止阅初场?——明代科举考试后场论、策地位考辨

An Investigation of Ce and Lun of the Second and Third Rounds of Imperial Civil Examination in Ming

[明代的科举考试,并非如前人所言,考官仅以首场经义来决定考生之去取,而对第二、三场论、策答卷略而不阅。其实,尽管首场经义的地位比较重要,但后场论、策也会影响去取与否和排名高低.并不是无足轻重的。一方面,从嘉靖年间开始,朝廷一再颁布命令,要求乡试、会试取士兼重后场,并相应变更了行之已久的阅卷程序,使第二、三场试卷分房互阅,以此强化后场的重要性。另一方面,在明代乡试、会试的实际运作中.考官不仅会评阅后场论、策答卷,更将之纳作衡量士子能否中式以及排名高低的重要参考因素「此外,在日常备考过程中间,考生也为后场考试多作准备.并不轻忽论、策所考内容。

It should be pointed out that in Ming ce and lun—both referred to the candidates’ writing respecting the current affairs—in the second and third rounds of test was indeed indispensable to the Imperial Civil Examination. Since the Jiangjing reign the imperial court paid greater attention to the second and third rounds of test and ordered the examiners to review the two tests separately. In practice,the examiners took very seriously the candidates’ ce and lun written in the second and third rounds of test. For this reason,the candidates spent much time preparing ce and lun.