The Intricate Imperial Examination System
A. Degree types offered
- Shengyuan: also called Xiucai , licentiate, administered at exams held in the county level each year.
- Anshou: a Shengyuan who ranked No.1. Gongsheng : senior licentiate.
- Juren: provincial graduate, administered at the provincial level every three years.
- Jieyuan: Juren who ranked No.1.
- Huiyuan: Juren who ranked No.1 in prequalification.
- Gongshi : Juren who passed prequalification.
- Jinshi: metropolitan graduate, administered in the capital every three years.
- Jinshi Jidi: Jinshi who were ranked first class in Jinshi examiniation.
- Zhuangyuan: Jinshi who ranked No.1, first class in Jinshi examination.
- Bangyan: Jinshi who ranked No.2 first class. Tanhua : Jinshi who ranked No.3 first class.
- Jinshi Chushen: Jinshi who were ranked second class in Jinshi examination.
- Tong Jinshi Chushen: Jinshi who were ranked third class in Jinshi examiniation.
B. The development of curriculum
By 115, a set curriculum had become established for the so-called First Generation of examination takers. They were tested on their profi- ciency in the “Six Arts”: Rites, Music, Archery, Charioteering, Calligra- phy, and Mathematics. Men who excelled in these six arts were thought to have reached the state of perfection, a perfect gentleman. Six Arts have their roots in the Confucian philosophy.
- Scholastic arts: music, arithmetic, writing, and knowledge of the rituals and ceremonies in both public and private life.
- Militaristic arts: archery and horsemanship.
The curriculum was then expanded to cover the “Five Studies”: mili- tary strategy, civil law, revenue and taxation, agriculture and geography, and the Confucian classics. In this form the examinations were institution- alized during the sixth century, in the Sui Dynasty. These examinations are regarded by most historians as the first standardized tests based on merit.
C. The examination
By 1370, the examinations lasted between 24 and 72 hours, and were conducted in spare, isolated examination rooms; sometimes, however, it was held within cubicles. The small rooms featured two boards which could be placed together to form a bed, or placed on different levels to serve as a desk and chair. In order to obtain objectivity in eval- uation, candidates were identified by number rather than name, and ex- amination answers were recopied by a third person before being evalu- ated to prevent the candidate’s handwriting from being recognized.
Academies of Classical Learning: A Haven for Ancient Scholars
Academies of Classical Learning (Shuyuan) were a type of school in ancient China. Unlike national academy and district schools, Shuyuan were usually private establishments built away from cities or towns, providing a quiet environment where scholars could engage in studies and contemplation without restrictions and worldly distractions.
The Shuyuan originated in 725 during the Tang dynasty. They were places where scholars could teach and study the classics, and where books collected from around the country could be preserved. By the late Tang Dynasty, private academies had appeared all over China.
During the Northern Song, many academies were established with government encouragement. Each academy had its own teaching and administrative structure and was economically independent.
The bestowal of a calligraphic signboard by the emperor was an ex- tremely important symbol of an academy’s status during the Northern Song period. The following academies had received this honor.
The best academies of ancient China varied from dynasty to dynasty. The following were generally regarded as “Four Great Academies in the Song Dynasty”:
- Songyang Academy in Dengfeng, Henan Province
- Yingtianfu Academy in Shangqiu, Henan Province
- Yuelu Academy in Changsha, Hunan Province
- White Deer Grotto Academy in Mount Lu, Jiangxi Province
Wu Daozi: The Sage in Chinese Painting
In Chinese history, three people are revered as sages: the calligrapher Wang Xizhi of the Western Jin Dynasty, the poet Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty and the painter Wu Daozi , also of the Tang Dynasty.
Wu’s most prolific period was during the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras (713-755) in the Tang Dynasty. Born in Yangzhai ,Wu lost both his parents at a young age and lived a hard life in his early years. He learned how to make a living from folk artists and sculptors. Because Wu studied hard and was talented in art, he earned himself a good reputation as a painter by the time he was 20 years old. Emperor Xuanzong invited Wu as an imperial painter in the court.
Wu’s character was unrestrained, direct and indifferent to trivial matters, and it is known he always drank while painting. It is also said that when Wu drew the halo around Buddha’s head in a mural, he only used his brushes without drafting the measurements first; when he painted at Longxing Temple, the temple was always packed with observers. Wu moved his brush quickly, and most of his works were accomplished in a single session.
Wu mainly created religious murals all his life and his abundant works had a wide range of subjects. According to records, Wu painted over 300 murals and more than 100 scrolls. While many of them involved Buddhism and Taoism, Wu also drew mountains, rivers, flowers and birds. The Presentation of Buddha is his most representative work. Unlike his predecessor Gu Kaizhi, originator of painting , whose line strokes were slender and forceful but lacked variety, Wu’s strokes were full of change and vigor, expressing the internal world of his subjects. Wu was always in great ferment when he was painting, and his works exhibit an expressionist style.
