The imperial examination system has been practiced in China for 1,300 years and has had a profound impact on China, East Asia, and the world. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoAfter the Sui and Tang dynasties, China's social structure, political system, education, and humanistic thought were all affected by the imperial examination.

The original purpose of the imperial examination was to promote talents from the private sector for the government. Compared with the selection systems such as hereditary, recommended, and nine-rank official laws, the imperial examination is undoubtedly a fair, open and impartial method. Originally, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam in East Asia effectively imitated China in holding imperial examinations, and the abolition of the imperial examinations in Vietnam was not until after China. In the 16th and 17th centuries, European missionaries saw the imperial examination system in China and introduced it to Europe in their travelogues. During the Enlightenment in the 18th century, many British and French thinkers advocated China's fair and just system. In the mid-to-late 19th century, the British government established a civil service system that required civil servants to be recruited through regular public examinations, and gradually formed a civil service system that was later imitated by European and American countries. The principles and methods of the examination adopted by the British civil service system are very similar to those of the Chinese imperial examination, and to a large extent, the advantages of the imperial examination are absorbed. Therefore, some people call the imperial examination the fifth great invention of Chinese civilization [32]. Today's examination system is still to a certain extent a continuation of the imperial examination system.

Since the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination has been open to all people regardless of origin, rich or poor[33]. This not only greatly broadened the government's base for selecting talents, but also gave intellectuals in the middle and lower strata of society the opportunity to move to the upper echelons of society through scientific examinations. Such policies have played a considerable role in maintaining the stability of society as a whole. Among the Jinshi of the Ming and Qing dynasties, nearly half of them were from "poor families" whose ancestors did not study, or who had studied but did not become officials. But as long as they can "get to the dragon gate", they will naturally be "worth ten times". Over the years, tens of millions of students have bowed their heads and are willing to be their children, and they have many purposes but hope to become famous in one fell swoop and glorify their ancestors.

The imperial examination unearthed and cultivated a large number of talents for the Chinese dynasties. In the past 1,300 years, the imperial examination has produced nearly 100,000 jinshi, and millions of people and talents have been raised. Of course, not all of them are people of insight, but most of those who can pass five levels and kill six generals and pass the scientific examination to become Jinshi are not idle people. Among the famous ministers and pillars of the country in the Song and Ming dynasties and the Qing Dynasty, the vast majority of them were born in Jinshi. After Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, the practice was that "non-Jinshi did not enter the Hanlin, and non-Hanlin did not enter the cabinet", and the imperial examination became the only way for high-ranking officials. When Matteo Ricci came to China in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the scholarly class he saw who was responsible for governing the whole country was born out of the imperial examination system.

The imperial examination also played a considerable role in promoting the popularization of knowledge and the people's reading atmosphere. Although this impetus is motivated by the pursuit of fame and fame in general, rather than by a thirst for knowledge or spirituality; However, objectively, because the imperial examination has become a fashion, China's literary style has generally improved. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were no less than 500,000 Chinese scholars most of the time. Including children, it's in the millions. Except for a few people who can make further progress in their careers, most of them have become grassroots intellectuals living in various places, which has played a certain role in the popularization of knowledge. Moreover, because these scholars are all products of the same system and study the same "sage books", they also indirectly maintain the unity and centripetal force of culture and thought in various parts of China.

The adverse effects of the imperial examination are mainly due to the content and form of the examination. Since the Ming Dynasty, the content of the imperial examination has become rigid, and it has become only required that candidates can produce formal essays, but does not pay attention to the actual knowledge of candidates. Most of the scholars are for scientific examinations, and their minds are gradually bound by the narrow Four Books and Five Classics and the pedantic Eight Strands; Whether it is vision, creativity, and independent thinking, it is greatly limited. Most people take passing the scientific examination as the only purpose of studying, and studying becomes only to be an official and glorify their ancestors. In addition, the imperial examination also restricts the way out of talents. The eight families of the Tang and Song dynasties were all born in Jinshi; However, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, most of the famous artists who had outstanding achievements in literary creation or various techniques were disappointed in the scientific field. It can be inferred that while the imperial examination system has unearthed talents for the government, it has also buried outstanding figures in other aspects of the people. Over the past hundred years, how many elites of all kinds have been trapped in the field and wasted their time.

Even after the abolition of the imperial examination, it still left many traces in Chinese society. For example, the Constitution of the Republic of China, founded by Sun Yat-sen, provided for the separation of powers, and the examination institute in it was rooted in the Chinese tradition of imperial examinations. In addition, some of the habits of the imperial examination can still be seen in the college entrance examination in Chinese mainland. For example, the selection of candidates by province, the binding of the examination papers with the identity information of the candidates, so as to prevent collusion between the examiners and the candidates, and the calling of the top scorer in the college entrance examination as the champion, are all remnants of the imperial examination.

The imperial examination system did not start in the Ming Dynasty, but it was carried forward in the Ming Dynasty, it is really interesting to say, although there were imperial examinations in the Tang and Song dynasties, but the number of admission places was very small, and only a few dozen people were often taken in a subject. Since the third year of Hongwu (1370), the Ming Dynasty opened the imperial examination and expanded the recruitment, and those who wanted to be officials were squeezed out. They all took reading as a profession, and these people were the foundation of the civil power of the later Ming Dynasty.

At that time, the examination was divided into three levels, the first level was the college examination, the examiners were collectively called children, you don't think that all children came to the test, seventy or eighty-year-old children also have, the scope of the examination is the state and county, the people who passed the examination in this examination are the "show talents" that we are all familiar with, you don't think that the show is easy to test, the test results have six grades, only in this exam, the higher ones can get the title of show talents, and the first and second class can be qualified to participate in the higher level of the examination, called "record science".

Now that you have become a showman, you have gotten rid of the status of a commoner, and you are also an intellectual, and you have certain privileges, such as being exempt from servitude for one person, and you can not kneel when you see the county magistrate. But you are not an official, you are still far from it, it is already so difficult to be a showman, but in order to be an official, comrades must continue to struggle!

The next level of the examination is called the township test, you must not be mistaken, this so-called township test does not refer to the township examination, but the provincial unified examination. Please note that the township exam is not something you can take if you want to, it only happens once every three years, generally in August, and the questions are issued by the province, and there is a quota limit. The person who passes the examination at this level is called a lifter, and this lifter is very good, and he is qualified to be an official. The reason why I say that I am qualified is because this level cannot include you 4399 as an official, which is similar to how can you become an official if you graduate from college today, it is very simple, if the person who is an official dies, you will be 4399.

So if you go to a memorial service for an official in the Ming Dynasty and see some people poking their brains at the door and showing joy, if you don't have a grudge against this family, then you are generally lifting people.

Now everyone knows why Comrade Fan Jin went crazy after being promoted, and you might go crazy if you were replaced.

The person who gets the first place in this exam is called Xie Yuan. This is the first element in the three elements.

Okay, you have been selected for the exam, and you have finally walked out of the provincial capital, and now you are heading for the capital, in order to become an official, rush forward!

Now that you are already a lifter, then please lay your baggage, prepare your pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and you will meet the real test of life in February next year?? Try.

This exam can only be taken by those who have obtained the qualification to raise people, that is, your opponents will be the elites of other provinces, and the imperial court will select three hundred people among you (subject to change), but be careful, these three hundred people are not what we often call jinshi, they are just "gongsheng", and if you want to be a jinshi, you have to pass another level.

The first place in the examination is called Huiyuan, which is the second yuan in the three yuan.

Before we talk about the next level, we have to introduce the examination room of the imperial examination, which was not the brightly lit classroom of today, and there were a large number of parents waiting for you outside with watermelons. The examination room of the Ming Dynasty examination was called Gongyuan, in fact, from the perspective of its structural environment, it can be called a prison cell.

There are tens of thousands of rooms in the Gongyuan (you can estimate the acceptance rate), all of them are single rooms, some people may think that the single room is very good, don't be busy, let me introduce what kind of single room this is, this kind of single room is called the number room, five feet long, four feet wide, and eight feet high.

If you measure it, you can feel that this is almost a cage. Candidates should be searched before entering, they can only bring books and lamps to go in, each person is given three candles, after entering, the door is immediately closed and locked, and the candidates are in it to answer questions, and they also rest in it at night, but because the room is too small, candidates can only curl up and sleep, which is really uncomfortable and uncomfortable.

However, in such a difficult environment, under that lonely lamp, in the unbearable loneliness, our ancestors were full of the ideal of serving the country, and wrote wonderful articles with strong perseverance, which is really worthy of our respect.

Everyone who has gone through this exam deserves our applause, not only for those who succeed, but also for those who fail.

The final test for the elites who passed the examination was the palace examination, in which they faced the rulers of the empire in the form of questions from the emperor and answers by the candidates, mainly in the form of strategic questions. These poor candidates did not dare and could not raise their heads, they could only answer the questions with trepidation, and then withdraw to wait for their fate.

The emperor and ministers will be divided into grades according to the performance of the candidates, there are three first-class, there are only three people in the first class, called Jinshi and the first, respectively, the champion, the list, and the flower, which is well known to all of us.

And the champion is the third of the three yuan, if you get here, and you are still on the list, then congratulations, you will be assigned to an official position. But don't expect too much, the official positions assigned at this time are not high, and after so many hardships, what you get is likely to be just an eight-grade county prince, and it is still far from the county master, but no matter what, you can finally become an official.

The imperial examination is not only a way to obtain official positions, but also a way for scholars to pursue honor. For them, the champion is their goal, although there is no first, but the first is what everyone wants. The champion is also a human being, why not me?!

The fact is also the same, but although the champion is rare, there is only one in three years, and the output is very low, but after all, there are still there, so the highest honor in the hearts of the readers is not the champion, but another title, which is what every reader thinks about, and the person who wins this title will become a legendary figure and be admired by thousands of people!

This title is Lianzhong Sanyuan, specifically it is the three titles of Xie Yuan, Hui Yuan, and Champion. This is a really difficult action, and it must be guaranteed to be the first in the provincial examination, and then the first in the national examination in the general examination, and finally the first in the emperor's mind in the palace examination.