chang 'an its capital, and was called Emperor Wendi in history. After Emperor Wendi came to power, he attached great importance to talent selection. He is well aware of the shortcomings of the nine-level clock system, so he began to reform the talent selection system. In the third year of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty (583), a decree was officially issued to stop the power of judging talents in counties and counties that "hold the rights of the people and seize the rights of China" and change it to three Gong's people every year. In the eighteenth year of Emperor Yangdi's reign (598), Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty ordered that "examiners of five or more items, namely, the Imperial Examiners, the General Manager, the Secretariat Examiners and the two subjects (2) should be conscientious, honest and diligent, and delegate the power of selecting talents to senior bureaucrats. However, due to the lack of supervision and restriction on these senior bureaucrats, it is inevitable that there will be some cheating and cheating, and there will be many problems in operation, so we have to reform again. Since then, Wendi died and his son Yang Guang succeeded to the throne. In April of the third year of Yang Di's great cause (607), ten imperial examiners were awarded in the name of filial piety, faithfulness, integrity, perseverance in upholding the Constitution, excellent academic sensitivity, beautiful literary talent, comparable talent and strong brawn. Great cause for five years (609), a letter to the counties, "learn, excellent contact; Strong brawn, superior; Only by being diligent and prudent can we manage political affairs; Open and aboveboard, don't shy away from the four imperial examiners (3) "
These imperial examinations at this time, although only occasionally done by the imperial court, were named for the later imperial examination system. According to Du You's Tong Dian in the Tang Dynasty, fourteen volumes contain Emperor Yang-ti's Dingming Classic and Jinshi, which is the real embryonic form of the imperial examination system. At that time, the contents of Ming Jing's and Jinshi's exams were mainly questions. Scholars have answers to questions about current affairs, government affairs and ethics. At this time, the content of the imperial examination is still relatively small, and the court is only planning to select some outstanding talents who can make timely contributions to the court. Therefore, the influence of imperial examination on the political life of the country is not great enough.
Second, the gradual maturity of the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty.
Due to the cruelty of Yang Di Yang Guang's rule, the Sui Dynasty was overthrown by a swarm of uprisings in just 37 years after two dynasties. After the Northern Expedition, the Li and Tang Dynasties were established. At the beginning of the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, in order to absorb the intellectual talents of small and medium-sized landlords, the imperial examination system of the Sui Dynasty was once adopted: "four years of martial arts, restoring scholars." And "On April 11th, the fourth year of Emperor Gaozu's martial arts, from the states and Ding Bai, he paid attention to the bachelor's degree, the scholar, the scholar, and the person who was good at theory, which was called the phase song. He appointed the county exam, the governor re-examined, and took the first place. Every October, he pays tribute with things. By October of the fifth year, there were 143 Ming Classics, six scholars, 39 scholars and 30 scholars. " Therefore, Tang Gaozu Wude decided to resume the Ming Classics, Scholar, Jinshi and other subjects set by the Sui Dynasty in four years, and officially began to study in Wude in five years. On June 4th, the ninth year of Wude (626), Li Shimin, the second son of Li Yuan, launched a mutiny, killed his younger brothers Cheng Jian and Yuan Ji, and held Li Yuan hostage, forcing him to become a prince, which is known in history as "the change of Xuanwumen". Soon, Tang Gaozu abdicated, and Li Shimin succeeded to the throne, known as Emperor Taizong in history. Emperor Taizong vigorously reformed the policies and systems of the Tang Dynasty. Under this circumstance, the imperial examination system gradually matured and improved. _^\t~
(A) the main source of participants in the imperial examination
Due to the continuous prosperity of official and private education since the Tang Dynasty, a large number of talents with high cultural quality have been trained. For example, after Zhenguan, there were more than 8,000 overseas students in China alone. China students are an important force to participate in the imperial examination. They are called "students" because they studied in official schools at all levels and were sent to Shangshu Province to participate in the imperial examination after passing the examination. Self-study is then sent to the local bootstrap, and after passing the examination, it is sent to Beijing to take the imperial examination with local tributes, which is called "township tribute". In the Tang Dynasty, the requirements for "rural tribute" candidates were not very strict. Except those who have committed crimes, only businessmen or workers are required to participate. It should be said that relatively enlightened "students and rural tributes" are the main sources of imperial examinations.
(two) the main subjects and contents of the imperial examination.
There are two kinds of imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty: regular examinations and compulsory examinations. The so-called regular exercise refers to the imperial examinations of different disciplines held every year; Imperial examination refers to the imperial examination held temporarily by the emperor. Because of the different purposes of selecting talents and appointing people, there are great differences in examination contents, candidates' sources and examination methods, and Chang Ju has become the most important thing in the imperial examination because of its long-term and fixed advantages. What this article discusses here is only the most important common examples. The main themes often cited are: Scholar, Ming Jing, Jinshi, Faming, Zi Ming, Shu Ming, One History, Three History, Kai Ethan, Tao Ju, Boy, etc.
Scholars asked for five articles about the main policies and strategies of the countries concerned. The purpose is to select some senior talents with macro-global awareness, so the requirements for candidates are very high. If they were recommended but failed to get it, the recommended state governor would even be punished, so that few people took the exam later, and Tang Gaozong was suspended, and has been in a state of name only ever since.
Zi Ming's subject aims to select talents with expertise in calligraphy and writing; Ming Law Department aims to select judicial talents who are familiar with the law; Mingsuan aims at selecting mathematical talents who are proficient in arithmetic. Most of the above imperial examinations are despised by the world, so they are not valued.
The first history is to select talents who are proficient in Historical Records, Hanshu and Houhanshu. The third history is to select all-round talents who are proficient in historical records, Han books and later Han books. The Grand Ceremony of Kaiyuan is a survey of the contents of Volume 150 of the Grand Ceremony of Kaiyuan compiled and published by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty in the 20th year of Kaiyuan. Tao Ju mainly inspects Taoist classics such as Laozi, Zhuangzi and Liezi. Tong Ziju's examination content requires children under 0 to be familiar with a classic book, The Book of Filial Piety and The Analects of Confucius. Because the above kinds are not often held, their position in the imperial examination is not important.
Therefore, Ming Jing and Jinshi became the two most important subjects in the imperial examination. In the Sui Dynasty, the main content of these two subjects was trial strategy, which was constantly changing and increasing in the early Tang Dynasty. In the eighth year of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan (634), he took an additional examination in reading a history book. In the second year of Emperor Gaozong's Lu Dao (680), Jinshi tried to paste classics, and in the second year of Yonglong (68 1), Ming Sheng tried to paste classics, and Jinshi tried to add essays. During the Tianbao period of Xuanzong (742-756), it was stipulated that the classics should be examined first, then the righteousness, and finally the policy; Jinshi tried to paste the scriptures first, then tried poetry and fu, and finally tried strategy. At this point, Ming Jing and Jinshi began to pay attention to it. The Ming Classics emphasized "adhering to the Confucian classics", while the Jinshi emphasized poetry and fu.
The so-called "sticking the classics" in Ming Jing is to cover the two ends of a book, leave a line in the middle, and stick three words in this line on paper for candidates to fill in. It's called Sticking Sutra, which is similar to today's fill in the blanks. "Mo Yi" is a test of scriptures and annotations. Originally, it was an oral test, but later, because it was easy to be cheated, it was changed to a written test, so it was named Mo Yi. This method is mechanical. Examiners often find some uncommon sentences when writing questions, and candidates also find this rule when writing questions, so they focus on how to bet the questions, without paying attention to and understanding the original intention of the classics at all.
The exam-oriented strategy is that the examiner asks the examinee to answer a question about politics, economy and military affairs. It is quite similar to today's essay question. This is the most critical part of the exam, and some excellent candidates can stand out, right here.
In addition to the importance of trial and error, another important content in Jinshi is poetry fu. In the second year of Yonglong in Tang Gaozong, candidates were required to write two articles on the spot, mainly referring to practical styles such as admonition, inscription and table, and then gradually changed to special examination of poetry and fu.
The poetic style in the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, and all kinds of dignitaries and poets were proud of being able to write poems. Therefore, whether you can assign good poems in the scientific examination has a great influence on your own imperial examination results. Because some candidates already have poems, they often give their works to some celebrities before the exam, hoping to get their help. This is called "writing a paper". The most famous example is "To Secretary Zhang on the Eve of Imperial Examination" written by Jian Jiang examinee Zhu Qingyu. "The wedding stopped last night, and I waited for Uncle menstruation to worship before Tang Xiao. After putting on makeup, I whispered about my husband. Is thrush fashionable? " This dear Mr. Zhang was very happy to get this poem and gave him a poem as a reward. He replied, "Yue Nv's new makeup is in the mirror, and he knows that Yan Ming has more ideas. When Wan Qi is not enough, people are expensive, and a Song Ling is worth thousands of dollars! " Zhu Qingyu was a scholar for this poem. Of course, lucky people like Zhu Qingyu are rare. This way of voting through the back door makes some powerful forces often intervene in the imperial examination, so that some people who are not really talented can pass, while some talented candidates will fall into Sun Shan. Du Mu, a great poet, went to take the Jinshi exam. Although he put forward his masterpiece "A Fu", which was greatly appreciated by the examiner and recommended by others, Du Mu had to rank fifth because the top few had been arranged in advance.
(3) Admission and examination of Mingjing and Jinshi.
Because the Ming Classics pay attention to rote memorization, the examination content is relatively easy, and the most important thing for Jinshi is the more difficult poems and fu. Therefore, Jinshi often appears to have much higher gold content than Ming Jing. "Scholars are generally the first in a thousand people 1 12, and the second in a thousand people 1 12." ⑥ Because there are very few Jinshi, up to 30 at a time, it is even more important to take the Jinshi exam, and the exam is also very difficult. Those who can pass the Jinshi course are generally talented people, and many people have tried their best to get them all their lives. So at that time, there was a saying that "30-year-old Ming Jing, 50-year-old Jinshi". At the age of 27, Bai Juyi, a great poet, was a scholar and wrote a poem: Cienta is the youngest among the seventeen people. "It's really rare that he won the Jinshi in his early years.
After taking the examination hosted by the official department (later the Ministry of Rites), the examinee basically became a senior high school, but in February of the first year of Wu Zetian's power opening (689), he once "let the tributes stay in the Los Angeles Hall for a few days". ⑦ He also ordered that the names of the people who had the second interview in the official department be pasted off and a secret exam be held. Although these two methods did not form a system in the Tang Dynasty, they pioneered the "palace entrance examination" and "naming" after the Song Dynasty.
At this time, the list has been released, and the successful candidates have become famous all over the world. I attended many banquets and activities, such as: Wenxi Banquet, Qujiang Banquet, Moonlight Pavilion Ball Banquet, Wild Goose Pagoda, etc. This is an important activity for new officials and dignitaries to make friends with each other, deepen their relations, facilitate their subsequent careers and establish their own contacts.
Of course, winning the Jinshi does not mean that the Jinshi will become a "public servant" immediately, and he will be awarded an official position only after passing the "selection examination" of the official department. "Selection Examination" is also called "Reading Brown Examination", which means that those who pass the selection examination can take off their coarse clothes, put on official clothes, leave the ranks of civil servants and enter the ranks of officials. At this point, the Ministry of Ritual will hand over the materials of the first person to the official department, and then it will choose the exam, which is called "passing the exam". Because the closing test time is generally in spring, it is also called "spring closing". The content of "General Examination" is "body, speech, writing and judgment", that is, to examine candidates' body, speech, regular script and official documents. If all four items are qualified, you can award an official position, which is called "annotating officials", and then gather all the people who have passed the exam and call the roll in public, which is called "singing officials". Candidates who pass the "pass" will generally be awarded official positions between eight and nine grades, and the positions will not be too high. If some candidates fail or pass the exam or fail to take part in the exam, there are still two ways for them to go. One is to ask powerful people to recommend him and his official position. The other is to work as an assistant in the local buffer for a while, and then try to be recommended. The second phenomenon was more common in the late Tang dynasty when the provinces were divided.
Third, the significance of the maturity and development of the imperial examination system in Sui and Tang Dynasties.
It is said that during the Zhenguan period, Emperor Taizong said happily, "The heroes of the world are among us!" In his view, the imperial examination system is only a means to make talents from all over the world work for it. In fact, the gradual maturity of the imperial examination system in Sui and Tang Dynasties not only influenced the political process in China, but also shaped the value orientation, cultural mentality and personality characteristics of China intellectuals.
(A) The imperial examination system is the main source of intellectuals in China.
The imperial examination system has been implemented for more than 1000 years, which has had a far-reaching impact on China society. In the feudal society of China, many key figures who had a great influence on China's culture, politics and economy came from the ranks of officials who participated in scientific research. Many politicians, military strategists, writers and historians have passed the imperial examinations, laying the foundation for their contributions. Such as Lu Zhi, Pei Du, Ada, Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi. In the Tang Dynasty, they were all scholars. Intellectuals, as representatives of a country and a nation, were bred by the imperial examination system, and their mental outlook and mental state were shaped by the scientific system.
(2) The imperial examination system has an important influence on the mental state of intellectuals.
For officials who have won the imperial examination, there are naturally "Yan Ruyu" and "Golden House" after the senior high school entrance examination. For the sake of imperial examination and its subsequent prosperity, many scholars have been studying hard all their lives. They struggled in the meat grinder for the exam since childhood. After winning the imperial examination, officials became bureaucrats in the ruling class, vassals and tools of ruling imperial power. Since there is the joy of victory, there is of course the pain of landing. With the elimination rate of 80% to 90%, most people can't set foot on their careers and get room to display their talents. Many people, like old boys and Zhou Jin in The Scholars, are still scholars and devote their lives to the eight-part essay and the imperial examination. It should be said that the existence of the imperial examination system had an important impact on the mental state of China intellectuals. The different qualities of intellectuals, such as perseverance, learning from others, honesty and honesty, and accepting bribes, can be traced back to the imperial examination system.
(3) The backward elements in the imperial examination system had an important influence on the political trend of China in later generations.
With the continuous decline of feudal system, the negative factors of imperial examination system under its wings are constantly exposed. The Song Dynasty only partially perfected the imperial examination system formed in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the most important thing was to establish the imperial examination system paradigm of "three-level examination". The imperial examination system in Yuan Dynasty declined essentially because of the ruling class. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the imperial examination system began to become rigid, and many students were immersed in the eight-part essay, and they didn't know the world events and the national economy and people's livelihood at all, thus greatly reducing the bureaucratic level produced under the imperial examination system. The imperial examination system has become a tool to imprison intellectuals' thoughts and destroy talents.
Four. Concluding remarks
After the maturity and perfection of the imperial examination system in Sui and Tang Dynasties, a large number of bureaucrats and literati were trained for hundreds of years, serving the ruling class in China, enriching and perfecting the rule of feudal society, and finally reaching the peak of prosperity. However, in the following hundreds of years, due to the continuous decline of the feudal system, the rule of the Qing Dynasty was tottering and gradually dying under the impact of various forces at home and abroad. At this time, the imperial examination system could not be reformed and broken, so it died with the feudal system.
1 Tang. Du You Tong Dian Volume 14 6O5@4
(2) the Sui Shu high autumn Xia Ji _!
(3) Book House Turtle Yuan (Volume 645), published by the Ministry 1?
④ History of Sui and Tang Dynasties p 180 Hebei Education Press February 2000 1 edition Ar0y = 65438.
⑤ Qian Mu's Political Gains and Losses of China in Past Dynasties p55, the first edition of Sanlian Bookstore in June 2006, 5438+0 @^EX.
⑥ Tang Duyou Classic Volume 15 fC2p)L
All landowners Tang Duyou classic volume 15. V