Research On The Formation Of Jinshi In The Early Northern Song Dynasty

During the Tang and Song dynasties,the imperial examination system is the most important path to engage in politics in the context of social transition,and the imperial examination system in the Northern Song Dynasty has always been praised for its strictness and fairness.However,a system is never be implemented as it is originally designed.The previous researches on the imperial examination system in the Northern Song Dynasty mostly focus on the period in which the system are constructed,with not much attention paid to its formation process,especially to the repeated reforms of the imperial examination system in the early Northern Song Dynasty and the relationships between the imperial examination system and the politics and regional culture.On the basis of the abundant previous researches,more detailed research may be conducted.This paper focuses on the formation of the imperial examination system in the early Northern Song Dynasty.Specifically,first,the factor of system,i.e.,the impact of changes in the national system on the imperial examination system in the early Northern Song Dynasty,as a crucial way to select scholars as officials,and the approaches through which the ideological activities of monarchs and scholars as political subjects act on the imperial examination system.Second,the factor of geography,i.e.,the role played by the scholars from the south,after the substantial unification of the south and north in the early Song Dynasty,through participation in politics or literature during the formation of the imperial examination system.Third,the factor of ideology,i.e.,the changes in the ideology of scholars in the early Song Dynasty and their impact on the reform of the imperial examination system.This article combines the above three factors with the forming process of the highest imperial examination in the early Northern Song Dynasty,and it comes to the following insights: 1)The changes to the highest imperial examination in the early Northern Song Dynasty are manifested by the adjustments in the Five Dynasties and the Period of Taizu Emperor,the evolutions in the Period of Taizong Emperor,and the increasingly rigorous and fair process of the highest imperial examination in thePeriod of Zhenzong Emperor.2)The changes to the contents of the highest imperial examination in the early Northern Song Dynasty were mainly about the mutually reinforcing or trade-off of two important examination subjects-the poetry and prose and the discourse on politics.3)The promising prospects of successful candidates from the highest imperial examination in the early Northern Song Dynasty reflected their social and political status then and the public attention on the examination.