The word "Jinshi" first appeared in the Book of Rites, which was originally intended to be accepted by nobles. At that time, the main test of current affairs strategy was a political paper about the political life of the country at that time, which was called test strategy. Although it was a pioneering period, there was no system, but this method of selecting candidates by subjects and trying to choose by strategy closely combined reading, taking exams and being an official, which opened a new page in the election history of China. Shen Jiji, the minister of rites in Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, made a pertinent evaluation of this historic change: "All the choices made in the previous generation were in prefectures and counties ... As for Qi and Sui, they were invincible ... and they were attributed to the official department because they had the right to buy state capitals. Since then, we have selected from outside, recruited people from all over the world, gathered in the capital in the spring and autumn, and gathered clouds. "
Tang Dynasty —— Perfection of the Imperial Examination System in Ancient China
After the Tang Emperor overthrew the rule of the Sui Dynasty, he inherited the talent selection system handed down from the Sui Dynasty and further improved it. As a result, the imperial examination system gradually improved. Tang Taizong, Wu Zetian and Tang Xuanzong are key figures in improving the imperial examination system. Examination subjects in the Tang Dynasty are divided into two categories: regular subjects and system subjects. The exams held in stages every year are called regular classes, and the temporary exams held by the emperor are called making classes.
There are more than 50 regular subjects such as Scholar, Ming Jing, Jinshi, Gentleman, Faming, Zi Ming and Shu Ming. Among them, Faming, Shu Ming, Ziming and other subjects are not taken seriously. Scholar and other subjects are not often held, and the scholar subject was very demanding in the early Tang Dynasty, and then it was gradually cancelled. Therefore, Ming Jing and Jinshi became the main subjects in the Tang Dynasty. After Tang Gaozong, Jinshi is particularly important. Many prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty were mostly literati. There are two sources of candidates for regular courses, one is students and the other is rural tribute. Subjects who were born in the capital and state and county academies and sent to Shangshu Province are called students; Not by the school hall, but by the state and county examination first, and then sent to Shangshu Province, the candidates are called "xianggong". Candidates who pay tribute to Beijing from rural areas are collectively referred to as juren. The state and county exams are called solution exams, and the provincial exams of Shangshu are generally called provincial exams, or they are not tested. Ritual exams are held in spring, so they are also called Chunwei, which means examination room.
At first, Ming Jing and Jinshi were just trying strategies, and the content of the exam was Jing Yi or current affairs. Later, although the examination subjects of the two subjects changed, the basic spirit was that scholars paid more attention to poetry and fu, and Ming Classics paid more attention to classics and ink meaning. The so-called paste is to open a page of scripture at will, cover the left and right sides, only open a line in the middle, and then cover the three words with paper paste for participants to fill in. Mo Yi is a simple written test of biblical words. As long as you are familiar with classics and annotations, you can try, while poetry and prose need to be literary. It is very difficult to be the first in the middle school, so there was a saying at that time that "30-year-old students learn classics and 50-year-old students learn less".
The final exam was originally presided over by the official minister and foreign minister, and later presided over by the assistant minister of does, known as "Quan Zhi Gong Ju". Jinshi is also called "climbing the dragon gate", and the first name is the champion or champion. People in the same list should chip in to hold a celebration party, and let the two teenagers in the same list go to the famous garden to explore famous flowers, called flower-exploring messengers. We should collectively go to the apricot garden to attend a banquet, which is called a flower-exploring banquet. After the banquet, they all went to Jean Temple to write an inscription for the Big Wild Goose Pagoda to show their glory, so they called the China scholar "the inscription for the Big Wild Goose Pagoda". Jiao once wrote the poem "After Graduation": "Proud horseshoe disease, I have seen Chang 'an flowers." Therefore, the spring breeze has become synonymous with Jinshi and it. Deng Ke is often the first, and it is also tested by the official department, which is called the selection examination. Only qualified people can be awarded official positions. Liu Zongyuan, a great scholar in the Tang Dynasty, was awarded "Jixiantang Orthography" because of his erudition. If the official department fails in the exam, it can only go to our department as an adjutant, and then strive to get an official position officially appointed by the state. After Han Yu's Jinshi exam, he failed three times, so he had to be the adjutant of our times before he entered the officialdom.
The draft in the Tang Dynasty depends not only on the test results, but also on the recommendations of various people. As a result, candidates rushed to the doors of officials and dedicated their masterpieces to them, calling them papers. What is thrown to does is called official paper, and what is thrown to dignitaries is called writing paper. Throwing papers really makes talented people show their talents. For example, Bai Juyi's poem "Give Grass to the Original" to Gu Kuang was highly praised by the old poet. However, there are also many people who practise fraud and deceive the world. Emperor Taizong attached importance to the cultivation and selection of talents. After he acceded to the throne, he vigorously expanded the scale of Chinese studies, expanded schools and increased the number of students.
In February of the first year of Wu Zetian, the queen personally "asked to pay tribute to Luocheng Hall", which was the beginning of the imperial examination in China, but it did not form a system in the Tang Dynasty.
In the Tang Dynasty, martial arts also appeared. Wushu began in 702 AD when Wu Zetian was in Chang 'an for two years. Ying Wuju candidates are "xianggong", Ministry of War examination. The examination subjects include horse shooting, step shooting, flat shooting, carbine, weight bearing and so on. "The person with the highest ranking is awarded an official position and then promoted to the next level." During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, poetry and prose fu became the main examination content of Jinshi. During his reign, he personally interviewed candidates for imperial examinations in Chang 'an and Luoyang Palace for eight times and admitted many talents.