A Study Of The Grassroots Scholars In Ming And Qing Dynasty In Shan Dong Province

The imperial examination system advanced greatly during the Ming and Qing dynasty. There was a huge gap among the high enthusiasm of various strata the quota of imperial examination and the officer. This leads to a large number of scholars in Shandong grass-roots social. The large number of scholars exhibited apparent diversity and level, because they were from different families and social strata and the degrees of what they accepted Confucian education were various. They were limited by value evaluation of the imperial examination and the stong traditional ideas in Shandong province. So they were difficult to obtain the means of survival and the implementation of value except imperial examination system. The stong complex of the imperial examination along with a lot of the reading and the examination spend their time and energy, which they couldn’t obtain sufficient surviving ability, so most scholars had no money and been down and out. The limited living space, the heavy pressure to survive and the self-awareness about their embarrassing situation encouraged them to increase survivability and the expand the value realization. The scholars exhibited diverse way of life, which had their diversity developed. Although their frustration, anguish and perplexed were relieved partly and the scholars improved their living circumstances through a lot of efforts, they couldn’t contend the determination of the value of the imperial examination radically, they couldn’t obtain the enough value recognition, they also couldn’t change their embarrassing situation.The scholars of the grassroots made full use of the different value implementing platform such as family, clan and the grassroots society, so they can strengthen their scholars functions and personal integrity as a scholar. Meantime, as the executor and the communicator on the Confucian culture in the grassroot society, scholars’s statement and behaviors, the enlightenment and education activities, as well as their efforts about the secularization of the Confucian culture’s content, carrier and media, made an indelible contribution to the Confucian’s development, transition and transmission in grassroots social. They were familiar with the lower classes’life model and the actual demand. They obtained the inspiration and material from the real life and the bottom culture by taking advantage of their identity. They write a large number of works with their own feature, and made a huge contribution to the exchange and development between the elegant cultural and the secular culture.The management model of the grassroots social in Ming and Qing dynasty provided a big platform for the grassroots scholars. As the important part of the scholar group, the grassroots scholars were provided with the strong sense of mission and responsibility. In order to improve the circumstance of survival and achieve self-worth, they made positive actions in grassroots social. Although the scholars social activities didn’t form a organized system and their influence was limited within a small area, they had a distinct advantage in identity and quantity. They were familiar with the mode of the existence of the lower classes and they understood the local community more thoroughly. They witnessed the actual effectiveness about the policies and regulations. Since they became the actual executors in so many matters in the running of the local government, the scholars filled the lack of the local gentry. Apparently, they played a supporting and irreplaceable role in grassroots society. In this procedure, they formed a sense of community and their characteristics as a team.Compared with the other social strata, such as farmers, workers, businessmen, the proportion of the grassroots scholars was small, so the local society and lower people needed them in many respects, which prove it wasn’t the population expansion that led to their small living space. They had a adequate social space, but the only one value evaluation and the stong traditional values in Shandong province made them do nothing achieve self-worth, build their self-confidence, obtain enough abilities of surviving and undertake their mission, but take imperial examination.