However, the imperial examination system in the Tang Dynasty was also flawed.
On the one hand, although there were quotas for admission to the imperial examinations at that time, there were no restrictions on the registration and application for the examination. As a result, due to the infinite increase in applicants, the admission quota has to be gradually relaxed.
And the intellectuals in the whole country, in the end, there are many people who seek official positions, and there are few who win official positions, so they cannot be placed, and they can only expand the scope of their organization.
Three hundred years before and after the Tang Dynasty, due to the opening of the regime, more and more people took the examination, so there were foreign officials in the first class, there were alternate officials, the so-called scholars ten in the official, those who sought officials ten in the scholar, the scholar had no official, the official lacked Lu, and the officials disturbed people, which was a big disadvantage in the opening of the regime.
This malpractice still persists to this day.
Excerpted from the second lecture of Qian Mu's "Political Gains and Losses in China's Past Dynasties" "Tang Dynasty and Tang Dynasty Examination System".
As long as it is a system, it is impossible to be without faults.
Almost all systems in society are created to fill in the gaps. In layman's terms, the system is a patch of public power in society.
The pants are torn and a patch is put on to make the pants look like good. But a patch is a patch, and it can't be exactly the same as a good one. Even because it is damaged, it is more likely to cause new decay after continuous use.
We have talked enough about the supervision system and the electoral system, and it can be said that the occurrence and development of the entire electoral system is a process of continuous patching.
This process, from a positive point of view, is development and innovation, and from a negative point of view, it is to constantly check and fill in the gaps, and constantly make up for the seams.
If we have to sum up the gains and losses of the ancient imperial examination system, then, in my opinion, the biggest gain, first, is to correct the purely subjective criteria of the previous electoral system, and to quantify the objective criteria. Second, it has a strong guiding effect on the formation of a reading atmosphere in society. Third, it has opened a door to the bottom of society, which has contributed to the downward dissemination of knowledge and promoted the enthusiasm of the grassroots people to absorb knowledge, thereby enhancing the cultural quality of the entire nation.
For example, in the Han Dynasty and the subsequent Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the backbone of society was the family of the family, but not every large family had a private school. It's not that they can't afford it, or they can't afford to hire a gentleman, but they don't have such a consciousness and don't have such a need.
In addition to the establishment of Taixue, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also has government-run schools in counties and counties, as well as privately run schools and schools.
Of course, due to the small budget and the need for strict admission requirements, the county schools were small in size and had a small number of students. Also due to the turmoil, the inability to take care of education, the lack of funding and other reasons, these schools have risen and fallen.
After the Tang Dynasty, especially after the Song Dynasty, education flourished, and at the provincial and state levels, there were often large-scale middle-level schools, equivalent to today's middle schools. At the county level, there were several schools, equivalent to the current junior high school and elementary school.
There are also a series of reforms in government-run schools, and the funds for running schools are paid by the first and the private donations. **There are two parts provided, one is the support money, and the other is the support field. As for the donors, they tend to be those who are enthusiastic about the development of education.
In addition to government-run schools, private schools are also simple and blooming everywhere, often in one or two villages, there is a school. Almost every village has a few scholars in each generation, and some of them are still junior high school or above according to their current academic qualifications.
Without the imperial examinations, the popularization of education and culture would never have reached this level.
As for the malpractice, the biggest disadvantage, I think it is not what Mr. Qian said, but what I mentioned before, the setting of the subject in the imperial examination was basically reasonable at first. However, the relevant subjects have not designed a way out for the future, that is, the promotion path of the official career, so that some subjects have been abandoned without anyone applying for the examination.
If the goal of the imperial examination is to promote the popularization and development of education and culture, the number of subjects in the school should increase with the development of the times. But because the imperial examination is designed for examiners, officialdom does not need so many subject talents, but only **. Therefore, the subjects of the imperial examination are becoming more and more simple.
So much so that the whole country threw away vital science.
This is the biggest disadvantage of the imperial examination, and in addition, it is the disadvantage mentioned by Mr. Qian.
Mr. Qian said, "At that time, although there were quotas for the imperial examination, there was no restriction on the registration and application. As a result, due to the infinite increase in applicants, the admission quota has to be gradually relaxed. And the intellectuals in the whole country, in the end, there are many people who seek official positions, and there are few who win official positions, so they cannot be placed, and they can only expand the scope of their organization. ”
Again, this is a developing issue.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ran Taixue, and only set up 50 doctors, and they also needed to pass the graduation examination before they could enter the civil service. Selecting 50 people out of tens of millions of people in the country has already reached the top. At the end of two years of study, it is only a part of the fact that you can enter the ** and become a practical student. It can be seen that there are few employees.
There is naturally an objective reason for the small number of employees, and there were not many readers at that time. Generally, the children of large families of scholars always have a way to enter the official career, and they do not need to study too much. At the beginning of Taixue's establishment, even fifty people were not satisfied. Therefore, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had to adopt the method of dividing the tasks among the people.
In particular, after the abolition of the recommendation system, students can freely sign up for reference, there are more and more students, and it can even be said that since ancient Huashan Road, if a person wants to change his fate, there is only one way to go through the imperial examination, therefore, this road is crowded with people.
A system with few supporters or participants is a big problem. The number of advocates and participants is also a big problem. If there are many references and few admitters, this system will lose the significance of selecting talents.
Just like today's college entrance examination system. At the end of the 70s, when the college entrance examination was resumed, the acceptance rate was only a few percent, and the gold content of diplomas was very high. Even if it is a secondary school graduate, it is also an elite talent.
Today, the university has expanded its enrollment and the acceptance rate is very high. Students who work a little harder can get higher education, and secondary, they can get secondary education. As a result, the diploma has been greatly devalued, and as a result, the employment of college students has become a social problem.
Under the ancient imperial examination system, the problem that Mr. Qian Mu mentioned appeared, and the root was also a problem similar to employment.
There are so many social industries today, and in ancient times, there was only one employment direction, which shows the difficulty of ancient times.
Mr. Qian said, "Three hundred years before and after the Tang Dynasty, due to the opening of the political power, more and more people took the examination, so there were foreign officials and alternate officials in the first class. ”
The roots are here.
As for the corruption in the imperial examination, it has nothing to do with the imperial examination system or methods, but is the result of the corruption of the entire political system.