What is the difference between China's current education system and the imperial examination system?

Pick up above. Strictly speaking, the fairness and justice embodied in the imperial examinations are relative. First of all, to pass the examination, one needs to have "ten years of hard work" to study hard, and the children of poor families have fewer educational opportunities, and it is difficult for them to pay the examination fees, so the competition is obviously not equal to the competition of those who have a good family background. Secondly, women did not have the right to enter the civil service. Again, by its very nature, the imperial examination system, which rewarded a few successful candidates with great wealth and social prestige, could not maintain political fairness for the common people. Nonetheless, in ancient Chinese society, which was particularly concerned with favors, face, and relationships, the imperial examinations could be described as "astonishingly impartial". (Note: (U.S.) Fei Zhengqing, Sun Ruiqin, Chen Zexian: The United States and China, The Commercial Press, 1971 edition, p. 41). The spirit of fair competition and elimination of the fittest embodied in the principle of separation of examination and teaching is characteristic of the feudal era in China, which is beyond the strict hierarchy. 2. Preventing Cheating As a large-scale unified examination in ancient China, the imperial examination system practiced the principle of separation of examination and education. Although the imperial examinations were highly consistent with school education in terms of teaching content and standards, they were relatively independent in terms of duties. Schools were only in charge of teaching and did not participate in the work of the imperial examinations. The centralized government schools were under the jurisdiction of the State Scholarship Council, which was under the Ministry of Rites, while the imperial examinations were under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites of the Shangshu Province, and the chief examiners for the township examinations and above were chosen by the imperial court. This principle of separation of examination and education effectively eliminated the possibility of examination cheating, at least in terms of responsibilities. In addition, in order to ensure the seriousness and authority of the imperial examinations as a "national ceremony for the selection of talents", the central government also formulated a whole set of strict measures from proposing to accepting, mainly including: first, the "locking courtyard" system. Examiners, once appointed, immediately go to the Palace of Examinations to avoid, cut off from the outside world and even friends and family contacts, in order to avoid bribery, bribery, bribery, fraud and other incidents. Second, strict rules for the examination room and the examination, including registration of the knot security, security granary students recognize security, before the examination of the roll-call, search and inspection, the examination in the inspection as well as the maintenance of the order of the examination room, etc. Third, the paste name and transcribe the name of the examiner. Thirdly, there is the system of pasting names and transcribing easy rolls. Candidates hand in their papers, by the MiFeng officer will fill in the candidate's curriculum vitae, name, etc. MiFeng paste name, and then handed over to the transcriber will be transcribed to the ink volume for the vermilion volume, by the readers to read the student checking the completion of the official can be sent to the examiner to approve the readings. Fourth, the re-examination system. In order to prevent fraudulent behavior in the admission process, the imperial examinations for all those admitted to take a strict retest system. Fifth, the recusal system. Preside over the examination of the main officials, their relatives to avoid the examination. By the Qing Dynasty, the recusal system involved almost all the personnel involved in the examination. For example, the twenty-first year of Qianlong ((1756)) stipulates that the examiner, with the examiner, the supervisor, Lin test, know the Gongju, the transfer, the volume, Mi Feng, transcription, the reading and receiving the palm of all the examiner's children and grandchildren of the clan relatives and close relatives are not allowed to participate in the examination. In today's view, some of this series of instructions seem to be very cumbersome and even unreasonable, but at the time of rampant malpractice, it did play a huge role in preventing fraud in the imperial examinations and maintaining the fairness of the exams, and systematically ensured the high efficiency and authority of the imperial examinations. No matter how the sun and the moon change, society is always moving forward, and history always shows some "striking similarities". The imperial examinations have existed in Chinese history for more than 1,300 years, and were the center of gravity of the entire educational system and the primary content of humanistic educational activities at that time, becoming the focus of the attention of the people of the time, and exerting a far-reaching influence on all aspects of Chinese feudal society. Some of the traditions formed by the imperial examinations over the past thousand years still persist in reality in a potential form. A hundred years ago, the imperial examinations left the stage of history in disgrace, and while their voice has faded away, contemporary society has seen some "striking parallels" with history. Today, people are once again rallying around the college entrance examination system, which has been described as a "modern imperial examination". The whole society is furiously attacking the "one-sided pursuit of the rate of advancement" and attacking the role of the college entrance examination as a baton, and academics and the general public are also arguing over the question of whether the college entrance examination should be abolished or not. If we can transcend our personal feelings and look at the imperial examinations with a cool eye, draw on their essence and lessons learned, we may be able to reduce a lot of mistakes in the decision-making and operation of the college entrance examination and take a lot of detours; that is, if the history and the reality are not exactly the same as the track, at least it can give us a revelation to our thinking. 1. The shadow of "one-sided pursuit" The "one-sided pursuit of higher education rate" has been a hot topic in recent years in the education sector and even in society as a whole, and it is often in a very prominent position in various newspapers and magazines. The "one-sided pursuit" is directly related to the acceptance rate of the college entrance examination, and it is a kind of abnormal educational phenomenon arising from the fierce competition. It goes hand in hand with the college entrance examination and becomes a dark cloud over the college entrance examination, hence the name "Black July". It has also given the college entrance examination the function of a "magic baton", so that the whole secondary school and even elementary school and kindergarten education are all exhausted under the command of this magic baton, and there are endless complaints. Nowadays, people have become more and more conscious of the fact that under the appearance of disrupting the normal teaching order, the "film chase" is endangering the social atmosphere and China's international competitiveness in the 21st century, and the shouts against the "film chase" are getting louder and louder. In fact, the phenomenon of "piece chasing", an educational phenomenon that sprouted in the 1960s along with the competition of the college entrance examination, is not unfamiliar. In China, the home of examinations, the phenomenon of "piece chasing" has existed for a long time. After the Sui and Tang dynasties, the selection function of the imperial examination system was increasingly emphasized by the rulers. The court to measure the merits of the state and county school and the reward standard of the school officials, mainly based on the school of the imperial examination and the first rate. Song Dynasty Cai Jing strike the imperial examinations to implement the three sheds to rise the tribute, rising tribute rate (rate of advancement) has become the main standard for judging the performance of schools, the instructor examines the course "the first item, the education is good. Note that the tributary to the Paiyong rise to make up for those who pushed the grace more". (Note: "Song Hui Yao", "Officials", 59-15.) The pursuit of and the first rate of the establishment of the examination in the education of the axis of the position. Directly linked to fame and fortune, the imperial examination system strengthened the governmental system, pulling scholars to devote themselves to the imperial examination, keeping their eyes on the first place, and spending their whole life in the fierce competition of the imperial examination, which was a sad but deplorable experience. How can today's "film chase" not be the same? In that case, can we only allow the "film chasing" and the magic wand of the college entrance examination to wreak more and more havoc on the order of teaching and learning and do nothing about it? The answer is no. As a matter of fact, there is much we can do. First, we should continue to reform the political system, de-emphasize the officialism, and provide a variety of ways to achieve success. Secondly, we should reform the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE), including the subjects, contents and format of the examination. The third is to change the value of education that emphasizes diplomas, so that people will change from fighting to cross the wooden bridge of the college entrance examination to taking the overpass of multiple ways of development. 2. Existence and Abolition of the College Entrance Examination The unified college entrance examination established in 1952 is in the same lineage as the unified examination for the imperial examinations in ancient China. Like the imperial examinations, as a system of selecting talents, the college entrance examination can be said to be of great merit in promoting the growth of talents and the development of the whole nation's culture. However, many shortcomings have arisen in its operation over the past decades. In order to change the negative impact of the examination on education and teaching, some commentators have put forward the idea of abolishing the college entrance examination. A series of controversies and debates have taken place in the education sector. Whether or not to abolish the college entrance examination, a system that has a bearing on the national policy, the future of the nation, and the fate of the people at the bottom, has become a major issue of great concern to teachers, students, parents, and even to society as a whole. The controversy over the pros and cons of the present college entrance examination is very similar to the controversy over the abolition or abolition of the imperial examinations in history! We might as well turn our attention to the imperial examinations again. Since the first year of Emperor Yang's Daye (605), when the imperial examination was established (Note: Liu Haifeng: "Educational Perspectives on the Imperial Examination", Hubei Education Press, 1996 edition, pp. 24-26.) Since then, the imperial examinations, in which "everything was based on Chengwen", had shown great vitality, giving full play to the positive function of selecting talents in a fair manner. However, because of its drawbacks, the survival of the imperial examination system has been debated or reformed in successive dynasties, of which there have been six occasions with greater impact. (Note: Liu Haifeng, "An Analysis of the Reasons for the Long Existence of the Imperial Examination System", Journal of Xiamen University (Philosophy and Society Edition), No. 4, 1997). These six debates or reorganizations all took place at the highest decision-making level of feudal society, and all were repeated under different historical conditions, with striking similarities. As a result, after several short interruptions, the imperial examination system was discontinued and resumed due to human troubles, and it was still used as the primary means of selecting talents in all dynasties. An important reason for the long-lasting existence of the imperial examination system in history is that "it was a rare system with a spirit of fairness in the highly hierarchical feudal society of China" (Note: Liu Haifeng, "The Imperial Examination System" in Chinese). (Note: Liu Haifeng, "An Analysis of the Reasons for the Long-Term Existence of the Imperial Examination", Journal of Xiamen University (Philosophy and Society Edition), No. 4, 1997). The fairness and impartiality of the imperial examinations were guaranteed precisely by the unified examinations conducted by the state. It is widely recognized that the spirit of fairness and social benefits of the modern college entrance examination system, which is in the same lineage as the imperial examination system, are also due to the unified examination. Therefore, no matter from the history of the imperial examination system or from the current reality of China, the unified college entrance examination should be insisted on. Despite the great limitations and drawbacks of the college entrance examination, however, like the imperial examination system, "it is just like legislating for land". Historically, the contradictory interaction between the imperial examinations and school education ended in the revitalization of the academies and the abolition of the imperial examinations, because the contents of the imperial examinations were unreasonable and could not keep pace with the development of the times, while the contents of the college entrance examination today are in line with the requirements of the times. In dealing with the relationship between examination and education, the correct approach is not to abolish the college entrance examination, but to improve the content and form of the examination, so that it can better promote the development of secondary education and teaching.