【Explanation】From the establishment of the Chinese imperial examination to the holding of the last entrance examination in the 1905st year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (<>), it has gone through more than <>,<> years. The imperial examination is usually divided into township examination, conference examination and temple examination. For decades, the Shanxi collector Chen Xu has collected many volumes of Jin Shi rolls, township examination papers and Jin Shi inscription inscriptions in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
On June 6, the reporter visited Chen Xu's collection studio to explore the "college entrance examination" of the ancients.
【Contemporaneous】Shanxi collector Chen Xu
After being admitted to Xiucai, you can go to the exam, and we see the exam questions on the wall, that is, the township exam (exam questions). After the township examination, you can go to the examination, and after the examination, you can go to the temple examination. The palace examination is that the emperor himself wants to come to read the papers, to test your wisdom, your cleverness, and then from this can you come out of the "champion" and the "list eye".
【Commentary】In ancient examinations at all levels, only Chinese script could be used to write, and the reporter looked through many examination papers, and its handwriting was neat and beautiful, comparable to printing.
【Contemporaneous】Shanxi collector Chen Xu
(Students) want to take exams, first of all, they must write neatly and well. For example, as we just saw, the small words in the temple examination book are really drawn one by one, and they are written seriously. In the past exams, one person and one house, you yourself were in it, and you were not allowed to bring anything, you could only eat and live in it.
【Commentary】Looking through the inscription inscription of the jinshi, the yellowed paper records the specific ranking of the palace examination and the candidate's place of origin. Ming Dynasty Jiajing eleventh year Jin Shi inscription inscription, Shanxi people Kong Tianyin High School "list eye".
【Contemporaneous】 Shanxi collector Chen Xu
Ming Jiajing's eleventh year Jin Shi inscription stele, in this inscription stele, there is "first first" and "second class" in front, and the "list eye" in the first class is Kong Tianyin from Shanxi, which is also recorded very clearly. During the Jiajing period, many Shanxi (candidates) were still admitted to the Jingshi examination.
【Commentary】From ancient times to the present, "champion" is regarded as a kind of glory. As a township examination center during the Ming and Qing dynasties, Shanxi Gongyuan (now No. 21, Chunyanggong Road, Yingze District, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province) carries the imprint of local students taking the test. To this day, many parents still take their children to cross the Zhuangyuan Bridge on the west side of the Gongyuan to inspire their children before the college entrance examination and the middle school entrance examination.
【Contemporaneous】Shanxi collector Chen Xu
It can be seen in various places that the relics named after the "champion" used to attach great importance to this, for example, in my studio, we see on the wall, which are all past champions or past jinshi, Jin merchants to ask for writing. After returning, it is carved and hung on the wall of his house as an object for children to learn.
Zhang Licheng reported from Taiyuan, Shanxi
Responsible Editor: [Li Ji]