In ancient times, do you know how difficult it is to get a scholarship?

We visit some of the ancient houses, often see some of the larger old building halls hanging in front of the door of the "scholar's record", "scout's record", "two, one" plaque, sometimes even "one, one", at this time most people have a feeling of reverence in their hearts, or to marvel at the master's profound knowledge, or to praise the master's knowledge. Plaque, and sometimes even "No. 1, No. 1", at this time most people have a feeling of reverence in their hearts, or marvel at the master's profound knowledge, or marvel at his family's feng shui is very good, Yang's house. Just like us now, if a top student of the college entrance examination got into Tsinghua or Peking University, he would give us a thumbs up. Currently, colleges and universities are recruiting college entrance exam candidates from all over the world. Today we will talk about which is better to get into Tsinghua or Peking University. Here's an analysis of how hard it is to get an entrance exam in ancient times.

1. How did the state recruit people before the imperial examination system was created?

Before China's unified feudal king, the Qin Dynasty, which we call Pre-Qin, it mainly used the Shiqing Shilu and feudal princes, ministers and literati. In other words, officials were basically children of those noble families, and it was almost impossible for children of commoner families to become officials through normal channels. Later on, in order to make more soldiers kill the enemy bravely, the system of military titles was introduced. So the only way for ancient commoners to rise to power was presumably to go to the battlefield and make meritorious achievements. By the end of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, some guests and diners began to appear gradually. In short, before pre-Qin, it was almost impossible for a commoner's son to become an official.

In the Han Dynasty. The way to promote civilian talent was to use the inspection system and the levy system, where local officials at all levels recommended people of both virtue and talent. Those selected by local states were called jinshi, and those selected by counties were called xiaozi. In the Wei and Jin dynasties, the clan system monopolized the channels of appointing officials, and being an official became the exclusive right of the aristocracy.

Secondly, the imperial examination system opened the way for commoners to rise.

The ancient imperial examination system began in the Sui Dynasty and was perfected in the Tang Dynasty. Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty also invented the civil examination. Only the civil examination is discussed here today. By the Ming Dynasty, the imperial examination had formed a truly complete system, divided into four levels, namely the imperial examination system, the township examination, the congress examination and the palace examination. The content of the examination was basically the Confucian classics, with the Four Books as the theme, and the format of the essays was prescribed as eight-legged essays. Interpretation must be based on Zhu's Four Books.

Third, the middle school is just as difficult as the graduate school.

In the ancient imperial examination system, there was no such thing as "graduation" for us nowadays. Even if a person got a reputation, he was still a child if he didn't get into the exam. In ancient times, there was no age limit for a scholar to take off the hat of a child during the examination. Taking a middle scholar could be considered an entry exam. If you can't even take an intermediate scholar, then intermediate scholars and showmen can only be imagined. That's why there were a lot of people with examination baskets who brought their grandchildren into the examination center in those days. In fact, the difficulty of getting a Xiu Cai was no less than that of a graduate student nowadays, because it was not an easy thing to get a Xiu Cai. If you want to get a Xiu Cai, you have to go through three levels. Once in the county, once in the government, and the last time in the provincial governor. Only those who passed the first and second levels of these three rigorous exams could be awarded the title of Xiu Cai. Each Government College examination is conducted twice every three years, and 45 people are admitted each time, with an average of about 30 admissions each year. If this quota is further broken down, it means that there are basically only five scholars in each county who excel in the secondary school exams, which is equivalent to the top five in the county high school exams. In other words, out of so many high school students in the county, only the super scholars can take a Xiu Cai. Do you think it's hard to get a scholar? So what do you need to have to become a scholar?

First of all, your family should have spare food.

You have to be a relatively wealthy family. Let's put aside the cost of tuition, books, and so on, from the private school education to the Xiu Cai exam. The cost of your textbooks, "Analects", "Mencius", "Book of Books", "Poetry", "Book of Rites", "Zuo Zhuan", "Fan Jinzhongjiao", etc.. As well as successive generations of official scriptures, pens and inkstones to make it possible What scares you the most is that you have to know all these books by heart, by heart, by heart, and use them freely. Imagine being asked to memorize dozens of books with millions of words. What kind of concept is that? It's enough to make you feel crushed. What's the 'first winner in ten years of schooling'? It's lower than the odds of winning the lottery.

2. You need a guarantor to vouch for you in order to take the Xiu Cai.

The insurance policy issued by the guarantor was the equivalent of the current examination pass. There is a certain risk of liability for a guarantor to vouch for you. Regardless of the size of the red packet, your family should be fun. The cost of land and water transportation to the exam site, staying in a hotel and so on is also small, and if you go from a remote place to the provincial capital to catch the exam, the cost will be even bigger. After the exam, you have to pay the required amount. Each person pays three cents per exam. Before the opening of the list, you still have to stay in a hotel and wait for the results of the list before you are willing to go back. In the meantime, staying at a store, eating, traveling, and shopping cost a lot of money.

Shucai is difficult to test, so the gold content is also high. So what privileges do you get when you become a Xiu Cai?

1. It is a passport to continue examining people.

Shucai only won the status of Xiucai to be eligible for re-examination of the lifer, equivalent to get a pass to the examination of the lifer.

2. Tax and labor exemption.

While the imperial court did not pay salaries to the Xiucai, those who earned Xiucai were granted certain privileges, such as exemption from taxes and corvée service, and could directly approach the county magistrate for advice. Exemption from taxes and corvée service was an important beginning to get out of the commoners. Let's consider this. Ordinary people dig in the dirt every day, doing the heaviest work and earning the lowest income. Eventually, they have to pay various taxes to the court. Once the court is at war, they have to pay taxes, conscripts, and so on.

3. Having hierarchical privileges.

Just that when a Xiu Cai meets the magistrate, he doesn't have to kneel down like the common people, and the magistrate doesn't dare to just slap the Xiu Cai's ass. In case one day, his family's scholar's ancestral tomb smokes, the lucky star is high, won the scholar, then the magistrate will be miserable. Scholars can also have the power to advise county officials, which is equivalent to the current NPC representatives or political commissars.

4. A scholar is qualified to be a teacher.

Jong Xucai was a well-known local scholar. After all, Zhong Xiucai has a high gold content, so if you never get in, you can at least go back to being a local private school teacher. Although the salary is not very high, but definitely more than with labor to sell money class, so Xiu Cai has been out of the farmers face to face life. If you give the rich family or landlord's family as a teacher, meet the generous master will be relatively nourishing.

Four. How hard is it to raise a family in China?

After becoming a Xiucai in ancient times, it meant that one was eligible to continue to sit for exams. Take the Ming and Qing dynasties, for example. Every three years, the imperial court would hold a selection exam in each province, called the township exam. Because it was usually held in the fall and August of the lunar calendar, the provincial exams were also known as the Autumn Wei. The examiners were directly appointed by the emperor. After the examination, the Senate would issue positive and negative lists, and the candidates in the positive list were called jiejun. The first place was given to the Jie Yuan, and the second through tenth places were given to the "Ya Yuan". Having said that it is difficult to do academic work in China, let's analyze how difficult it is to do academic work in China. At the same time, let us also understand, a Chinese scholar, can have the power and interests in the future.

Ancient China's acceptance rate for lifts was only 2%

Let's take the Ming Dynasty, which is relatively close to the present, and analyze it. The Ming Dynasty had 276 years. According to incomplete statistics, there were about 100,000 people who took the examination for lifts in the Ming Dynasty. The provincial examination in the Ming Dynasty was held once every three years, so on average, there were about 362 candidates in the country every year. Only 1,000 people were selected every three years, and 362 people were selected every year. What kind of concept is that? It's also an ancient exam that scholars of all ages can take. If Tsinghua and Peking University enroll about 7,000 students a year, the number of candidates who pass the exam in a year is 1/20th of Tsinghua and Peking University, so I think the ancient candidates have a higher gold content than Tsinghua and Peking University graduate students.

According to one statistic, it turns out that about 1 in 50 scholars is a lifer. The acceptance rate was only 2 percent. So, in ancient times, serving as a midshipman in your county was a terrible thing to do. The article 0 learned in the textbook earlier vividly depicted Kim Beom almost going crazy after getting into a middle position, and it also showed how difficult it was to hold a middle position.

Power and income after promotion.

1. More stable income growth.

Those who pass the exam can be called masters, or take the Ming Dynasty as an example. In the Ming Dynasty, when a jinshi passed the examination for a master, he did not need to pay taxes. At that time, many local rich people and peasants put their properties under the name of the lifer in order to avoid taxes, and they would give the lifer's family favors every year. This alone could feed the family for a year. In front of the county magistrate, Zhong Xiucai could only say that he was exempt from bowing down, whereas a lifer was different. He could circle the local economy and be a brother in front of the magistrate because he was already at a certain level.

2. Qualified to be an official.

The lifer already has the qualifications to be an official, and also the lifer is the most educated scholar that the provincial local government can admit. If you go up, it's the national examination for recruiting scholars. Generally students who have passed the examination will continue to take the spring examination held in Beijing in the following spring and try their best to get in. In the early Qing Dynasty, due to fewer scholars, coupled with the country was just established, many local officials and shortage, generally appointing the lift for the governor or too Fu. Therefore, there is a saying that "the head is the magistrate, the foot is the instructor". However, after the middle of the Qing Dynasty, with the examination held every three years, the number of admitted jinshi increased, and it became more difficult to enter the official positions directly from the lifts. From this period onwards, a jinshi had to fulfill certain conditions in order to be granted an official position. In other words, there was a promotion system called the "Great Selection". The so-called "Grand Selection" was a system in which the imperial court chose some people from the electorate and awarded them official positions. The Grand Prix was originally a four-subject examination, but was changed to three subjects during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, and was held only once every six years. So those who fell out of the competition cherished such a hard-won opportunity, except that the cycle of the Grand Prix was so long that only a limited number of official positions were offered each time. Only a few could get what they wanted.

There were not many officials born as lifers in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and even fewer who made it into the history books. Ancient celebrities who lifted people include Hai Rui in the Ming Dynasty and Zuo in the late Qing Dynasty. Hai Rui has a "blue sky in the sea" reputation, left is even more remarkable. Suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, recovering Xinjiang, and organizing foreign affairs, known as "one of the four great ministers of the late Qing dynasty".

5. How hard is it to be a scholar?

The examination for a scholar is called the Rites Conference, and is held every three years, in the second spring after the fall. It is a blessing if the country has a new emperor on the throne or if the emperor or empress has a birthday.

Those who won the Ritual Examination were called Gongshi. In fact, these Gongs would usually be jinshi in the absence of special circumstances. Just have to go through the final exam, this exam is called the Palace Exam, the emperor personally issued questions, personally supervise the examination. The Gong exam was actually the exam that ranked last. These people had a noble name, that is, the disciples of the Emperor. After passing the palace examination, the candidates were divided into three classes according to their grades. *** 3 people, given the jinshi Ji, that is, the well-known scholar, scholar two, tanhua; two, the first three, divided into jinshi origin, the same jinshi origin. From the Song Dynasty onwards, the middle-ranking jinshi could be immediately authorized to hold official positions, and this was also the case in the Ming Dynasty. However, in the Qing Dynasty, the situation was slightly different. In the Qing Dynasty, the top scholar was generally awarded the title of "Sixth Grade", while the second and flower scouts were awarded the title of "Seventh Grade". Secondly, the top three scholars were assigned to "ministerial" offices such as the Six Ministries of the Imperial Court, the Metropolitan Police, the General Political Department, and the Da Lisi. This can also be called "apprenticeship", which generally means internship. Only after these new recruits had passed the internship period and passed the examination of the officials of the ministries could the Ministry of Revenue grant them official positions. Some of them worked in the ministries and commissions, while others worked outside the province.

The admission ratio is too small

In the early Tang Dynasty, the average number of Chinese enterers admitted was 3-5 per year, and in the middle Tang Dynasty there were about 20. The Song Dynasty averaged more than 70 per year. The imperial examinations of the Qing Dynasty began in 1645 and were abolished in 1905. The Qing government admitted 26,849 jinshi. Among them, 449 jinshi in the third year of Shunzhi had the highest number; at least once, in the 58th year of Qianlong, only 83 jinshi were examined. In the 268-year history of the Qing dynasty, the Qing government *** held 112 court examinations, *** admitting 26,849 people, so an average of more than 100 people per year. The results are based on the contents of the exhibition at the Beijing Imperial Examination Plaque Museum. In China's more than 1,300 years of imperial examination history, on average, the country has produced one jinshi for every 3.75 million jinshi. Quanzhou, Fujian province, which has achieved good results in the imperial examinations, averages 600,000 jinshi for every one, according to Quanzhou local records.

To use money to pave the way for the examination of jinshi.

To take the imperial examinations in ancient times, students had to spend a lot of money on purchasing books, studying and exchanging ideas, hiring good teachers and taking exams. In ancient times, the cost of printing on handmade paper was very high. In the Song Dynasty, for example, the average price of a book was 2 volumes, equivalent to 800-1200 yuan now. You couldn't buy a full set of textbooks and reference books without hundreds of thousands of RMB. Every year, a Xiucai spent months on the road to catch up with the exams, going to state capitals and provincial cities to take the annual exams, the road exams, the section exams, and the local exams. There was also a need to hold cultural meetings with other scholars, travel expenses, meals, transportation costs by car, horse and boat. All are huge expenses. In Chinese history, the average age of a scholar is 35. A person hasn't worked for 35 years, and a large family sits on the sidelines. By the time he passes the jinshi exam, he'll have to support his family. That chance is equal to winning a 5 million dollar lottery. The long imperial examination process from jinshi to jinshi would be impossible if the family was not well off, or if there was no financial support from the whole family.

Anciently, there was a scholar who, at the smoothest rate, began his private study career at age 6 and entered the middle school at age 35, which took about 30 years. Usually the imperial court followed the Seed Master's Record with the award of a sixth- to seventh-grade official rank. This official rank is now roughly equivalent to a full division-level cadre. A full division-level cadre in his thirties was very young. Of course, many of my classmates were in their fifties before they took the CTV. This is an afterthought. Comparison wi