清代江南乡试分闱动议考论

Exploring the Proposal Dividing the Provincial Examination Hall in Jiangnan in Late Qing

清代江南乡试分闱动议始自康熙,经雍正、乾隆、咸丰、同治,迄于光绪,历时久远,过程复杂。江南分闱之议此伏彼起,根源在于江南分省。无分省,便无分闱,这一原则不仅可以解释江南的情形,也同样适用于湖广、陕甘。江南乡试考生偏多而中额过少这一矛盾则是江南分闱之议不断出现的主要动力。由于江南两省自身的特点和帝国的大一统体制,江南分闱动议无果而终。其主要原因有:城市因素;江南两省官员、士绅群体对于分闱态度不一,甚至互相掣肘,始终未形成命运的共同体;清廷对江南采取防范、压制政策。在知识公平与区域公平发生冲突时,清廷艰难地选择了后者,致使江南两省为此付出了长期又沉重的代价。

As early as the Kangxi reign(1661-1722),some suggested the provincial examination hall in Jiangnan,or the lower reaches of Yangtse River,be divided.Then similar proposals were constantly made in the successive reigns.The most basic reason that why there was such a proposal of division lay in the central court’s administrative effort dividing Jiangnan into differing provinces;and the most direct reason,the number of candidates and those who passed the exam in this region was shockingly disproportionate.Due to the regional characteristics and the Qing Empire’s overemphasis on the grand unification,the proposal ended fruitlessly.Such failure was ascribed to multiple causes–the urban factors,differing attitudes of regional officials and local gentries,the central court’s restrictions,and so on.In face of the epistemic equality and regional balance,the Qing government had to choose the latter.As a consequence,Jiangnan paid a heavy price for quite a long time.