The relationship between the imperial examinations and literature in the Tang Dynasty has always been an important issue in the field of literary research. Wu Zongguo's "Research on the Imperial Examination System of the Tang Dynasty" and Meng Erdong's "Supplement and Correction of the Imperial College Entrance Examination" are basic research focusing on institutional research and literature review. Cheng Qianfan's "Jinshi Jingjuan and Literature in the Tang Dynasty", Fu Xuancong's "Imperial Examinations and Literature in the Tang Dynasty", etc., examine the social customs and literati mentality related to the imperial examinations to evaluate their impact on literature, and are more inclined to a macro perspective. , the traditional thinking based on value judgment. Chen Fei's "Examination of Experimental Policy in the Tang Dynasty" focused on the experimental policy in a more direct way, which was the target of increasingly in-depth and detailed thematic research since then. Poems, poems, essays, etc. related to examinations are not only a special form of literature, but also an important part of the imperial examination system, and have naturally become a hot research topic in recent years. However, new problems will arise. First of all, there is the examination of the system. How should it be carried out around literature to avoid the situation of separate things? Secondly, there are "few excellent works" of examination-oriented literature, and they are different from traditional literature and each has its own particularity. How should we evaluate it? Finally, how to combine examination-oriented literature with mainstream literature to give it full research significance. As far as examination poems are concerned, Xu Xiaofeng's "Research on Imperial Examinations and Examination Poems in the Tang Dynasty" solves the above problems very well. Its ideas and methods are also easy to promote, and it can be said to be an ideal model for integrating imperial examinations and literary research at this stage.
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In the Tang Dynasty, rhymed poetry was the most popular among its generation, and it was called "Tang Lv". The imperial court followed the Sui system and developed it, establishing the system of "selecting scholars based on poetry" to select talents and evaluate officials. The exam-oriented poems used five-character rhymed poems (with oblique rhymes), which were called "trial rhymed poems". They were the most direct and important medium between the imperial examinations and poetry in the Tang Dynasty.
Most people from the Tang and Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty directly regarded "recruiting scholars by poetry" as an important factor in the prosperity of Tang Dynasty. For example, Yan Yu's "Canglang Poetry Talk" believes: "You may ask: 'Why did Tang poetry surpass our dynasty?' The Tang Dynasty relied on poetry to recruit scholars, so there were many specialized studies, and the poetry of our dynasty was not as good as that." Despite this, Song people responded to the test The evaluation of the poem itself is not very high. For example, Li Qi said that "there are good lines from time to time", and Ge Lifang said that "the provincial poems are unique in their own way". The imperial examination declined in the Yuan Dynasty, and by the Ming Dynasty, some people often questioned the idea that Tang law was based on "selecting scholars based on poetry." As Hu Hui Houyun said: "The rise and fall of poetry depends on a person's talent and learning, not on his superiors. The Han Dynasty selected scholars by shooting strategies, but Su Li's poems and Ban Ma's poems came out. Isn't this tied to Qu Yuan's "Sao" has won the glory of the sun and the moon. How can Chu use it to win people? What's more, the five-character and eight-rhyme rhythm adopted by the Tang Dynasty is not the best in modern poetry. Poetry." Wang Shizhen's "Yi Yuan Yan" also says: "People say that poetry in the Tang Dynasty attracts scholars, so poetry is unique, but it is not the case. There are few and good poems in the province, such as Qian Qi's poems in "Xiang Ling". There cannot be one in a million; the system of Li Gong's "Nishang" cannot be one." This mainly negative attitude can be regarded as a disguised defense of the "eight-legged" approach of this dynasty. In view of the shortcomings of stereotyped writing, the Qing Dynasty gradually restored the old system of "selecting scholars based on poetry" in addition to stereotyped writing starting from the Kangxi period. This also led to the practice of annotating Tang Dynasty examination poems at that time.
It can be seen that the ancients' evaluation of the corresponding test poems and "recruiting scholars with poems" generally ranged from affirmation to denial, and then back to affirmation. In the early days of the academic world, the value judgments of "promotion" and "promotion" were still dominant. The former were represented by Yu Guanying and Wang Shuizhao, and the latter was represented by Guo Shaoyu. Later, from the perspective of the examination system, Huangfu Xuan, Ma Jigao and others proposed that "selecting scholars by poetry" was later than the climax of poetry in the early and prosperous Tang Dynasty, which inverted the relationship between imperial examinations and literature, which meant: "selecting scholars by poetry" "Recruiting scholars" has a limited impact on the prosperity of poetry, but the prosperity of poetry has effectively promoted the system of "recruiting scholars with poetry". At this point, the status of exam-oriented poems has become increasingly insignificant as the "recruiting scholars with poems" reverses the cause and effect. In recent years, many of the research works that may focus on the text of examination-oriented poems cannot escape the "promoting retreat" and even fall into the embarrassing situation of self-denial. This is the current status of previous research related to it in the academic community.
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Xu Xiaofeng's book "Research on Imperial Examinations and Examination Poems in the Tang Dynasty" (published by Peking University Press) mainly covers two aspects: "imperial examination" and "literature". From the perspective of institutional research, the author always takes "poetry" as the core and discusses its proportion and role.
Take the establishment of "selecting scholars based on poetry" in the Jinshi Department as an example, which is mainly divided into three specific topics that are in-depth in depth. First, it is to demonstrate that "the essay test is not the same as the poetry test." Previously, academic circles mostly concluded that the essay examination was equivalent to the poetry and prose examination based on the words "examination of essays" and "knowledge of literary rhythm" in the literature, mistaking "wen rhythm" for "sound rhythm". However, the author starts from the evolution of the Tang people's concept of essays and points out that "essays" in the early Tang Dynasty have both the concepts of "wen" and "pen"; he identifies that "the law of literature" at that time should not be limited to the "rhythm of poems and poems", but should be the "rule of writing style". "Laws", and believed that "the reason for the previous mistakes was that the interpretation of essays and literary rules was too narrow." Since "essays" are not the same as "poetry", this means that exam-oriented poems are not naturally included in the category of essays. In other words, the initial proportion of poetry in the examination was actually either present or absent.
The second is to demonstrate that "essays are increasingly dominated by poetry". If the discussion in the previous paragraph is mainly based on literary analysis, and although it is rich and rich, it is inevitable to be "one family's opinion", then this part is mainly based on detailed historical materials, explaining from multiple angles how poetry and prose include notes, tables, discussions, Among the ten literary styles, including treatises, inscriptions, odes, proverbs and slogans, this one stands out.
This not only confirms what was said before, but also outlines the process in which the proportion of poetry steadily increased in the essay examination, so that it roughly established its dominant position during the Kaiyuan and Tianbao periods.
The third is to demonstrate "the establishment of three new examinations, headed by the essay examination." In the early days, the imperial court valued Confucianism, starting with writing scriptures. Later, it tried essays and policy questions, and was deposed step by step. Those who fail to pass the scriptures will not be allowed to try poems, poems, and policy questions. However, "Jinshi Yi Tie Jing was a great calamity." In other words, Confucianism and literary talent cannot be combined, so the imperial court used "poetry to redeem the calligraphy" in an unusual way, which shows that the status of the calligraphy has declined, and the prevailing trend is to "emphasis on literature over Confucianism, and on talents and poetry." In the Dali Dynasty, "redeeming posts with poems" developed into "replacing posts with poems", which shows that the role of "testing poems" has developed from "redemption" after the dethronement to "replacement" of not testing scriptures before the examination. This also means that copying scriptures is no longer a necessary part of scientific examination, and the proportion and role of poetry have been unprecedentedly strengthened. Therefore, after the mid-Tang Dynasty, the "Miscellaneous Wen Examination" became the first evolution to replace Tie Jing. The logic behind it should be attributed to the rise of the Za Wen Examination.
In short, examination-oriented poems defeated many literary styles and became the mainstream of the essay examination; the essay examination emerged from the three examinations and became an important criterion for selecting scholars. This is the author's "selecting scholars with poetry" The whole picture of the system. At the same time, the author also noticed the trade-off and struggle between essays and policy essays in the admission criteria for Jinshi subjects. Specifically, during the Zhenyuan and Yuanhe periods, the dynasty was revived, emphasizing the application of enlightenment and pragmatism, and the prevailing trend favored Confucianism and pragmatism and opposed glitz. Therefore, the imperial examination began to use essays as the main admission criterion. As the political situation declined, the status of policy articles declined, and essays were able to compete with them.
The imperial examination system is divided into regular examinations and institutional examinations. The former is implemented all year round, while the latter is implemented by temporary imperial edicts. There is a difference between selecting talents and assessing officials. The former is mainly for Jinshi subjects, while the latter is for civil servants. Quanxuan. This book considers both and makes some choices, all of which are determined by the examination of the system of "selecting scholars based on poetry". For example, this book demonstrates that "Baipianke" and "Wanyanke" are mainly based on poetry assessment and are intended to select literary talents. Although it was a system of examinations, it had a tendency to become a regular examination after the mid-Tang Dynasty, which can well illustrate the importance of poetry as a step into becoming a scribe. In addition, from a hierarchical perspective, there are differences between central and local imperial examinations. Previous studies focused on the central government and were vague when it came to local systems. Fortunately, the author of this book has not been partial. The special study on "Re-collection and Removal of Rural Tributes" best demonstrates his pioneering contribution.
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From the perspective of literary research, this book is based on exam-oriented poetry, but it always has the conscious awareness of referring to Tang rules, so it can smoothly integrate into the history of mainstream poetry.
First of all, this book examines the institutional characteristics of examination poetry in the Tang Dynasty, such as limited topics and limited rhymes, but it is not limited to this. Taking limited rhyme as an example, the author points out that the "experimental poems" in the Tang Dynasty can use either flat or oblique rhyme, but there may be a tendency to avoid oblique rhyme; while in the Song Dynasty, flat rhyme must be used. This illustrates the differences and connections between the tonal rules of the Tang and Song Dynasties from the perspective of official examinations. In addition, the author's investigation of stylistic changes can be traced back to the formalization of rhythmic poetry in the early Tang Dynasty and the tradition of imperial poetry. It outlines the rise and prosperity of rhythmic poetry in the Tang Dynasty, and then it was included in the examination category. Finally, "the essay examination gradually focused on poetry and prose." the complete process.
Secondly, this book discusses the creation mode of exam-oriented poems, but it can break away from the debate between "few good works" and "sometimes good poems". It just treats exam-oriented poems as objects and combines them with Let’s talk about Tang Lv’s creative experience. Specifically, the beginning, succession, transition, and three-paragraph structure of the trial poems are derived from the daily experience of the Tang Dynasty rhymes; the techniques of the trial poems, the compromise of events, emotions, etc., can be combined with the application tendency of the mid-late Tang Dynasty rhyme poems. In addition, test poems originally embodied the official ideal of poetic beauty and had the natural attribute of "elegant poetry". Its development has evolved from the original elegance and integrity of "gentle and honest, neither resentful nor angry", to the incorporation of cold, thin, and gorgeous styles, to the imperial edict's attempt to "reshape literary style to correct decadent customs". It also well reflects the overall trend that the test poems are relatively independent, but also influence and complement each other with the Tang Dynasty rules.
Finally, and the most valuable thing is that we can start from the imperial edict during the Kaicheng period regarding "poems should be based on the Qiliang constitution" in order to lead to the trend of poetic rhythm innovation in the middle and late Tang Dynasty of "taking retrospect as new changes" . The Qi-Liang style of poetry, known as "Qi-Liang style", valued beauty and elegance, and was naturally rejected by the court's elegance. Emperor Wenzong ordered that the poems be tested "according to Qi Liang's constitution", which was obviously due to the consideration of restoring the rhythm of music. The development of modern rhythmic poetry began in Qi and Liang Dynasties and was established in the early Tang Dynasty. In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, it became increasingly sophisticated and sometimes restricted. The imperial court advocated "Qi Liang Physique", which naturally focused on the rhythm, with the intention of using "ancient tune" to save the shortcomings of the "new rhythm". The author starts from this point and focuses on Jiao Ran's rhythm theory and rhythmic poetry creation to illustrate the anxiety and constant attempts of the poets in the middle and late Tang Dynasty to seek breakthroughs after the rhythmic poetry was finalized. Therefore, "poetry conforms to the rhythm of the beams" is not a simple retrospect of the rhythm of the beams, but represents a new trend in the rhythm of "using the rhythm without stagnation" and "being deeper than the sound pairing".
In short, as an important part of the imperial examination system, examination poems are also a special text that constitutes the rhymed poetry of the Tang Dynasty. With this insight, the author is no longer limited to the traditional thinking of how imperial examinations influence literature from the outside, but tries to combine examination-oriented poetry with daily poetry creation, treating them as independent but mutually influencing poetry forms. Such ideas and research methods should be an inspiration to those who come after us.