重文政策下的北宋科举变革

The Reform of the Imperial Examinations in the Northern Song Dynasty under Civilian Politics

宋初,唐以来的科举旧制已很难适应新的政治形势,因此,从太祖开始就着手改革科举制度。太宗朝,随着统一大业基本完成,崇文教、抑武事,建立以文人为主体的国家管理体系被提上议事日程。太宗基于文官政治的需要,不断增加科举取士人数,吸纳大批读书人经科举考试进入官僚机构,奠定了文官政治的基础。为选拔符合国家管理所需的经世之才,科举考试科目与内容的调整也逐步展开,仁宗朝说书举与明经科的创设,使唐以来重诗赋的选才理念开始向重经义的方向转变。熙宁四年,正式废罢诸科、明经科与诗赋、帖经、墨义,经义取士成为主流。徽宗朝,在王安石三舍法基础上创立三舍贡士法,将学校教育与科举取士结合起来,形成人才培养、选拔、任用一整套管理体系,这次尝试对明清科举影响深远。总之,北宋对唐以来科举旧制的改革,在根除武人专权、建立文官政治、加强中央集权统治方面有着积极的历史意义。

The selection of civil servants in the Northern Song Dynasty was mainly done through the Imperial Examinations(keju)system.In the early Song Dynasty,reforms of the Imperial Examinations that had been carried out since the Tang Dynasty could not adapt to the new political situations.New reforms mainly included three aspects as follows.The reforms started with Emperor Taizu,who established palace examinations and thus had talent selection controlled in his own hand.The examinees who passed palace examinations were regarded as the disciples of the emperor,the Son of Heaven,and that greatly aroused the enthusiasm of scholars.However,the number of admissions in the reign of Taizu had no significant change compared with that in the Five Dynasties because the national policy of emphasizing literati and restraining the military was still in the exploratory stage.In the reign of Emperor Taizong,upon the unification of the country,the establishment of a national government system with literati as the main body was put on the agenda.Based on the needs of civil politics,Emperor Taizong continuously expanded the number of admissions in the Imperial Examinations in order to supplement and update the bureaucratic team with new talents.As such,the proportion of officials selected through the Imperial Examinations was greatly increased in the bureaucratic system,which laid a solid foundation for promoting the formation of civil politics.In order to select talents for the government,the subjects and contents of the Imperial Examinations were gradually adjusted.In the reign of Emperor Renzong,the systems of shuoshuju(说书举)and mingjing ke(明经科)were set up,which changed the concept of talent selection from focusing on poetry and memorization in the Tang Dynasty to emphasizing interpretation of classics.In the fourth year of Xining,Wang Anshi reformed the Imperial Examinations system and officially abolished various subjects,mingjing ke and poetry and fu(赋),tie jing(帖经)and mo yi(墨义)and turned to the focus on classics interpretation(yi,义),exposition(lun,论),and policy response essays(ce,策).The selection of talents shifted from emphasis on literary skills to the candidates’practical ability.Literary talents selected through poetry and fu had little to do with national governance while classics interpretation,exposition,and policy response essays focused on governance in ancient and modern times and current politics.The classics exegesis required the examinees to quote from classics to deal with ideological and theoretical issues related to the people’s well-being,politics,economy,morality and self-cultivation and so forth.Creative answers were of positive significance for selecting talents who were proficient in Confucian Classics and practical abilities to participate in the country’s government.This was the fundamental reason for the reform of the Imperial Examinations which had been established and carried out since the Tang and Five Dynasties.In order to improve the overall quality of civil servants and their ability to govern the country as well as unify their thinking,the state began to attach importance to education and official schools were encouraged.During the reign of Emperor Huizong,based on Wang Anshi’s Three Hall System(sanshefa,三舍法),the reform of sanshe gongshi(三舍贡士)combined the selection of talents through the Imperial Examinations with school education.Local government schools at various levels were established to match with the contents of the Imperial Examinations.Thus,a set of management system of talent training,selection and appointment was formed to better serve civil politics.From the third year of Chongning to the third year of Xuanhe,the gongshi examination had been carried out twelve times nationwide.It was a beneficial attempt to combine the selection of talents through the Imperial Examinations in alliance with school education,which had a far-reaching impact on future generations.In the Ming Dynasty,the Imperial Examinations must be carried out through the school system.In short,the reform on the Imperial Examinations System in the Northern Song Dynasty has a positive historical significance in eradicating the dictatorship of the military officials,establishing civil politics and strengthening centralized rule.