广东贡院始建时间及修建考辨

The Construction of Guangdong Examination Hall:When and How

学界对广东贡院始建时间颇有争议,有宋代说、南宋绍兴二十七年(1157)说、南宋淳祐年间说、南宋淳祐七年(1247)说、南宋淳祐十年说、明宣德元年(1426)说、清康熙二十三年(1684)说等7种不同说法。现存最早的大德《南海志》记载广东贡院始建于南宋绍兴二十七年,明清时期万历《广东通志》、清康熙《广州府志》等方志在纂修过程中对大德《南海志》中广东贡院记述多有删减或误载,这是造成广东贡院众说纷纭的主要原因。广东贡院未建或废圮之时,广东乡试常寓于佛庐,无固定之所。现在所言广东贡院多指清代所建贡院,忽视了广东贡院在南宋有6次、明代有7次的兴建、扩建、修葺等过程。

The academic circle has quite different opinions on when the Guangdong Examination Hall was constructed. They hold seven competing theories on its construction time: the Song Dynasty theory,the Chunyou period of Southern Song Dynasty theory,the seventh year( 1247) of the Chunyou period of Southern Song Dynasty theory,the tenth year of the Chunyou period theory,the first year( 1426) of the Xuande period of Ming Dynasty theory,the twenty-third year( 1684) of the Kangxi period theory,and the twenty-seventh year( 1157) of the Shaoxing period of Southern Song Dynasty. The existing earliest South Sea Records, compiled in the Dade period( 1297-1307), recorded that the Guangdong Examination Hall was first built in the 27 th year of the Shaoxing period of Southern Song Dynasty. Local records such as the Wanli period Guangdong General Records,and the Kangxi period Guangzhong Prefecture Records in Ming and Qing dynasties made many deletions and wrong recordings concerning the Guangdong Examination Hall in the Dade period South Sea Records during their compilation process,causing so many conflicting theories. Before the Guangdong Examination Hall was built and when it was left in ruins,Guangdong provincial examinations were often conducted in Buddhist temples and had no fixed venue. The Guangdong Examination Hall we speak of now mainly refers to the one built in Qing Dynasty. This blurs the fact that there were six rounds of construction,enlargement,or repair activities in Southern Song Dynasty and seven rounds in Ming Dynasty.