The process of ancient imperial examinations in China was quite complicated. After obtaining scholar status, students must pass the examinations in their counties and regions before they are eligible to take the provincial examinations. A scholar who has passed the provincial examination is called a juror, and only after obtaining a juror can he be qualified to take the triennial examination organized by the imperial court. The exam will be held in Beijing and organized by the Ministry of Ritual. The student who passed the exam is called Gong. Gong Shi can also be regarded as a quasi-Jinshi, and Gong Shi can obtain the status of Jinshi as long as he takes the court examination personally examined by the emperor. The palace examination is mainly the ranking of these palace examinations by the emperor, which will eventually produce three levels of Jinshi, including three Jinshi, which are usually called the champion, the second place and the flower detective; A number of second-class Jinshi, given Jinshi origin; The top three scholars have the largest number and give them the same background. As you can imagine, in ancient times, it was very difficult for a student to get into the top spot.
In the 30th year of Guangxu (1904), Liu Chunlin was the top scholar in the examination, and palace examination was the first. Since then, the Qing government has never held any imperial examinations, so Liu Chunlin was the last scholar in the history of China. Liu Chunlin was a native of Zhili in the late Qing Dynasty, and his family was poor. Liu Chunlin is very clever and has studied hard since he was a child. At the age of 32, he won the highest award. In the second year, Liu Chunlin was sent by the Qing government to study in Japan. During the Republic of China, Liu Chunlin was employed by Yuan Shikai and others and held some positions in the government. Later, Liu Chunlin witnessed the corruption and infighting of warlords in the Republic of China and decided to resign and retire.
Liu Chunlin is not only a good scholar, but also a famous calligrapher and painter in modern China. Lin Chunlin's calligraphy attainments are very high, and he is good at official script, regular script, running script and other fonts, especially regular script. Liu Chunlin's answer sheet for the court exam was preserved. From the picture, Liu Chunlin's answer sheet was written in pavilion calligraphy, which was the imperial examination font stipulated by Ming and Qing Dynasties. As can be seen from this answer sheet, Liu Chunlin's regular script font is round, even, graceful and dignified, and has a great master style, which is really not comparable to ordinary people. No wonder many people feel ashamed after reading Liu Chunlin's imperial examination papers.
Liu Chunlin was admitted as the first, but it was also accidental. At first, the marking officer initially identified Zhu Ruzhen, a Cantonese, as the top scholar, but when Empress Dowager Cixi saw the name Zhu Ruzhen, she didn't like it very much, but felt a little disgusted. Finally, Liu Chunlin, the second candidate, was named the first by Empress Dowager Cixi. It is said that Empress Dowager Cixi likes the name Liu Chunlin very much. She thinks this name is auspicious and can bring a timely rain to the frustrated Qing court.