Details of The Imperial Examination
There were a number of degree types offered:
- Shēngyuán (生员/生員), also called xiùcái (秀才), licentiate; administered at exams held in the county level each year.
- Ànshǒu (案首), a shēngyuán who ranked #1
- Jǔrén (举人/舉人) or "recommended man", a provincial graduate, administered at the provincial level every three years
- Jièyuán (解元), jǔrén who ranked #1.
- Huìyuán (会员/會元), jǔrén who ranked #1 in prequalification
- Gòngshì (贡士/貢士), a national degree "tribute personnel"
- Jìnshì (进士/進士) or "presented scholar", a graduate of the palace examination, administered in the capital immediately after the metropolitan examination every three years
- Jìnshì jídì (进士及第/進士及第), jìnshì who were ranked first class in the palace examination.
- Zhuàngyuán (状元/狀元), lit. exemplar of the state, jìnshì who ranked #1 first class (in the palace examination).
- Băngyăn (榜眼), lit. eyes positioned alongside (the top-ranked scholar), the jìnshì ranked #2 overall.
- Tànhuā (探花), lit. selective talent (in reference to the eponymous banquet), the jìnshì ranked #3 overall.
- Jìnshì Chūshēn (进士出身/進士出身), jìnshì who were ranked in the second class, immediately after the tanhua, in the palace examination.
- Tóng Jìnshì Chūshēn (同进士出身/同進士出身), jìnshì who were ranked in the third class in the palace examiniation.
- Jìnshì jídì (进士及第/進士及第), jìnshì who were ranked first class in the palace examination.
By 115, a set curriculum had become established for the so-called First Generation of examination takers. They were tested on their proficiency in the "Six Arts":
- Scholastic arts: music, arithmetic, writing, and knowledge of the rituals and ceremonies in both public and private life.
- Militaristic: archery and horsemanship
The curriculum was then expanded to cover the "Five Studies": military strategy, civil law, revenue and taxation, agriculture and geography, and the Confucian classics. In this form, the examinations were institutionalized during the sixth century AD, under the Sui Dynasty. These examinations are regarded by most historians as the first standardized tests based on merit.
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 evaluation, candidates were identified by number rather than name, and examination answers were recopied by a third person before being evaluated to prevent the candidate's handwriting from being recognized.
In the main hall of the imperial palace during the Tang and Song Dynasties there stood two stone statues. One was of a dragon and the other of Ao (鳌), the mythical turtle whose chopped-off legs serve as pillars for the sky in Chinese legend. The statues were erected on stone plinths in the center of a flight of stairs where successful candidates (jinshi) in the palace examination lined up to await the reading of their rankings from a scroll known as the jinbang (金榜). The first ranked scholar received the title of Zhuàngyuán (狀元/状元), and the honor of standing in front of the statue of Ao. This gave rise to the use of the phrases "to have stood at Ao's head" (占鳌头 ), or "to have stood alone at Ao's head" (独占鳌头 ) to describe a Zhuàngyuán, and more generally to refer to someone who excels in a certain field.
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