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The imperial examination, the basic system of selecting officials in ancient China, although there are many drawbacks and imperfections, is still a great invention of the feudal dynasty.
The birth of the imperial examination system not only changed the situation in which the Door Valve clan controlled the supreme power for generations, gave the children of the Han Men an upward ladder, but also promoted the development of education, and made the reading customs prevail for thousands of years, creating a splendid and prosperous Chinese culture.
From the creation of the imperial examination by the Sui Emperor in 605 to the abolition of the imperial examination by the Guangxu Emperor in 1905 AD, the imperial examination system has existed for 1300 years in Chinese history, but the real standardization of the imperial examination system was actually after the Song Dynasty.
The Sui Dynasty was a famous short-lived dynasty in ancient China, and the Sui Emperor reigned for 14 years, holding a total of four or five imperial examinations, and admitted a total of twelve jinshi. Therefore, although the imperial examination system originated in the Sui Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty officials who really ascended to the throne through the imperial examination were almost negligible.
In the early tang dynasty, the political power was mainly controlled by the Menmen clan, but the social bottom of the high position through the imperial examination officials had increased significantly compared with the Sui Dynasty. Tang Taizong Li Shimin attached great importance to the imperial examination, and historical records record that when Li Shimin saw that there were a large number of non-governmental talents who came to take the imperial examination, he once sighed to the left and right very proudly:
"The heroes of the world are all in my arms!"
This means that through the imperial examination, the heroes of the world have let him be in the pocket.
However, although the imperial examination was valued and developed in the Tang Dynasty, it still did not form an absolutely fair rule, and its evaluation criteria were relatively arbitrary. However, it is also because of this "arbitrariness", the Tang Dynasty also has a lot of interesting stories in the selection of talents, the following two to share with you.
The Examination Papers of the Tang Dynasty were divided into "Examination Papers" and "Line Papers", "Examination Papers" are normal examiners who answer questions, and "Line Papers" are more personalized, candidates can copy their usually well-written poems and songs on it, and the examiners will evaluate the candidates' literary level according to these works.
It is precisely because the Tang Dynasty had this special "line scroll" assessment, so the world's students who are interested in their careers like to take their proud works to the current confucian in advance to see, if they are fortunate enough to be praised by the current world's great Confucians, then this person must be famous, and the "line scroll" results will also rise with the water, which is very helpful for his promotion.
For example, Bai Juyi, a famous realist poet of the Tang Dynasty, took some of his poems to the great literary scholar Gu Quan when he first entered Chang'an, and the purpose was self-evident, that is, he hoped to get Gu Quan's affirmation, and then enhance his reputation in the literary world to achieve the purpose of the imperial examination high school.
In ancient times, when the younger generations wanted to meet the academic masters, they all had to submit the prayer post first, and When Gu Guan saw the three words "Bai Juyi" on the prayer post, he couldn't help but laugh and ridiculed:
"Chang'an Rice Is Expensive, It's Not Easy to Live in White!"
”
This means that the price of this capital is very high, the talent is abundant, and it is not easy to think of this "white residence" without some real ability!
However, when Gu Quan opened the "line scroll" and looked at it, the first thing that caught his eye was Bai Juyi's famous work "Sending Farewell to the Ancient Grass" (also known as "Grass"):
“
Away from the grass on the original, one year old and one withered away.
Wildfires burn endlessly, and spring winds blow again. Yuanfang invaded the ancient road, and Qingcui took over the deserted city. He sent Wang Sun to go again, and he was full of affection.
After reading it, Gu Quan couldn't help but be deeply impressed, so he changed his mouth and said:
"With such a good literary style, baiju is also easy!"
This means that with such talent, it is easy to "live in baiju" in Chang'an!
In this way, Bai Juyi became famous in Chang'an, and also paved the way for him to go to the official arena in the future.
After talking about Bai Juyi, let's talk about another famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Wei.
Among the many Tang Dynasty poets we are familiar with, Wang Wei was the only one who passed the title in high school, and the reason why he was able to win the title and the first was actually because he spent a lot of thought on the "line scroll".
Compared with other candidates, Wang Wei has three major advantages, one is that he is handsome, the other is that he plays the pipa well, and the third is that he has outstanding literary skills. In other words, Wang Vinah should have looks, talents, strength and strength, and it is absolutely deserved to be admitted to the title. However, no matter how strong the strength, it must also be appreciated by someone, so Wang Wei found Li Fan, the King of Qi.
Du Fu once wrote in the poem "Jiangnan Feng Li Gui Year":
"It is common in the Qi King's mansion, and Cui Jiutang smelled it several times before. It is the good scenery of Jiangnan, and the flower fall season is also the king. ”
The "King of Qi" here refers to Li Fan, a prince who especially likes to make friends with cultural people, not only familiar with Du Fu, but also a good friend with Wang Wei.
Wang Wei found Li Fan, the King of Qi, and Li Fan recommended him to Princess Yuzhen. This Princess Yuzhen was a great princess, she was the daughter of Emperor Ruizong of Tang and Empress Dowager Dou of Zhaocheng Shunsheng, and was the half-sister of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, and her status in the dynasty was even higher than that of Li Fan, the King of Qi.
Princess Yuzhen was also a person who loved talent, so she often recommended talents to her brother Tang Xuanzong. As mentioned earlier, Wang Wei looks like a personable person, a table of talents, Princess Yuzhen liked it very much when she first saw him, and then Wang Wei knew the rhythm of music, and after playing a pipa, Princess Yuzhen was even more impressed.
At this moment, Li Fan, the King of Qi, hit the iron while it was hot, and praised Wang Wei a lot, saying that his talent was not only composing and singing, but also his poetry and song endowment level was superb. Princess Yuzhen loved poetry in her life, so she asked Wang Wei to write a poem to enjoy. Wang Wei then presented the famous work "Mountain Residence Autumn Dawn":
"After the new rain on the empty mountain, the weather came late in autumn.
Bright moon pine light, clear spring stone upstream.
The bamboo hustle and bustle returned to the raccoon girl, and the lotus moved down the fishing boat.
Feel free to rest in the spring, and Wang Sun can stay for himself.
This poem was written, it was really amazing, Princess Yuzhen had long read this famous poem, but she did not expect that it was the masterpiece of this beautiful teenager in front of her, and her admiration could not help but arise spontaneously. Subsequently, Princess Yuzhen personally handed over Wang Wei's "Scroll" and spoke very kindly in front of her brother Tang Xuanzong. Therefore, in the nineteenth year of Tang Kaiyuan (731 AD), Wang Wei was a high school leader.
The author believes that Wang Wei's high school title is naturally inseparable from the strong recommendation of Princess Yuzhen, but his talent is indeed worthy of this honor. Moreover, in the historical background at that time, it was a common phenomenon to improve the performance of "line rolls" through the recommendation of "nobles", and Wang Wei's "backdoor" was actually not wrong.
As for the scandal between Wang Wei and Princess Yuzhen, the author believes that it is purely fabricated by posterity, and Princess Yuzhen's appreciation of Wang Wei is more of an admiration than a private affair of her children.
Resources:
Quan Tang Wen, Old Book of Tang