论唐代落第举子“再次取解”制度的存在及意义

The Existence and Meaning of the System for Unsuccessful Candidates to Regain Qualification for Central Exam in the Tang Dynasty

唐代举子获得州府荐送参加礼部试,在落第以后,是直接拥有再试礼部的资格,还是必须重新获得新的资格呢?文章通过细致考察,认为唐代科举存在"再次取解"的制度,即落第举子需再次取解州府以谋取新的荐送资格。由于州府荐送人数有限定,所以此项制度的实施,使得每年应试礼部的人数维持在一定规模,有利于整个科举系统的稳定。文章最后尝试从"再次取解"制度的存在基础分析其在后世消亡的原因。

In the Tang Dynasty, the candidates were qualified for the central exam when they were recommended at the prefectural level. Was an unsuccessful candidate still qualified for the next central exam, or must he regain a new qualification in another exam at the prefectural level？ Through a careful study, the present author finds out that there existed a system for unsuccessful candidates to regain qualification for central exam in the Tang Dynasty, which meant that the unsuccessful candidates must go through the exam again at the prefectural level to obtain the qualification for next central exam. As the number of candidates recommended from a prefecture was limited, the implementation of this system was able to keep the number of candidates fixed for central exam every year, which was helpful to stabilize the imperial civil exam system as a whole. In the end of the article, the author tries to analyze the reason why this system vanished later.