南宋宗室科举制度探析

An Exploration and Analysis of the Imperial Clan Examination System of the Southern Song Dynasty

南宋科举制下宗室考试有四种方法,有官锁应与无官应举是宗室子弟经科举步入仕途的最主要途径;宗子取应试是针对皇族的一种推恩考试,类似于文、武举特奏名;而宗子量试则属于出官考试,非科举考试。南宋宗室科举是在熙宁二年《宗室法》基础上发展起来,宗子享有"别试别取"的特权。随着科举取士逐步向宗室权贵阶层倾斜,一定程度上损及平民举子的利益,但这种负面影响不应被过度解读。宗室科举作为宋代宗室平民化改革的一项重要举措,使大量皇室后裔开始融入社会,步入官僚队伍,推动了"宗室士大夫"阶层的崛起。

Under the imperial examination system of the Southern Song dynasty,there were four ways for imperial descendants to take the government examinations.The two main routes allowed those who already had an official post to take the examination after resigning,and the rest to take the examination directly.In addition to,the Zongziqu(宗子取)and Zongziliang(宗子量)examinations also enabled them to enter an official career.The former was a preferential exam specially arranged for imperial descendants,similar to the Tezouming(特奏名,examination candidates granted special permission)in the literary or military examinations,while the latter was the test for those who were to leave the capital for an official post and thus was not a selective examination.The examination system for members of the imperial clan in the Southern Song Dynasty was set up in the second year of Xining on the basis of Imperial Clan Law(宗室法),in which descendants of the imperial clan(宗子zongzi)enjoyed the privilege of taking special examinations.Although the imperial examination system gradually became biased in favor of the imperial clan and the holders of power,and thus to some extent adversely affected the interests of ordinary examination candidates,its negative effects should not be over-estimated.As an important measure of reform aimed at giving members of the imperial clan the same treatment as commoners,this system encouraged a large number of descendants of the imperial family to integrate into society or enter the bureaucracy,and thus promoted the rise of a group of 'scholar-officials from the imperial clan.'