The Study On Debates Of Poetry And Discourse On Politics,Confucian Classics In The Subject Of Jinshi In Provincial Examination,Northern Song Dynasty

Since the Song Dynasty,as one of the most important exam subjects—Jinshi ke had always been valued by examiners and examinees or by governors and civils in regular imperial exams.In this exam subject,the debate between Poetry and Discourse on Polities or Poetry and Confucian Classics had not stopped in the Song Dynasty,and the corresponding policies of selecting scholars carried on repeatedly.The debate which originated in Tang Dynasty and broke out in Song Dynasty,can be roughly divided into three periods in Song Dynasty.From the early Song Dynasty to Renzong Dynasty,the Poetry in the Second-level Examination of Jinshi ke were luxurious and unrealistic,and their drawbacks were highlighted.From time to time,the viewpoint of concurrent examination with Discourse on Polities was put forward to change it,which triggered a debate about whether selecting scholars should prefer practical learning or intelligent and talented learning first.As a result,the position of practical learning was improved,but it did not shake the dominant position of Poetry.During the reign of Xining,Shenzong,Wang Anshi reformed the Imperial Examination system: abolishing Poetry and selecting scholars by means of Confucian Classics.This policy led to another round of debate.The focus shifted from the debate between Poetry and Discourse on Polities to Poetry and Confucian Classics.The status of Poetry had declined dramatically,but Confucian Classics had been improved a lot,and about Confucian studies had been deepened.At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty,the debate between Poetry and Confucian Classics turned white-hot.At this time,the purpose of the debate was no longer simply to select practical talents for the country,but to become a confrontation between Reformers and Conservatives which mixed with the debates of the interests and spirit of the parties and academic groups.In the meantime,the ways of selecting scholars had been repeated from time to time,but the overall policy tended to combine two ways to select scholars.At this time,Confucian Classics becomes the leading factor in selecting scholars.Although Poetry returned to the examination scope,their status was much worse than before.Generally speaking,the debate between Poetry and Discourse on Polities or Poetry and Confucian Classics had changed the ways of talent selection.At the same time,it had also promoted the development of schools to a certain extent,for instance,the scale of schools,curriculum settings,teaching methods,learning atmosphere and the relationship between teacher and student had also gradually changed,which had certain significance in the study of education history and examination history.