唐代宗正进士考

A Study on the Jinshi from the Imperial Clan in the Tang Dynasty

唐代部分宗室子弟可以通过宗正寺试而获得解状,去参加礼部省试。这类宗子在宗正寺选拔考试合格和礼部省试及第后,一般可称"宗正进士"和"前宗正进士"。他们属于比较疏远的宗室子弟,在天宝年间朝廷扩大宗正属籍并且将所有宗室子弟升入五等以后,才有资格满足通过这种渠道去参与科举考试的条件。父祖和官资不足以使其通过更加便捷的途径轻易步入仕途——很可能是这类宗子选择这条渠道的重要原因之一。在省试中这类举子并不能享受特殊的制度性优遇,才学是他们在激烈的竞争中脱颖而出的必要条件。

In the Tang Dynasty, some younger distant members of the imperial clan without prominent family ground could become qualified candidates for the examination of the Ministry of Rites after they had passed the examination of the Court of the Imperial Clan. Such younger distant members of the imperial clan could generally be called jinshi from the imperial clan, while those of them who succeeded in passing the examination of Ministry of Rites were called top finshi from the imperial clan. Most of such jinshi were younger distant members of the imperial clan： During the Tianbao （ 天宝） Period under the reign of the Emperor Hstian-tsung （玄宗） , the imperial court enlarged the domain of the imperial clan and promoted all the younger distant members of the imperial clan to the fifth category, so that they became qualified for the examination of the imperil clan and further for the examination of the Ministry of Rites. One of the important reasons why they chose such a road to gain qualification for these examinations was that their forefathers had lower official ranks and they had no other easy access to officialdom. But in the examination of the Ministry of Rites, such candidates did not enjoy any special preference, and they could become successful only by their own talents.