“策问”与科举体制下对“西学”的接引－以《中外策问大观》为中心

Policy Questions (Cewen) and the Reception of "Western Learning" in the Imperial Examination System-A Study Based on the Full Collection of Domestic and Overseas Policy Questions

「策问」在晚清科举改革中成为关注焦点，自有其深意在，实际与对「西学」的接引联系在一起，并映射出世风之丕变，及思想学术的转型。因为改制後的科举，明确规定乡会试之二场「试各国政治艺学策五道」，围绕「各国政治艺学」所出「问策」，即体现了晚清各级官员思考世界事务的枢机所在，而参加科考的数十万士子在「问策」导向下所作「应策」，更呈现出知识阶层一般的思想状况。本文即主要围绕《中外策问大观》及其他相关资料，检讨在科举体制下对「西学」的接引情况。显然，改试「策论」除为「西学」大开方便之门，也摧毁着中国传统的知识架构。科举历经改革，不是什麽新问题，然「策问」地位之不断提升，皆是为着纠正科举考试之种种弊端。而废除「八股」；改试「策论」一经落实，对於学术之转向影响深远。换言之，「策问」资料於晚清「西学」不仅是重要的「呈现物」，在知识的传播及知识的「再生产」上，也另有一功。略为梳理「策问」与科举改革之关联，以及「策问」对接引西学知识所具有的媒介作用，对「策问」在晚清的特殊性或可有初步了解。

The significance of the addition of policy questions (cewen) in the reform of the imperial examination system in the late Qing lay in their relationship to the reception of Western Learning. Policy questions reflected both social change and the transformation of scholarship. The reformed examinations required the ”Five Questions on Politics and Industry of Various Countries” for both provincial and national exams. Wence (policy questions) on politics and industry of various countries provides a key to understanding how officials at all levels during the late Qing perceived the world, and yingce (the answers) written by hundreds of thousands of candidates who took the examinations reflected the general intellectual perspectives of the day. This article examines the reception of Western Learning in the examinations, based on Zhongwai Cewen Daguan (Full Collection of Domestic and Overseas Policy Questions) and other materials. It is clear that the adoption of policy questions in the exams paved the way for Western Learning and also helped to destroy the traditional knowledge structure of China. Reforming the examination system to rectify its problems was nothing new. The substitution of bagu (eight-legged essay) with celun, however, had a profound impact on academic studies. In other words, materials about cewen are not only representation of the Western Learning of the late Qing, but also contributed to the spread and ”reproduction” of knowledge. Studying cewen's relationship to the reform of the examination system and its role as a medium of Western Learning contributes to a new understanding of the special position of cewen in the late Qing.