Zhuang Yuan, the first author of the paper.
In ancient times, the imperial examination system was an important system for the feudal ruling class to select officials. Today, the author introduces the story of the ancient champion. In ancient times, the champion was the first in the national imperial examination. At that time, only the champion could be called the champion, which increased the difficulty of the exam. I believe many people have heard the saying, "At the age of 30, you have Amin Sutra, and at the age of 50, you have scholar spirit." At the age of 30, I was admitted to the Ming Classics Department, which is a very old age. But if you are admitted to the Jinshi at the age of 50, it means that you are excellent and can be regarded as a "young man".
It was the highest-ranking examination in the ancient imperial examination system and was held by the emperor. This system first appeared in the Qing Dynasty and finally settled in Song Taizu. Late in Tian Shelang, Going to the Palace tells the story of the sudden change in the identity of candidates before and after the ancient imperial examination, which was the dream of all candidates at that time.
So how powerful are the ancient champions? As mentioned earlier, the imperial examination is particularly important for the champion, and the biggest factor here is the champion's calligraphy. Imagine, when all the answers are sent to the emperor, can your beautiful calligraphy make the emperor sit up and take notice? Just like today's college entrance examination paper. If you write neatly, you will get more marks.
Zhuang Yuan, the first author of the paper.
For example, the emperor invited Zhao Hui, the general of Dingyuan, to participate in marking papers, but Zhao Hui declined politely, saying that there was not much ink in his stomach. As a result, Emperor Qianlong said it doesn't matter, just look at the paper. After Zhao Hui's participation, according to his intuitive view, people with excellent calligraphy can get his "circle". Therefore, later generations called it "learning from scholars and books, opening a prosperous time."
Maybe you don't have an intuitive impression of Gu No.1' s calligraphy. Here, the author will introduce you to the current number one answer sheet, so that you can feel the power of the number one calligraphy. At present, the only number one answer sheet in China is Zhao's Tang Hui paper, which was discovered in Qingzhou, Shandong Province in the 1980s.
This number one answer sheet is written on rice paper. This paper is a 19 folded picture book, with a height of 47.6 cm, a width of 14. 1 cm, a head of 8.6 cm, a foot of 3.3 cm and a middle height of 35.7 cm. The whole volume is divided into three parts, among which the middle part is the most striking. Zhao wrote in pavilion-style small letters, read with a broken pencil, and circled with a red pen at the end of the sentence, which is a typical eight-part essay.
1983, in Zhengmu Village, Qingzhou City, Zhao's hometown, he stumbled upon the examination paper of the champion. After more than 20 visits by local experts, the old teacher Zhao Huanbin and 13 generation Zhao donated the examination papers to the country, and the existing Qingzhou Museum is the treasure of the town museum.