The first step is called "children's exam", which can also be said to be a preparation exam. Candidates, regardless of age, are called "Confucian scholars" or "children's students". They first take state and county-level exams (that is, children's exams), which are presided over by state and county governors. After passing, it is called "student", also known as "student", commonly known as "scholar". "Scholar" is divided into three classes, the best is called "Linlin", and the state subsidizes food every month; Secondly, it is called "proliferation" and does not provide food subsidies. There are certain quotas for "birth" and "proliferation". The third type is "additional students", which are newly recruited students in the school. In the first year of the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1436), in order to strengthen the central dynasty's unified and centralized jurisdiction over local schools at all levels (government, state and county schools), a scholar officer in charge of education in a province was appointed, called "Tiaotiao School Officer", also known as "Academy", presided over by "Academy", so "Zikao" was also called "Academy". The "scholar" who passed the college entrance examination can also enter local counties to study and become living members. Only after obtaining the qualification of "scholar" can you take a higher-level exam. Scholar's status is higher than that of ordinary people. When seeing a magistrate, he doesn't have to kneel down, and the government can't use criminal law casually. Therefore, after The Scholars wrote a scholar for the third time, his father-in-law said nonsense: "Since you are a scholar, you should set up a system for everything ... These farm workers and dung pickers at home are just ordinary people. It's not good for the school if you are equal to him in a servile manner. " Zi Kao "is only the first step in the long journey of the imperial examination, but this difficult step is difficult for ten million people in Qian Qian. According to the Grand View of unofficial history in Qing Dynasty (Volume 11): "Those who try for a long time are especially bad. A 30-year-old man in his fifties has taken 30 exams in Yingxian County and hasn't won the championship yet. Named after seven unique clouds:
The day after the county exam came back, the old lady walked down the stairs on crutches.
He grabbed his clothes by the ear and asked loudly, "What's wrong with not being crowned today?"
The contents of the children's examination are mainly four books (The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects of Confucius and Mencius), as well as Confucian classics and Neo-Confucianism works such as The Book of Filial Piety, The Theory of Sexuality, The Illustration of Taiji, Mingxi and Zhengmeng, as well as extensive instructions issued by the Qing Dynasty. The genre of the four books is eight-part essay, also known as definition. "Poem of Trial Posting" is the proper name of the poem of trial method in the examination room, with limited rhyme, and silently writes "Imperial edict and extensive training".
Roll call before dawn on the day of the exam. When you enter, you must go through a strict search, untie your hair, take off your coat, and you are not allowed to carry a piece of paper, gold and silver. After admission, the examination papers will be distributed, and candidates will be seated according to the seat number printed on the surface of the examination paper, and the gates and instrument doors will be blocked. Playing the cloud board in class, the venue was immediately silent. The staff will walk around the corridor with the title card, so that the candidates can see the title clearly. Candidates with poor eyesight can stand up and ask the examiner to read the questions aloud two or three times, but candidates are not allowed to leave their seats. There are soldiers watching around the examination room. If it is found that candidates have moved their seats, changed their papers, lost their papers, talked, looked around, recited and so on. They will be detained immediately and even flogged. After a period of time (around 9: 00 a.m. or 10) after the candidates get the questions, the invigilator will affix the small seal issued by the school administrative department on the revised test paper (around 100 words) to prevent the disadvantages of replacing the exam or taking the test paper easily. From one o'clock to three o'clock in the afternoon (it hasn't arrived yet), three drums were knocked outside the gate, and the patrol officer in the class knocked on the cloud board three times, shouting "Hurry up!" Beat the drums outside the door from 3: 00 to 5: 00 p.m. (Shen Shi), and hand in the papers whether you have finished copying them or not. Candidates will be issued a card every time they receive a roll, totaling 30 people. They will open the door once, and those who leave the examination room will be given the first card, then two or three cards until the end. Go out with your card and let one person go. The right back corner of the test paper is sealed with a paste number and printed on it. First place in hospital inspection, first case in hospital. The announcement of the college entrance examination is known as the "Hong case", also known as the "Red case", that is, the names of people admitted by counties are printed in red by academic officials and distributed to students.
Strictly speaking, the children's examination is only an entrance examination, and those who pass the children's examination only show that they have obtained the qualification of local official schools. The real system of taking scholars in the imperial examination began with the examination of candidates after the provincial examination.
The second step, called "after having obtained the provincial examination", is the provincial examination. It is held once every three years, and it is called "Darby", which is usually held in Zi, Mao, Wu and You years. Because the exam is scheduled in August of the lunar calendar, it is also called "Qiu Wei". Each township examination has two examiners and four examiners, collectively referred to as "insider officers". Examiners are generally appointed temporarily by the emperor, mostly by Beijing officials and instructors among Jinshi, and most of them are from Hanlin. (Middle School Students Reading Network) Most transfer officials bring a department official from the Chief Secretary or the Beijing Municipal Government to take charge of administration and general affairs. In order to ensure that the examination is "public", according to the inspection department or the Duchayuan, two department officials or examiners will be appointed as invigilators. The transfer officer and the supervisor are collectively referred to as "outside officers". The announcer shall not usurp the power of the examiner or interfere with the admission of the examiner's papers.
After the exam, it will be held in the provincial capital city. The first game is on August 9th, the second game is on 12, and the third game is on 15. Every program is called on the first day and broadcast the next day. Eight-part essay is also used in the examination style (or short essays of writing, present art, present essay and four books). In the first instance of the Ming Dynasty, there were four books and three meanings, each limited to more than 200 words, and four meanings, each limited to more than 300 words. The second trial consists of more than 300 words, consisting of imperial edict, imperial edict and external medicine, with five sentences; The third test of classics, history and current affairs strategy should reach more than 300 words, and those with poor ability can be reduced as appropriate. In the early Qing Dynasty, during the Qianlong period, the contents of the three provinces were adjusted. In the fifty-second year of Qianlong (AD 1787), the emperor ordered the abolition of specialized classics from the following year, and provincial and local examinations were held every five years. So the original "Four Books" consisted of three articles and a poem with five words and eight rhymes. There are five classics in the second scene, the titles of which are Yi, Shu, History, Chunqiu and Book of Rites. The third game asked five questions: classics, current affairs and politics. Naturally, this is a permanent system. There is also a limit to the number of words in each test paper. It is scheduled for the second year of Shunzhi in the early Qing Dynasty, and each initial article should not exceed 550 words. Second, the third test schedule should not exceed 1000 words, and the discussion should not exceed 2000 words. Because the text is too short, the meaning of the text is difficult to express. During the Kangxi period, the first text was expanded to 650 words. Forty years after Qianlong (AD 1778), it was decided that each article should be 700 words, and offenders would not be admitted.
I went to three provinces, which lasted nine days. In August of the lunar calendar, it was still hot. The scorching sun during the day, coupled with the blazing fire, makes people feel uncomfortable all over. In addition, there is a toilet at the end of each row of rooms, and the smell is diffuse. A candidate who took part in several provincial examinations recorded his trip to Zhejiang after taking part in the provincial examination in Memoirs of the Examination Room: "At 1, there are ten scores, one for a candidate, and there is a toilet under it. Those who sit near the toilet are called "smelly names". The first game was acceptable, and the second game spread far and far, which was really unbearable. Candidates are greedy for urine, and they don't have to go to the toilet. Ding Yuyouke (A.D. 1897, 22nd year of Guangxu reign of Qing Dynasty) sat on the smelly boat, and the weather was gloomy and steaming, so that he got sick and dragged himself out of the exam. Some people say' fire number' to the place where they cook, which is also unbearable. " Candidates got sick because of taking "bad numbers", handed in a blank paper, and then went to the township test several times until Gui Maoke (AD 1903) was elected.
Those who pass the provincial examination are called "juren". After obtaining the provincial examination, it is called "B List", also called "B Section". The first one is called "Xie", "Xie" and "Send", which means sending people who have passed the local examination to Beijing to take the "examination", and "Yuan" is the first one. The second name is "Yayuan". The third, fourth and fifth places are "Jingkui". The sixth name is Aquinas. The rest are called "Wen Kui". After the middle lift, as usual, we should report good news. The bearer of the good news is Bao Zi, wearing a red tassel hat on his head, riding a horse, knocking on a gong and posting a note at the door of Zhong Ju's house. The article in the newspaper wrote:
good news
Your master's degree in XXX should be a senior high school undergraduate after the provincial examination.
X nominee
Someone who brings good news.
Zhang, a poet in the Qing Dynasty (who studied under the autumn family), wrote a poem "Good News" in "Xudu Men Ci":
When he was promoted to a senior position in high school, he reported his happiness with red stripes.
There is nothing to say in front of the reward door. Let's have three drinks today.
This poem vividly describes the custom of delivering good news first, and expresses the joy of good news senders and authors to Goldman Sachs High School.
After the newspaper was posted, the examiners came out to entertain the newspaper. If you pass the "Juren" exam, you can not only go to Beijing to take the national "exam", but even if you fail the "Jinshi" exam, you are qualified to be an official. Therefore, the third chapter of The Scholars says that after Jin Fan won the prize, many people came to worship "Master Fan of New China". "After that, many people came to flatter him: some gave him land, some gave him shops, some settled down in poverty, and the couple devoted themselves to seeking shelter for their servants. In two or three months, Jin Fan's servants and maids will be available, not to mention money and rice. No wonder he was ecstatic at the news that he won the bid. His father-in-law Hu also changed his face and said, "Although he is my son-in-law, he is now a master and a star in the sky." In the civil service election of juren, the highest rank is magistrate and the lowest rank is local official, and the proportion of juren who can rank within the rank is very small. Some wait for years, even decades, or cloth. "Dumen Zhuzhi Ci Candidate" poem says:
The old woman [mother-in-law] has silver hair, the dragon bell is sick, and her energy is insufficient.
Where are you in the class? The old juren forty years ago!
The third step is called "examination", which is the central level examination. In the second year after the provincial examination, that is, in the spring of the ugly ugly ugly ugly ugly ugly ugly ugly year, February of the lunar calendar was held in Beijing. So it is also called "Spring Guard" or "Ritual Guard". In the fifth year of Yongzheng (AD 1727) and the second year of Qianlong (AD 1737), due to the cold weather, the examination time was temporarily changed to March. In the ninth year of Qianlong reign (A.D. 1744), an imperial edict said: "The exam will be held in February next year, and the weather is not warm, so the provinces need to take a second interview. The scholar arrived in Beijing a little late, so the writing was rescheduled for March. " (This case was decided by the imperial edict of the Qing Dynasty (Volume 330). Therefore, from the tenth year of Qianlong (A.D. 1745), the examination time was held in March. The first exam will be held on March 9th, the second on the 12th and the third on the 15th. Every game is the first day to enter the game, the second day to hand in the paper, and each game lasts for three days. During the examination, the content and text restrictions in all fields are basically the same as those in the provincial examination.
The examination will be conducted by the Department of Ritual. The emperor appointed two examiners from the Hanlin and the instructors, and eight examiners were in charge. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the examiner was a college student from Hanlin, and the deputy examiner was the chief of Hanlin Academy or Zhan Shifu. The number of examiners has increased to 20, including 12 Hanlin and officials from four departments and departments. These two officials are appointed by the Ministry of Rites. These two examiners are supervised by examiners. The examiners are all from all over the country. Admission places are not customized, sometimes only 30 people, sometimes as many as 400 people. After the entrance examination, it was called "Gong Shi", and the first name was "Hui Yuan". In the first year of Hongxi, Emperor Renzong of Ming Dynasty (AD 1425), the number of examination places began to be divided into north and south, with southerners accounting for 3/5 and northerners accounting for 2/5. Later, it was divided into three volumes: South, North and Middle. 100 places, 55 in the south (candidates from the provinces south of Huaihe River), 35 in the north (candidates from the provinces north of Huaihe River) and 0/0 in the middle (candidates from Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangxi and Anhui provinces). The principle of "dividing the land and taking it" was adopted, and the interests of various regions were taken care of. Admission places for examinations in the Qing Dynasty were also allocated according to the South, North and Middle volumes, generally according to the ratio of about 20 candidates 1. After three years in Qianlong (A.D. 1738), Taiwan Province Province specially approved to come to Beijing for trial 10 children, so you can choose one as a sign of care and encouragement. The total admission quota is temporarily decided by the emperor. If you don't pass the exam, you can change imperial academy to be Guo Jianzi, and you can award him a small official in the capital or an official position or county official when conditions permit. At that time, there were vice-lists, and none of them were officially admitted, but most of them could be awarded to school instructors. Juren in prison also get paid.
There was no re-examination in the exam, but in the fifty-first year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 17 12), someone cheated in the examination of Chen Ke, so a re-examination was conducted. Yongzheng and Qianlong also had a second interview, which began in Jiaqing. A few days after Gong was on the list, he was interviewed for the second time at Gan Qing Palace, which was later changed to Baohe Hall. Try four books and one article, five words and eight rhymes and one poem, and hand in the papers on the same day. The second interview ranks first, second and third, and you are allowed to take the palace exam.
The fourth step is called "Shi Ting" or "court examination". After the senior high school entrance examination (usually held in April of the lunar calendar), it was presided over by the emperor himself, including university students, ministers of history, the history of the general political department, Dali Temple officials, Hanlin bachelor, James and so on. In order to read the official, the minister of history and the assistant minister of the Ministry of rites are the key points, and the imperial history is the supervisor. Gong Kao only tried to ask a question, asking candidates to hand in their papers on the spot and send them to the marking officer for review after being stamped. Gong, who takes the palace examination, can only obtain the qualification of scholar if he is not eliminated. Gong Kao is called "Grade A" in the exam, also called "Grade A". The list is divided into three categories: one is for Jinshi, and the other is only three, namely, the champion (also known as Dianyuan), the second place, and the flower exploration, which are collectively called Sandingjia. The first prize is generally awarded to the academician courtyard for editing, and the second prize and flower exploration are generally awarded to the academician courtyard for editing. The second Jinshi was born in several places.
Its first name is Legend [Lulu]. Several scholars were born in the top three. Second, the top three Jinshi can take the exam of imperial academy Jishi Shu, which is called "museum selection". After passing the exam, he was called "Jishi Shu", studied for three years, and then awarded important positions. Scholars who fail to choose a museum may be awarded officials of the Central Committee, the Advice Department and the Sixth Department, as well as officials of prefectures and counties. After the court examination, when the admission results are announced, a grand roll-call ceremony will be held in front of the temple. After the entrance examination, the emperor will personally host a banquet for Jinshi. At that time, I won the Jinshi, and my fame was over. Therefore, in Chapter 17 of The Scholars, Pu said, "After all, reading for scholars is a game." Anyone who is promoted in the second list and becomes an official through the Jinshi in the first list is called "born in the second list". A person who owns "Xie Yuan", "Huiyuan" and "No.1 scholar" at the same time is called "Lianzhong Sanyuan". According to Wang Zhichun's Essays on Pepper Life in Qing Dynasty, there were 13 people since the Tang Dynasty. They are: Zhang and Cui in the Tang Dynasty; Sun He, Wang Zeng, Song Yao, Yang Zhi, Wang Yanmai and Feng Jing in the Song Dynasty; Meng Zongxian of Jin Dynasty; Wang Chongzhe of Yuan Dynasty; Lu Dao in Ming Dynasty; Bai Qian and Yang Jichang in Qing Dynasty. Among surnames, the highest honor is the champion, so the number of the champion is "Dakui Tianxia".
"Champion" plaque
The Emperor of Heaven attaches great importance to articles, and the name of Jindian is Xiang.
Visit the temple with the red flag, and the streets compete to see the champion Lang.
This is a seven-character poem "Biography" written by Yang Jingting, a poet in Qing Dynasty, which describes the imperial examination custom of passing on gifts in Jindian in Ming and Qing Dynasties and preaches the glory of being the top scholar and scholar.
According to the textual research of Zaifu in Ming Dynasty, from the beginning of Yongle to the end of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty, there were 163 cabinet college students. According to the geographical division of Beijing, Guangdong 13 bureaus and envoys in the Ming Dynasty, the native places of this 163 people are as follows: 27 in Nanzhi (including Jiangsu, Anhui and Shanghai today), 26 in Zhejiang, and 65,433 in Beizhi (Hebei today). Shanxi 5, Guangxi 2, Jiangxi 22, Huguang (now Hubei and Hunan) 12, Henan 1 1, Guangdong 5, Shaanxi 2. As can be seen from the above-mentioned personnel distribution, there are 98 people from Nanzhi, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang and Fujian in the south of the Yangtze River, accounting for 60% of all cabinet college students, which undoubtedly shows that southerners have entered the upper echelons of the bureaucracy more than northerners through the imperial examination system. If there were no separation between the North and South volumes, perhaps more scholars from the South would enter the upper ranks of the ruling clique.
According to the survey, among the top 1 14 in Qing Dynasty, there were 49 in Jiangsu, 20 in Zhejiang, 9 in Anhui, 6 in Shandong, 4 in Zhili and Guangxi, 3 in Jiangxi, 3 in Hubei, Fujian and Guangdong, 2 in Hunan, 2 in Guizhou and Manchuria, and 6,544 in Henan, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Mongolia. Among them, Manchuria and Mongolia are the top three scholars in the Eight Banners system. Shanxi, Yunnan, Gansu and other regions have no champions. It is also found that 342 people (namely, champion, runner-up and flower-exploring) were born in the imperial examinations of the 1 12 family in the Qing Dynasty. In which Jiangsu 1 17, Zhejiang 75, Anhui 2 1, Jiangxi 18, Shandong 14, Hubei 13, Hunan 13 and Guangdong/kloc.
Interestingly, the number of top candidates in the palace examinations in each province is roughly equal to the number of scholars in each province, which reflects the political, economic, cultural and educational level of each region at that time. In the Qing Dynasty, 70-to 80-year-old or even 100-year-old people who took exams were often awarded the titles of editor by imperial academy Company or imperial academy. According to legend, in the thirty-eighth year of Kangxi (A.D. 1699), the examinee Zhang Huang was 100 years old. In the fifty-first year of Qianlong (AD 1786), Xie Qizhuo, a 98-year-old Guangdong examinee, was a juren, and he also laughed at himself as a poem:
At the age of 98, it is better to get married than to lose face.
Look at the peanut face in the mirror and comb all the snow on your head.
I know I'm a virgin, I'm old and romantic.
Send a word of youth, don't boast good morning [[Qiuqiu]].
In the spring of the sixth year of Daoguang (AD 1826), an exam was held in Beijing. Among many examples, there is an old man with gray temples, 103 years old. He is from Sanshui County. The examiner was very surprised to find that his son was an old man in his 100 s, so he immediately called him Emperor. Daoguang is very happy He thinks this is a "good omen" and an auspicious omen. He immediately gave Lu Yun the title of imperial academy, an old man.
Nan Yong released the map
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many provinces set up Hiram's Hospital in the southeast of the city as the examination room for provincial examinations. Gong Yuan, Beijing, was rebuilt in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty on a small scale, and was built in the northwest and south of Chongwenmen stargazing platform. In the middle of the gate hangs a large plaque with the words "Gong Yuan". In the middle of the second door hangs a gold plaque of "Longmen". To the north of Longmen is a two-story Ming Garden building. During the examination, officials such as supervisors, supervisors and procurators went upstairs to overlook the whole examination room, which was convenient for prevention and inspection. North of Mingyuan Building is the Supreme Court. On the east and west sides of the tunnel from Longmen to Zhigongtang, there are 57 rows of rooms in a long lane, with a total of 9064 rooms. Each row of rooms is a font size, and the order is arranged with "thousand words", and "a font size" is written on the lintel wall of the lane entrance. Within each font size, the number of rooms in the room is different, separated by walls. Each room is about six feet high, four feet deep and three feet wide. The brick walls on the east and west sides are between one foot and more than two feet from the ground, and they are built into two layers of brick joints, and several boards are placed on them, which can be moved. During the day, the board is divided, the table is on the upper floor and the stool is on the lower floor; In the evening, the board above was moved to the floor below and became a sofa together. During the exam, after being searched, candidates enter the room with pen and ink, bedding, candles and meals in the middle of the night. Eating, sleeping and writing articles are inseparable from these boards. "Three hard battles are ground into ghosts, and the word fame and fortune is misleading." At that time, the life of the candidates in the room was very difficult. In the seventh year of Tianshun in Ming Yingzong (A.D. 1463), the weather was still very cold, and patrol soldiers made a fire to keep warm, which caused a fire. Room 1 is a simple brick-wood structure, and rows of rooms suddenly became a sea of fire. The door of room 1 is locked, and the candidates are curled up in it and cannot escape. More than 90 people died in the fire and countless people were injured. Room 1 has extremely poor sanitary conditions, and you can only urinate in room 1 because you eat cold food, so candidates are prone to get sick and plagues occur from time to time. Candidates must avoid the emperor's taboos and temple names when answering questions, and are not allowed to reveal their life and family background. The answer sheet must be written in ink (that is, "ink roll"), and the copywriter should use ink brush (that is, "ink roll"). Song system is still used, and the methods of affixing names, titles and copying numbers are adopted.
As for the court examination, it was outside Tiananmen Square in the early Qing Dynasty, and later it was changed to the east and west stone steps of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. When it rained, it moved to the east-west corridor of the hall. After Qianlong, it was changed to Baohe Hall. Due to the dim light in the hall, which is only one foot away, the examinee crossed his legs and wrote all day, feeling sore, dizzy and very painful. At dawn, the candidates came to Baohe Hall to wait for them. When the emperor boarded the main hall, all the officials and candidates paid their respects, but the officials of the Ministry of Ritual didn't distribute the examination papers. Candidates had to kneel down and accept it, and then returned to their seats to start answering questions. It took them several hours to write a 2000-word composition with neat handwriting. They handed in their papers before sunset, so you can imagine their nervousness and hard work.
The examination papers for the Palace Examination are papered on white rice paper. At first, it was installed with four floors, and later it was increased to seven floors after cleaning and decoration. Each test paper can be divided into four parts. The first part: rolling noodles, accounting for one page. Covered with the official seal of does, it is a combination of Manchu and Han, and the name of palace examination Juren should be written. Part II: Resume, covering two and four pages. In fact, only the first page was used, and all three pages were empty. Write down my age, native place, Chinese style after having obtained the provincial examination, and Chinese style after the national examination, and issue three generations of names to show that I have been an official. After handing in the papers, the official should fold these two parts into a tube, seal them with paper paste, and affix the seal of "Official Reply". It was not opened until the ranking was determined, and the name was written on the gold list. The third part: the text of the review policy, which is also the main part of the whole volume, was originally divided into nine pages, which was reduced to eight pages after Jiaqing, and the two pages were combined into one, with six lines per page. A straight grid with red lines, but no horizontal grid. Write up to 24 words per line, generally only 22 words, leaving two spaces above for easy search. The fourth part: the back of the volume, occupying one page, is printed with the name of the official. The last name of the minister who read the scroll is printed on the back of the scroll. After reading the scrolls, the minister should draw a sign under this surname, and finally determine the order of the scrolls according to the opinions of the officials. The size of the examination paper in the temple, according to the Imperial Examination Record of Qing Dynasty, was one foot five inches three minutes long and four inches three minutes wide in the early Qing Dynasty. In the forty-eight years of Qianlong (AD 1783), it was reduced to one foot four inches long, three inches wide and seven minutes weak. When I was in the palace exam, I also gave a draft book, which was slightly smaller in size, with the same vertical lines as the main volume, but with a horizontal grid of 24 words per line. Sometimes the questions in the palace exam are printed in front of herbs.