Imperial Examination, the earliest "college entrance examination" in China, began in the Sui Dynasty. Champion, a term that is still full of charm and vitality and envied by all, is the invention and creation of the only female emperor Wu Zetian in China history.
What is "Imperial Examination"
"Imperial Examination" means to select people by subject. The real imperial examination system in China began with Emperor Wen of Sui, Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, and followed Yang Guang, Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. After the unification of the whole country in Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty put the power of selecting officials under the central government, abolished the Nine-Graded System, and began to select officials by examination. Emperor Yangdi loved literature, set up the imperial examination department, and selected scholars by "trying strategy". This was the beginning of the imperial examination text for future generations, and also set up the Ming Classics Department, which marked the official birth of the imperial examination system.
Judging from the history books, Yang Guang’s promotion of the system of selecting officials in imperial examinations was not a political show. At that time, it was really out of the need to select outstanding talents. In the Tang dynasty, the imperial examination field came out of the "No.1 scholar". The first scholar is the champion, and in today’s words, he is the champion in the examination room. This term, which is still full of charm and vitality and envied by all, is the invention and creation of the only female emperor Wu Zetian in China history. Since then, the "number one scholar" has become synonymous with outstanding students.
Specifically, the scores of the ancient "college entrance examination" were divided into three grades: one, two and three. Only three people are taken from one armor. The first name "No.1 Scholar", the second name "No.2 Scholar" and the third name "Flower Exploration", called "Three Ding Jia", are all given to "Jinshi Ji"; Second, take several names (according to the needs of officialdom), all of which are given "Jinshi origin"; The top three take a number of names, all of which are given "the same Jinshi origin."
There are many rules in ancient imperial examinations and they are quite complicated. The complete procedure includes the provincial examination, the general examination and the court examination, that is, the local, central and imperial examinations. As we all know, the examination place is located in each province after having obtained the provincial examination. After having obtained the provincial examination, it is also called Xiang Wei, and passing the provincial examination is called "Zhongju" and becomes a juror. Formally speaking, after having obtained a provincial examination can be regarded as the "unified examination for ordinary colleges and universities in China" in ancient China.
Ancient imperial examinations were nothing but martial arts.
Just as it is not easy to be among the best now, it is even more difficult to get the top scholar in ancient times. Therefore, most of the top scholars in ancient times were truly knowledgeable people, and even the emperor liked to marry his daughter to the top scholar Lang.
After the resumption of the "College Entrance Examination" in the late 1970s, for a long time, all the candidates in Qian Qian took the same examination paper. The ancient imperial examination was the same at the beginning, and the national unified examination was implemented. In most years, it was a list of officials. However, since ancient times, there have been talented people in the south of the Yangtze River, and the northern scholar has been in the imperial examination field. On the whole, it is obvious that he can’t pass the examination of Jiangsu and Zhejiang scholars. Later, for the sake of justice, balance and care, in the final round of "Finals" in palace examination, some dynasties, such as the Ming Dynasty, divided the examination questions and examination times between the south and the north, and there were even three volumes between the south, the north and the middle.
The current college entrance examination is divided into arts and sciences, and the ancient imperial examination is also divided into subjects, which are different from arts and martial arts. Therefore, there is a difference between the literary champion and the martial arts champion. According to research, the first martial arts champion in ancient China was named Xue Yi; There are too many famous literary champions, such as Wang Wei, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, Wen Tianxiang, a national hero in the Song Dynasty, and Zhang Jian, an industrialist in the late Qing Dynasty.
How many books should I recite in the imperial examination?
According to statistics, candidates have to recite The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, The Book of Songs, The Book of Rites and Zuo Zhuan, with a total of more than 400,000 words, all of which should be carefully read and memorized. In addition, candidates have to read several times as many notes as the original text, as well as other classics, history books and literary books that must be read.
In ancient times, there were four subjects to be studied in the "College Entrance Examination", namely, eight-part essay, poem, classics and law. The topics of the eight-part essay are mainly taken from the Four Books: The University, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects of Confucius and Mencius. Trial post poetry is a kind of poetic style. In the examination, a poem and idiom of the ancients are used as the topic, and a rhyme is defined, and a poem is written with the content of praising the state affairs.
The examination time is three days.
In ancient times, the examination time was also very fixed, but it was not limited to one examination. In some dynasties, there were spring examinations and summer examinations. The "palace examination" who finally decides the top scholar is usually arranged in the spring of March, which is the so-called "March Tingkao".
In ancient times, the examination time was generally divided into three days, but instead of connecting the examinations as it is now, two days were left in the middle. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, after having obtained the provincial examinations, they were held in August of the lunar calendar, and in February of the lunar calendar, and in March of palace examination. The time for the township and the meeting is set at the ninth, twelfth and fifteenth days of the month.
Jiangnan after having obtained the provincial examinations is mostly held in autumn, so it is also called "Autumn Wei". Three games each, three days and nights each. Because there are two changes in the middle, it is actually nine days and seven nights.
The first test was an eight-part essay, which was selected from the four books and five classics. The second test is the practical writing of officialdom, which is divided into two types: official documents and judicial judgments based on cases provided. The third exam question involves specific national economy and people’s livelihood issues, and requires candidates to give countermeasures and methods. At that time, the scientific examination was a candidate and a major event of the imperial court. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the examination, the building would be locked after the examination, and no matter what happened, even if there was a fire, the candidates could not be unlocked.
At that time, all the buildings were lined south, with nearly 100 long ones and 50 or 60 short ones. At the entrance of the lane, there is a font size, equipped with a signal lamp and a water tank, which can be used by candidates to travel at night and drink water during the day. During the examination, the candidates will provide their own meals. Because it takes a long time to have a rural examination and the weather is sultry, the food will soon deteriorate, so candidates usually only bring dry food to satisfy their hunger.
The examination questions are large and complicated.
For the types of test papers, the dynasties are similar. The subjects tested in each dynasty have not changed much in general, but the number of questions is very large. According to the different subjects selected, it is possible to obtain fame only by completing the corresponding examination papers. On the surface, it is simpler than the current college entrance examination papers, and it seems that it is only a composition, but in fact it is more complicated, and it is a lifelong test. Because of the large number of examination questions and the long time, there are often incidents of "killing" candidates: some students can’t stand the torture, throw themselves into the water and leave.
At that time, the relevant measures to prevent cheating were very strict, the examination room was closed, and a row of numbered houses separated the candidates.
The brick walls on the left and right sides of the building are between one and two feet from the ground, and two brick supports are built, so that upper and lower boards can be placed on them. In the daytime exam, the upper board replaces the console table, and the lower board is a stool for candidates to sit and answer questions. At night, the upper board is taken out and merged into the lower floor to be used as a bed for sleeping. However, because the length of the building is only four feet, which is equivalent to 1.33 meters, people can’t even straighten their legs when they sleep. Moreover, there is no door in the building, so candidates need to bring their own tarpaulin as a door curtain to prevent wind and rain.
Because the weather is very hot in autumn, the candidates eat and live in a small building. Therefore, there are often candidates who die accidentally because of heatstroke and food poisoning, while others are killed by poisonous snakes hiding in the eaves of the building.
Ancient candidates were very hard.
Parents and educators have been calling for reducing students’ burden for years. In fact, this wish has been shouted for more than 1000 years. The college entrance examination in ancient times was also a major event for families. Like parents accompanying and sending exams now, parents in ancient times were also very dedicated, which was the only channel for children to lead their careers.
In ancient times, students couldn’t just read books. They had to recite classics like the Four Books and the Five Classics, memorize them by heart, and even get a clear picture of a sentence on a page and a line. The ancient college entrance examination was even more beautiful in calligraphy, but it was three or nine in winter and three days in summer. The results of studying for many years were much more painful than those of modern students.
As far as the provisions of the Ming and Qing Dynasties are concerned, not all students can take the township entrance examination. The first choice is to pass the quiz, which is commonly known as the boy test, and it is possible to become a scholar. Scholars have to pass the annual examination and the departmental examination before they are eligible to take the provincial examination. The departmental examination is held before the provincial examination, which can be regarded as a pre-examination for the provincial examination. Scholars who passed the examination were allowed to take part in the ancient "college entrance examination" after having obtained the provincial examination. If you fail the exam, it is called "falling into the sea", and those who fall into the sea still have a chance to make up the exam, which is called "failing to pass the exam"
After passing the provincial examination and becoming a juren, you can take part in the meeting presided over by the Ministry of Rites. Because the examination room for the exam is located in Beijing, there is a saying that "going to Beijing to catch the exam". Candidates who pass the final exam, called "Gong Shi", are qualified to take the final and highest-level exam.
There was a system of sealing volumes in ancient times.
At present, the college entrance examination stipulates that there is a strict system of sealing papers, and the examination papers will be sealed as soon as each exam is over, so as to prevent artificial disadvantages in marking the exam papers. In fact, this system of sealing papers has existed for a long time in the ancient "College Entrance Examination".
According to historical records, the ancient imperial examination system in China began in the Song Dynasty. According to the Song History Election, during the Chunhua period in Song Taizong, the method of "pasting the name to test the school" was adopted at the suggestion of Chen Jing, the examiner, and the candidates’ names and places of origin were pasted on the test paper, and it was decided to open the test paper before sealing it.
The specific method is: the test paper should be pasted with the name, which is called "sealed". The method is that after the examination paper is handed in, the sealing officer will fold the paper, seal the candidate’s name and number it in red; Then, the transcriber will copy the test paper with Zhu Pen, which is called "Zhu Juan" and send it to the examiner for review. When the list is released, the "black roll" will be unpacked according to the red number of the "Zhu roll" selected, and finally the list will be written by roll call.
The examiner is the deputy examiner. If he likes any recommendation paper, he will mark it with the word "take"-the so-called "admission" in the modern college entrance examination, which is probably how it came about. The papers marked with "take" will be sent to the examiner, who will finally decide the fate of the candidates. If the examiner also likes it, he will approve the word "Zhong" on the test paper-the origin of "Exam Zhong" should come from this.
Just like today, there are strict rules on the marking time in the past dynasties, which require that the marking be completed within a certain period of time. Take the Qing Dynasty as an example, the time limit for marking papers is 10 days. These 10 days also include the time before sealing, copying and reading. In the meantime, it will take a lot of time to eat and invite, so the real marking time is quite tight, but only three or four days. Therefore, at that time, examiners generally had to review twenty papers a day, with thirty or forty more. Ordinary marking staff have more papers to read, so most of them are overloaded. It can be seen that in ancient times when there was no modern computer-aided marking, the marking staff simply had no time to read every test paper carefully.
In order to speed up marking and finish the work stipulated by the imperial court on time, marking personnel also try their best. One of the most important means is to look at the "first impression", that is, to focus on the candidates’ first exam papers, which is what the ancients called "stop reading the forecourt and stop reading the meaning of the book".
Under normal circumstances, if candidates do well in the first exam, they get a "high score" when marking papers-good comments, and basically they will be on the list. But if you fail in the first exam, even if you play well in the last two games, you may lose your reputation in Sun Shan. Therefore, candidates at that time paid special attention to answering the first exam.
Looking back, the "paste-name examination" method in the Song Dynasty was obviously regarded as the "ancestor" of the college entrance examination system.
Allow failed students to search the papers
It can be said that there are more subjective factors in marking papers in ancient times than in modern times, which have a great influence on candidates’ grades. Many failed students were missed by irresponsible marking personnel. Therefore, some examiners with a strong sense of responsibility will randomly check the "failed papers" that have not been tested, and the examiner also has the right to read the recommendation papers that have not been "taken" by the deputy examiner for review.
In addition, there is a more humane provision-allowing failed students to check the papers, which is also a good way to supervise the marking staff. If the excellent papers are graded badly, once the candidates petition, they will be in big trouble, and the responsible person will be punished by the court.
During marking, the ink roll has been stored in the outer curtain and kept by the outer palm. After all the marking work is finished, the original volume will be transferred out against the admitted Zhu volume, the personal information of the candidates will be found out, and the name of the list will be filled in. Next, it’s time to release the admission list. After the release of the list, the admitted Zhu Juan and Mo Juan will be re-assembled and sent to the Ministry of Ritual (equivalent to the current Ministry of Education) for review.
At this time, the failed candidates can check the papers. Generally, within 10 days after the announcement of the test results, the candidates who failed the exam can check their own papers. There will be the examiner’s marking comments on the papers, and at first glance, you will understand why you have not been admitted, which is also a dead end.
(Source: Yanzhao Evening News)
