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Ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, no exception. To serve the rulers, there is a question of who to choose, what criteria to use and how to choose people. China's feudal era lasted more than two thousand years. How did the ruling class recruit talents through selection, examination and enrollment? Judging from the selection system, after the Han Dynasty and before the Sui Dynasty, the "selection" system was implemented; From the second year of Yang Di Daye (AD 606) to the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1903), the imperial examination system was implemented. The entrance examination system began to be implemented in modern times (everyone is generally familiar with it). This work can be carried out in schools, such as Taixue, Guo Zi and various schools for enrollment and examination; It can also be conducted through selection examinations, that is, "elections" and examinations. College students are basically selected according to their grades and status, and there is no need for entrance examinations. But the school has a regular examination system. This kind of examination is only to determine the rank and position. The content of the exam is completely Confucian classics.

The so-called "selection" means choosing "virtue", "filial piety" and "nine qualities" according to identity and family background; The second is to regard Confucian classics as the only content of the election examination. "Xuan" prevailed from Han Dynasty to Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.

The following focuses on the rise, abolition and influence of the imperial examination.

First, the rise and abolition of the imperial examination.

Imperial examination is also called imperial examination. That is, many subjects are set by the state, and talents are selected and official positions are assigned through regular unified examinations. This system began with the establishment of Jinshi in the second year of Yang Di Daye, and lasted for more than 1300 years until the last examination was held in the 27th year of Guangxu. The Sui Dynasty adopted the method of selecting officials instead of Zhong Zheng's nine products, which were divided into upper, middle and lower classes, and each class had upper, middle and lower classes, which were reported layer by layer until the official department's ministers. Beginning in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties) and the election of local officials. Therefore, reading, taking exams and being an official are closely linked. On the one hand, this gives clan landlords the opportunity to participate in political power in this direction; On the other hand, the central government can regain the power to select candidates from clans to consolidate its ruling power. Therefore, "Imperial Examination" is a new political measure with strong centralization, so it was used by later dynasties. However, because the content of the examination focused on Confucianism, it was deficient from the beginning. With the increasingly corrupt feudal system, the official scope and standards of Confucianism became narrower and narrower, and the road became narrower and more rigid until it was abolished.

The peasant uprising at the end of Sui Dynasty dealt a heavy blow to the imperial clan landlords, but some of them held important positions in the Tang Dynasty when they seized power. This new change within the landlord class not only laid a broad foundation for the imperial examination system, but also made greater development during Zhenguan and Yongzheng years. The system of Tang Dynasty took scholars as the main body, and mostly followed the system of Sui Dynasty. However, the scope of taking the imperial examination has been expanded, and there are three sources: first, students from schools are selected by the central government and local state and county schools every year and sent to the Ministry of Rites for examination; The second is rural tribute. Generally, intellectuals who have read Confucian classics can take the exam. From the county to the state, and then to Shangshu Province, step by step; The third is the imperial examination, which was directly recruited by the emperor, and was mostly specially designed according to the rulers' own preferences and political needs at that time. It is said that Tang Wenzong passed dozens of courses before and after. Wu Zetian also took part in the examination in person, creating a precedent for scientific research into the palace. In addition, people who study martial arts are allowed to take the imperial examinations. This kind of examination is presided over by the Ministry of War, and it is called Wu Ju. Although there are many subjects in the imperial examination (such as scholar, Ming Jing, Jinshi, etc. ) In the Tang Dynasty, the most important thing was the Jinshi. The admission ratio varies greatly. Generally, one or two people are selected from 100. At that time, some people compared China scholars to ascension. There is a saying that "fifty men are less", and it is still young to be a scholar at fifty. Bai Juyi, 29, a scholar, is the youngest of seventeen sons.

And after the Jinshi, "all purport to grant officials, to the ministers. Civil servants belong to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and military officers belong to the Ministry of Military Affairs. This is called full selection ... There are four kinds of candidates: body, speech, book and judgment. " "All-round selection" is to measure the meaning of selection. Its standard refers to: handsome appearance, correct rhetoric, beautiful writing and excellent arts and sciences. After passing the examination by the official department, I will do it for the official. The descendants of royalty, heroes and nobles can be direct examiners; Children above grade five don't have to take the exam.

The subjects and contents of the imperial examination in Song Dynasty followed the tradition of Tang and Five Dynasties, and the content was only Confucius and Mencius. However, in order to prevent the growth of local forces and strengthen centralization after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it is necessary to increase a large number of officials in state power at all levels, so the imperial examination is strongly advocated and adjusted and reformed in form. First of all, relax the scope of examination admission and expand the number of admission places; Secondly, lower the examination level and cancel the official examination. Once an official position is granted immediately after admission, former Mao Lie can get a higher official position. Third, the imperial examination system was established. The examination contents in Song Dynasty attached great importance to classics and Mohism, and almost all subjects were tested. During Wang Anshi's political reform, he also adopted "Confucian Classics and Righteousness" to select scholars and promulgated "Three Classics and New Righteousness". After "Jingyi" evolved into an eight-part essay.

The Yuan Dynasty was marked by national politics. 78 years after the Imperial Examination ended in Yuan Dynasty. It was in the second year of Yanyou (13 15) that she began to take the doctoral examination. Taking Zhu's four books (The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, University and The Doctrine of the Mean) as the contents of the imperial examination. Beginning in Yuan Dynasty, it became the only legal content in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

In the Ming Dynasty, "the subjects were determined by Gai Taizu and Liu Jiding, following the old Tang and Song Dynasties, but slightly changing the method of testing scholars, taking four books and the five classics of Yi, Shu, Poetry, Spring and Autumn Period and Book of Rites." (Selection II of Ming History) The selection of scholars with eight-part essays began in Chenghua years.

The imperial examination in Qing dynasty basically followed the old system of Ming dynasty, but carried out the policy of ethnic discrimination. The disadvantages of imperial examinations in Ming and Qing dynasties are more. In order to consolidate the ruling regime, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty applied both hard and soft measures to intellectuals. Hard, Daxing literary inquisition, bloody repression; Soft, control people's thoughts, and the imperial examination system is an important means to achieve this goal.

Second, the origin, formation and harm of stereotyped writing.

Eight-part essay began in the Song Dynasty and took shape in the Ming Dynasty. It was the most popular in the Qing Dynasty. "I only read four books and refused to learn." (Kang Youwei: "Please abolish stereotyped writing examination and use model method to test examiners") What is stereotyped writing? "There is no content at all, just playing word games in form. Each paragraph of this kind of article should adhere to a fixed format, and even the number of words is limited. People just perfunctory according to the meaning of the topic. " (Mao Zedong's "Rectifying the Party's Style") As far as the format of the eight-part essay is concerned, it is mandatory that each article must have several paragraphs, such as breaking the topic, opening the topic, comparing the topic, making an imaginary comparison, making a middle comparison, making a rear comparison and making a big conclusion, and each paragraph also stipulates a certain number of sentences. "Topic comparison", also known as "the beginning", is the beginning of introducing the text. The four parts of "virtual ratio, middle ratio, back ratio and big knot" are formal discussions, which are also called starting stocks, intermediate stocks, back stocks and piled stocks. "Shareholders are also called dual names." Each of the four paragraphs has two dual words, which are * * * eight shares, so it is generally called eight shares. According to Gu Rizhilu (Volume 16), in the twenty-third year of Chenghua's examination, it is required to mention three sentences first, that is, four shares of "Lotte" in the middle, four shares of "Protecting the World", and four sentences are restored before making a big conclusion. For example, in the ninth year of Hongzhi's reign, he tried to write the article "Hating Your Majesty", with the first three sentences, that is, four shares of "Hating Your Majesty" and two sentences in the middle, and repeated four shares of "Hating Your Majesty" before making a big conclusion. "In every four shares, one is positive and one is negative, one is virtual and one is real, one is shallow and one is deep, and the other is vertical. Therefore, each article has four shares and the second method is the same, so it is called eight shares."

The eight-part essay examination centered on Zhu Zhu Si Shu and lasted for about 400 years. Due to the limitation of the topic, in order to avoid repetition and prevent the applicant from copying the written text (in fact, there should have been an anthology of eight-part essays on the market at that time-new weapons), so it was beside the point, which was very strange. What are the so-called "dry and embarrassing questions" of single-fan, double-fan, three-fan, four-fan, up-and-down deviation, up-and-down deviation and even single words? "For example, the word" extremely wide "and the word" woody "were added to China Xi, but the title used the word" big and grass ". You can't write a book in this case. Unreasonable and ruthless, difficult to learn. " (Kang Youwei: "Please abolish the stereotyped writing examination method and try to use strategy to discuss the discount") From the content point of view, stereotyped writing examination is the only one with Confucius and Mencius, which has obvious limitations; From the examination form, eccentric questions and rote memorization hinder people's ideological and intellectual development; In addition, the examination should check the body to see if there is anything to hide, taking the candidates as the enemy. Not only military personnel were sent to supervise the venue, but also military and police guards were sent outside the venue. In order to prevent candidates from cheating and bringing things into the venue, they should take a shower and wear official clothes before entering the venue. In the Qing Dynasty, all the examinees' appliances in the examination room had strict regulations. At that time, there was such a poem describing the truth of the examination room: "Three points of hard work turned into ghosts, and two words of fame and fortune were wrong." "Women are not free, and heroes ask for it. One imperial examination, three points lucky, nine days and ten thousand troubles. The negative stool is as muddy as a beggar, and the hall call sign is as straight as a prisoner. The socks are worn out and worn out, looking everywhere. " (Excerpted from Zhejiang Pastoral Poetry) It can be seen that stereotyped writing is outdated and the disadvantages of stereotyped writing imperial examination system are obvious. It can only destroy talents and greatly reduce the academic level of national culture. It can be said that the stereotyped imperial examination destroyed a generation of intellectuals. "What I have learned is not used, and what I have used is not learned." "There are few competent officials in the contemporary era." (General Annals, Selection of Annals) This shows that stereotyped imperial examination can't train and select people with real talents and practical learning. In the early Qing Dynasty, Gu, Huang Zongxi and other progressive thinkers severely criticized the imperial examination. Even Pu Songling and Wu raised their criticism of the imperial examination system to a new level in their literary works. They comprehensively criticized the stereotyped imperial examination with vivid literary images.

Third, the procedures and grades of imperial examinations.

Taking the imperial examination in Qing Dynasty as an example, it generally includes three levels of examinations: the imperial examination system, the township examination and the palace examination.

The college entrance examination will be held in Fucheng or Zhou Zhili. The object of the exam is the children who have passed the exam. There are two preparatory exams before the college entrance examination. On the basis of taking the exam, select some students who have passed. Examiners are called "learning Tao" and "learning platform", also known as masters. For example, in the seventh chapter of the Scholars, it is said that Jin Fan won the Jinshi and was ordered to study Taoism in Shandong, that is, to preside over the college examination. The term of office of Xuedao is three years, during which you must go to Zhili Prefecture and Zhou to preside over two exams respectively. College entrance examination is to obtain scholars from young students and screen scholars. The number of students admitted to the college entrance examination in the base areas, prefectures and counties is determined, ranging from more than 20 to as few as seven or eight. For example, Zhou Jin and Jin Fan in The Scholars took dozens of exams, and it took decades to be admitted. Generally speaking, "scholar" doesn't have much knowledge. As long as you can write stereotyped writing, there is hope of admission. A scholar's position is higher than that of ordinary people. The high point is that he is qualified to approach officials. A scholar may not kneel down when he meets a magistrate, and he can even compete with the magistrate. After winning a scholar, life is generally no problem, at least you can teach.

After obtaining the provincial examination, it will be held in Nanjing, Beijing and provincial capital cities once every three years, once a year for each child, once at noon and once a year. The examination time is from August 9th to17th. Each game lasts for three days, and there are usually three or four exams, so there is a saying of "nine-day session". Because the exam time is in autumn, it is called Qiu Wei. The examination room is generally called "room". The person who takes the provincial examination must be a scholar. Only scholars who pass the exam can be awarded the title of a juror. The official who presides over the examination is called the examiner. The admission quota varies from province to province, with more than 0/00 people in big provinces and 50 or 60 people in small provinces. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was a great event for scholars to be admitted to juren. Because after being admitted to Juren, you can not only take the exam to a higher level, but also get into Jinshi; I may not be admitted to Jinshi, but I am also qualified to be an official. Fan Jin's reunion made him crazy with joy; Neighbors also flatter, give land, give money, give slaves and so on. This shows that it is indeed a decisive event for a scholar to be admitted to juren, because he has brought himself into a special class. For ordinary people, juren is simply a star in the sky. After Jin Fan was promoted, his father-in-law said nonsense: "Now he is a master and a star in the sky."

Palace examination consists of three parts: examination, re-examination and palace examination. The examination is held in Beijing under the auspices of the Ministry of Ritual, once every three years, that is, the second year of provincial examination (the year of ugliness, ugliness, unfinished and embarrassment). Held in a certain year is called a certain subject, such as Renwu Juren, which is the provincial name of Renwu Imperial Examiners. The scope of the exam is the whole country. The examination date is from March 9 to 17, and there are three exams, each lasting three days. This list will be published in April. Because of the spring exam, it is also called Spring Wei. Admission places range from 200 to 300. The applicant first announced in the name of the Ministry of Rites, which is the so-called Gong Shi. The official who presides over the palace is called the president. The second interview is still presided over by the principal. Candidates must be admitted to Gong. He only takes the exam once and takes stereotyped writing. The second interview is divided into one, two and three grades, which is closely related to the subsequent appointment.

The court examination is the highest level, located in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, presided over by the emperor himself, and only once. Only by passing the exam can Gong get the title of Jinshi. Palace examination is divided into three classes, first-class and third-class, called Jinshi and Kyrgyzstan, each with its own name. From top to bottom, the number one scholar, the number two scholar and the number one scholar in flower exploration are collectively called Sandingjia. Dimethyl, sixty or seventy, said Jinshi origin. The top three are said to come from the same Jinshi. A, B and A are collectively referred to as Jinshi. Winning the Jinshi is the end of the scholar's fame.

After the palace exam, there is another exam, called Chaokao, which has nothing to do with fame and fortune, and is only awarded to official positions. The palace test will be held in a few days. Through this exam, Jinshi can get the official position he deserves. Ming and Qing dynasties stipulated that a group of three people would be awarded official positions immediately after the examination was announced. As usual, the first prize was awarded to the academician courtyard (from level 6), and the second prize and flower exploration were awarded to the academician courtyard (positive level 7). In the Qing Dynasty, imperial academy was responsible for compiling the national history and recording the words and deeds, daily life, ancient books and documents of the emperor.

Fourthly, the influence of the imperial examination system on people.

As can be seen from the above introduction, the imperial examination system is directly related to reading and being an official. It can be said that the more reading, the higher the imperial examination system, and the greater the hope of being an official. Please see "After a long drought, an old friend meets an old friend in a foreign land. On the wedding night, do it for the first time. " "The son of heaven is a hero, and the article teaches two Cao. Everything is inferior, only reading is high. " "White horse and purple saddle, ten thousand people ride out. Ask who the family is, and the scholar is an official. " "Learning is a treasure of people, and Confucianism is a treasure on the table. As a prime minister, you must use scholars. " The central idea of this popular poem in past dynasties is to be an official and pursue fame and fortune. As a result, the imperial examination system greatly stimulated the fame and fortune of scholars. Intellectuals in feudal times advocated the imperial examination, because they could embark on their official career and gain prosperity in this way. It not only has strong stimulating power, but also has become a strong social consciousness and strong social psychology. This kind of consciousness, situation and ethos constitute a powerful social force. This powerful social force is squeezing scholars to embark on the road of imperial examination. Not only scholars and intellectuals have to climb this ladder and embark on their careers; What is even more frightening is that people from all walks of life are also affected by this, and it is big and deep. They all think that this is the right way and the only way for scholars. In A Dream of Red Mansions, Shi Xiangyun and Xue Baochai, including xiren, all advised Baoyu to take this right path. Facts have proved that in feudal society, whoever walks well and climbs high on this road will be valuable and prosperous. Baochai ascended the throne of Grandma Bao Er! However, because Lin Daiyu didn't say these "fucking words" and didn't take the road of official career economy, she was not allowed by Jia Fu.

Not only in society, but also in family members and even wives. In the early years of Zhenyuan in Dezong, Tang Dynasty, there was a scholar named Du Gao, who failed many times. His wife is under great pressure. When she came last again, she sent someone to send a poem to Du, saying that her husband did have a genius, but why didn't he get admitted every year? Feel ashamed, "come at night if you want." Said her husband would only come back in the middle of the night if he came home, so no one could see him. We can see that in this social atmosphere, this wife is also a snob to her husband. In Pu Songling's Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, there is a mini novel Listening in the Mirror, which tells that two sons of a family are scholars and two daughters-in-law do housework at home. Every year, two sons go to catch the exam. The newspaper reported that the eldest son was admitted. At this time, two daughters-in-law are cooking in the kitchen. As soon as parents were happy, they went to the kitchen and told their eldest daughter-in-law that your husband had passed the exam. Don't work in the kitchen, go outside to cool off. The second daughter-in-law was working alone in the kitchen, but her husband failed the exam. She was in tears. After a while, the newspaper reported that the second son was admitted. The second daughter-in-law heard that before her mother-in-law could speak, she left her hands alive and went outside to cool off. We can see that this social psychology and social atmosphere not only entered the boudoir, but also extended to the kitchen. So someone summed it up like this: "Ten years of cold window, nobody cares, and it became famous in one fell swoop." These two sentences are excellent summaries. It is precisely because of his fame that the literati studied hard at the cold window for ten years; It is precisely because of its fame that everyone is crowded on this road, running hard and studying hard. Under the temptation of stereotyped imperial examination, scholars have empty souls and low morals. Due to the imprisonment of stereotyped writing, intellectuals are poor, incompetent, stupid and sour, and become slaves of rulers; Osawa is an accomplice of the rulers by corrupting and perverting the law and oppressing the people. At this point, Wu, Pu Songling and others have a clear and profound understanding. In the first round of The Scholars, Wu said with the help of the ideal figure Wang Mian: "It is illegal to use the five classics, four books and eight essays. In the future, literati will have this road of honor and look down on the source of that article. " Here, Wenmushan people point out that one of the root causes of literati corruption comes from stereotyped writing system, saying that it is not good and deeply criticizing it. Because stereotyped writing can lead to wealth, so everyone is crowded on this road, at the cost of empty soul and low morality. Therefore, the academic and moral conduct of the article is underestimated. They are pursuing official positions or escaping from reality and retiring from the world. This leads the way astray! This first time is not only the general program of scholars, but also Wu's clear attitude towards criticizing the feudal imperial examination system. What he advocates is the source of literary works, while what he denies and criticizes is fame and fortune.