明清科举小题论

On the Stereotyped Writing of Xiao Ti in the Imperial Examination in the Ming and Qing Dynasties

八股文可分为大题和小题,八股小题的出现是八股题体演变至一定阶段的产物。目前有关明代八股文发展分期有诸多讨论,但并不适用于小题文。小题发展与大题不尽相同,其特点也相对于大题而凸显。作为制度文体的产物,小题文起初承担应试的功能较弱,能够更为深广地参与到明清士人的日用实践当中,逐渐拓展出教化、游艺等功能,还探索出多种文法的书写空间。随着取士制度对其进一步规约,作为特殊题体形态的截搭小题应运而生。截搭小题强大的题型变化能力为科考注入新的活力,但它对题目的割裂有违经义取士的初衷。截搭小题的弊端引发士人厘正文体及科考制度改良的讨论,以此可见小题文体与文学制度相互作用下的文化生态。

The eight-part-essay in the imperial examination could be divided into Da Ti and Xiao Ti.The emergence of Xiao Ti was one of the results of the eight-part-essay evolution at a certain stage.There are many discussions about the development stages of the eight-part-essay in the Ming Dynasty,but they did not consider Xiao Ti,which needs to be studied carefully.The development and characteristics of Xiao Ti are distinctive compared with Da Ti.As a product of institutional style,it didn’t serve as a significant part of the national examination but was adopted more deeply and widely in the daily practice of scholars in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.In this process,Xiao Ti gained extra functions of education and entertainment and provided more space for different varieties of stylistics in writing.However,with further regulations of the system,JieDa Xiao Ti came into being as a new and special form.The diversified item types of JieDa Xiao Ti had injected new vitality into the imperial examination,but its separation from Xiao Ti was contradictory to the original intention of selecting scholars through righteousness.The malpractice in JieDa Xiao Ti led to the scholars’discussion on the style and the improvement of the imperial examination system,which shows the cultural ecology under the interaction between the style of Xiao Ti and the literary system.