八股文百年祭

Centennial Thoughts on the Abolition of Eight-Part Essays

八股文的形成是明清以前科场中经术与文学矛盾互动的结果 ,它在明清两代共被废止过 4次。八股文具有牢笼英才、驱策志士 ,规范竞争、引导备考 ,严定程式、防止作弊 ,客观衡文、快速评卷 ,训练思维、测验智力 ,训练写作、锻字炼句等功用。回顾八股文废止百年来的评价变化 ,或许从文学史的角度可以为八股文平反 ,从考试史的角度也可以理解八股文的产生和存在的价值 ,然而从中国文化教育史和社会发展史方面来看 。

The form of eight-part essay evolved from the conflicts between the tradition of Confucian classics and that of literature in the imperial civil service examinations before the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was abolished four times during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The eight-part essay has many functions, such as controlling gifted scholars and motivating patriots, standardizing competition and guiding preparation for examination, formulating stylized patterns and preventing fraud, marking essays objectively and quickly, training thought and testing intelligence, training the writing skills, etc. Reviewing the evaluations of the eight-part essay since its abolition 100 years ago, it is argued that from the historical perspective of literature some of the criticisms may now be deemed inappropriate and that the evolution and existence of the eight-part essay may well be justified from the historical perspective of examinations. Yet from the historical perspectives of education of Chinese culture and social development, our 100-year-old verdict on the eight-part essay should not be reversed.