The business of a scholar has never been just about reading. Sanseki Zenkichi once said, "Learning leads to power. No, it should be said that knowledge not only leads to power, but is power itself." Regardless of weddings and funerals, in the ceremony, "officials" are ranked first, "commoners" are second, and "commons" are ranked second. "People" are the last. "Common people" refers to ordinary scholars.
Wu Jingzi even borrowed Mr. Ma Er’s words to sarcastically say: “Even if Master is here today, he still has to read articles and do his work.”
It was the late Qing Dynasty, and a man wanted to Reading requires efforts to avoid risks in the womb.
First of all, he must not be "she".
Deng Siyu mentioned in "History of China's Examination System": "As well as the habit of favoring boys over girls, the examination system has its influence." Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, in the "women's lack of talent is virtue", Under the explicit or covert influence of "women are not allowed to participate in politics", ordinary women are not encouraged to show off their talents, nor are they allowed to participate in national political life, so they are easily excluded from the ranks of candidates. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was an exception. It advocated equality between men and women, abolished women's foot binding, established a women's examination, and selected a female number one scholar, Fu Shanxiang. But Nu Shi and Fu Shanxiang had already died for the "kingdom of heaven".
Fu Shanxiang in film and television dramas
Miss Lu in "The Scholars" fits the mold of "unfortunately born a daughter". Because Lu Bianxiu had no son, he regarded his daughter as his son. It happened that Miss Lu had "high qualifications and good memory", and her articles were "principal and full of flowers". "Beside the dressing table and in front of the embroidery bed, there are articles one after another, written in red and yellow every day, and carefully reviewed." Editor Lu often sighed: "If he were a son, dozens of Jinshi and Number One Scholars would be I got it!" But even such a strange woman could only pin her hopes for the imperial examination on her husband. Unexpectedly, on the night of her wedding, her husband revealed that he had no intention of starting a career. Miss Lu could only sigh, "Wouldn't it be a waste of my life!" The word "mistake" expresses endless desire. Since her husband couldn't do it, she had no choice but to pin her desire on her son, fearing that she wouldn't be able to teach him a champion to stand up for herself.
Secondly, he must not have a "low status".
“With the good and the lowly, the four people are good, slaves and prostitutes, excellent servants and soldiers are lowly.” When registering for the children’s examination, those with “lowly status” are not allowed to participate, that is, the so-called prostitutes, excellent, and People who are from ZA or Li are not allowed to apply. This is true even for slaves who have been redeemed. Unless they are freed for three generations, their descendants will be allowed to take exams and become officials with common people. Similarly, it is not allowed to be similar to Danhu.
The egg households here are not merchants selling eggs. The egg households are also called Danmin. They are floating residents who mainly live in the coastal areas of Guangdong and Fujian. They wander all their lives and make boats their home.
Finally, one should not be born into a poor family.
Gu Mingtang pointed out in his "The Scholars and the Life of Jiangnan Gentry": "The second chapter of "The Scholars" describes that at the Xue family gathering, the villagers discussed how to hire a husband for their children. We are enlightened. The annual hall fee is twelve taels of silver, and two cents of silver per day are deducted for meals. The higher the reputation of the gentleman invited, the higher the fee. The hall fee for Gongsheng students will be five or sixty taels (per year). 6 to 7 times that of a scholar in white.
Candidates also need to pay a certain amount of money to take the exam. There are three items of money that must be prepared: asking a Lin student to vouch for his origin and character, called Lin Bao, requires Xie Yin. ; Test paper fee; after passing the exam, you need to pay fees to the instructor and the students who vouched for the exam. "Although the imperial examination system is theoretically for scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, and all people are equal, in fact, it is not only knowledge, but ordinary people. "What else do you want to do to get ahead in the exam? I just recite a few poems to break the rules."
Well, after hard planning, the protagonist finally came from a more prosperous family, and at least he was "handsome" . "Junxiu" is a kind of good name for civilians, of course it is just a "good name". He could finally gear up and prepare for the exam.
Beginners can first learn simple characters with fewer strokes, such as "Shangdaren, Kong Yiji, Hua Sanqian, Seventy Scholars, Er Xiaosheng, Bajiuzi, Jiazuoren, Kezhiliye." Then It is what we are familiar with: "the sky and the earth are dark and yellow, the universe is vast, the sun and the moon are waxing and waning, and the stars and constellations are arranged." Then gradually transitions to "learn and practice from time to time, isn't it? Isn't it a joy to have friends from far away?" Aren't you a gentleman if you don't know something but don't get stunned?"
The Four Books and Five Classics, not counting repeated parts, have more than 430,000 words. Only those who can memorize them backwards can win.
Of course, there are also so-called question-predictors. According to insiders, various bookstores in the market are involved in question-prediction collections such as "Three Years of Simulation of the Five-Year Imperial Examination" and "The Last Six Sets of Children's Examination Papers", which are sold secretly. However, it is not known whether the "universal formula" type of solution is effective.
In his "Chinese Gentlemen: A Study on Their Role in Chinese Society in the Nineteenth Century", Zhang Zhongli quoted the "Autobiography of Sikkim Travelers" to introduce Gu Zugao, "Zugao was five years old...literate and reading. It's the beginning of the year. At the age of six, he studied the Analects. At the age of seven, he was taught the Book of Songs. At the age of nine, he was taught the Book of Changes and Spring and Autumn Period. At the age of eleven, he was taught ancient Chinese. Guanzhi. At the age of twelve...taught poetry, ancient prose, Ci, and Mingwen, and learned to write prose poems. At the age of thirteen...taught small topics, Zhenghe, and learned to write eight-legged Chinese characters. After making progress, he took the boy's examination at the age of fifteen. In the modern era where "happy education" is emphasized, never would we have thought that children of the same age in the Qing Dynasty were studying hard in Japan, and they were children from well-off families.
So, if our protagonist has reached this level, he cannot stop there. "Since the imperial examination, people have expected quick results." The most important positions in the world, such as Hanlin and Yushi, all attach great importance to small regular script. Scholars have fallen in love with it, so those who can obtain it rely on calligraphy. This daily lesson alone will take many years of effort.
When the protagonist stands up straight, transforms into Kong Ming, and sighs that "everything is ready, all we need is the east wind", we must not forget to confirm whether we are in mourning period. That is, after the death of my parents or grandparents, I have to mourn for one to three years. Of course, most people won't be careless here. They are afraid that our protagonist is an "ordinary person", which would be bad. China is famous for governing the world with filial piety. If you can be filial at home, you can be loyal to the country. An unfilial person can easily make people doubt whether he can be loyal to the country. Once his virtue is compromised, he can only load the archive and start over.
Evaluation
Everything is ready, you can apply to participate in the children's examination. The Children's Examination is essentially an entrance examination for schools in various prefectures and counties. It can be regarded as the national elementary entrance qualification examination in the Qing Dynasty. It is held twice every three years and is divided into three stages: county examination, government examination and hospital examination.
The first county examination for children is usually held in February, and the date will be announced in January. Candidates must remember to register on time at the county government office, fill in their name, age, place of origin, and resumes of their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, and take the certificates of five people who took the exam together and a local student in the county to ensure that they are not impersonating or hiding. , substitution, false name, clean family, non-prostitute, excellent, noble, official, servant, and descendant. At this time, Linsheng is indeed happy to be a guarantor, and some even make a living out of it. Not only can they support their descendants, form a good relationship, but they can also stand and make money, so why not do it.
Please note that here, the beard is the most deadly.
Why is it important to have a beard? Because in addition to appearance, beard is also a characteristic that distinguishes age. The Qing people ignored the crown ceremony. The "Jingning County Chronicle" during the Qianlong period mentioned the crown ceremony, "It was implemented in the Ming Dynasty, but it has been abandoned for a long time now." After all, adults are required to have their hair tied and crowned when performing rituals. The Qing court's national etiquette system basically ignored the crowning ceremony. However, the people still follow the Ming system, "all men between the ages of fifteen and twenty can be crowned." There is a big difference between those who have not been crowned and those who have been crowned. If an old boy who has been crowned comes to register while he is still alive, he will without exception be made difficult by the examiner. Miyazaki Shisada mentioned in his book "Imperial Examination" that there will be a difference between unqualified and passed examination questions. Unqualified exams are easier, while passed exams are slightly more difficult. After all, the vitality of young people cannot be compared with that of old people, and their future achievements cannot be underestimated. Therefore, there are also old boys who have shaved off their beards with a knife and pretended to be teenagers, pretending to be in their teens or 20s, trying to hide the truth and try to beat the human machine with a trumpet and break through the "novice difficulty".
Simulated examination room
On the day of the examination, please remember to get up early. The first cannon shot at three or four o'clock is to urge the candidates not to miss the time. Before entering the examination room, don’t forget to check the equipment. Don’t leave behind the inkstone that has been illuminated by Wenquxing, or the writing brush with the words “Pray for Confucius Temple” printed on it. The ink must also be good, although it is not as good as the pencil color of the modern computer-based examination. Requirements, but at least it must be eye-catching. Some performances also require "Poetry Rhythm". Let’s not forget the guy who’s eating.
After three cannons were fired, the left and right doors of the "examination booth" were opened, allowing candidates to enter.
Stepping into the examination room does not mean safety, but may be more dangerous. The protagonist of "Newborn Calf" must be extra careful.
It is recorded in "The First Edition of My Learning Records" that "Those who are disqualified, violate the rules, and are not familiar with the forbidden rules in the examination paper will be treated with the words "Lisheng", "jiaotan", "ancestral temple", "emperor" and "sage". Practical, if the writing is not correct, or if the writing is inconsistent, or if the writing is redundant, or if the name of the temple, the name of the emperor, or the taboo of the ancestor Confucius is not avoided, the whole article will be punished with a suspension of three sections. Anyone who omits the title and rewrites it, adds the number of corrections, or makes any suspicious corrections will be suspended for two subjects."
When it comes to Tianjia's face, the consequences may not be as simple as the above. .
Photographed in Guangxi Gongyuan
Suppose the protagonist is very cautious and crawls to avoid the system traps, but he also needs to avoid unreliable examiners.
The questions for the eight-part essay must come from the Four Books and the Five Classics. All the questions that can be written in more than 400 years have been used. The Qing government also explicitly stipulated that "familiar and often formulated questions" are prohibited. It is conceivable that the examiners made up so-called "intersection questions", "top and bottom questions", "top and bottom questions", and "embarrassing questions", most of which were separated from the original book and made unclear. For example, there is a passage in "The Doctrine of the Mean" that "Today's Fu Mountain has as many rocks as a roll, and it is so vast that it is covered with grass and trees." During the Jiaqing period, Bao Guixing, an academician in Henan Province, used "and its vast grass" as the title. You can also use the circle on "Zi Yue" in books such as "The Analects of Confucius" to formulate questions, or use "Ye has done" to formulate questions. The overlapping of three particles only appears once in "The Analects of Confucius".
Seeing this, the protagonist broke into a cold sweat and muttered, "The entrance exam is so difficult. I wonder what the passing rate is?"