元稹“两经擢第”考论

Textual Research of Yuan Zhen's Passing the Ancient Chinese Civil Examination of the Two Chinese Classic Books

中唐以来，元稹“明经及第”已成学术界的共识，唯有《旧唐书》记载了元稹“两经擢第”。唐代的科举制度中，其科目分为进士、明经等，明经科具体包含两经、三经和五经等项目，“两经”考试主要考《礼记》和《尚书》等。元稹参加“两经”考试和自称“明经出身”，都有其背景。

From the Mid-Tang Dynasty, the Chinese academic Circles have come to common consensus about Yuan Zhen's passing the civil examination for persons well versed in Chinese classics; however, only The Old Tang Histories put down the fact that Yuan Zhen passed the examination of Two Chinese classic Books, i.e. The Book of Rites and An Ancient Government Post in Charge of Secretarial Duties. In the ancient Chinese civil service examinations, the subject was divided into those for successful candidates of the national civil service examination and those for persons well versed in Chinese classics, etc. The latter includes subjects of Two Chinese Books, Three Chinese Classic Books, Five Chinese Classic Books, and so on. There were certain reasons why Yuan Zhen participated in the examination of Two Chinese Classic Books but declared that he had passed the examination for persons well versed in Chinese classics.