Anecdotes related to Jiangnan Gongyuan

On March 5th, 30th year of Ming Hongwu, the list was published. There are 52 famous candidates on the list, all of whom are candidates from Jiangnan, and they are the South List (Spring List). In the north, Juzi began to talk about it. In March, Chen Mou from Min County, Fujian Province was selected as the top scholar in the imperial examination. In the north, examiners Liu Sanwu and Bai Xindao were considered southerners, so they defended southerners. Excited candidates smashed the imperial list and then went to the Ministry of rites to demonstrate. The Royal Guards came to suppress it. Streets and alleys are covered with leaflets accusing examiners of favoring fellow villagers and hiding something. Make a mess of Nanjing city. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious after receiving the report and personally questioned the examiner Liu Sanwu. Liu Sanwu said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "The Yuan Dynasty ruled the north for more than one hundred years, which greatly destroyed the culture of the north. In recent years, the north is far behind the south. This is a well-known fact, and it is normal to be superior in the south and inferior in the north. " Zhu Yuanzhang didn't listen to him, so Zhang Xin, an assistant in imperial academy, led him to teach Dai Yi, You Zanshan Wang Junhua, Si Zhilang Zhang Qian and others, and each of them read the last paper of ten volumes to add northerners to their posts. However, after re-reading, the papers produced in the North Examination are still poor in arts and sciences, and there are taboos. Zhang Xin told Zhu Yuanzhang the results of the re-examination truthfully, and thought that the scores of the candidates in the north and the south were indeed very different, and even the last one in the yellow list was much higher than that in the north. It is also considered that it is the practice of national scientific research to determine the advantages and disadvantages of articles and rank second with achievements, and there should be no regional care. At present, the achievements in the north can only be ranked behind, so it cannot be changed.

At this time, there was another tip-off, and Liu Sanwu, Bai Xin, Zhang Xin and others deliberately presented it in a thick volume. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and immediately arranged an investigation by punishments. Under torture, the Ministry of Punishment finally produced a list and testimony of more than 600 people who practiced favoritism and bribery. Zhu Yuanzhang even claimed that the invigilator and the person in charge of the investigation participated in the Hu case and the Aquamarine case more than ten years ago, so he made a decision: Bai Xindao, Zhang Xin and more than 20 invigilators in the same department were all executed that year. Liu Sanwu sent an exile to guard the border with the old man because he was old. All 52 elected Southern Gong Shi were deposed, and the first candidate, Chen Mou, was accused of taking bribes. As for those involved, there are more than 1000 people.

In May of the same year, Zhu Yuanzhang personally counted sixty-one Gong Shi, the first was Han Kezhong in Hebei, the second was Ren Boan in Shandong, and none of the sixty-one Gong Shi was from the south, which was called the North List (Xia List). In order to avoid the recurrence of such incidents, Hongxi established a north-south coiling system in the first year, with 60% coiling in the south and 40% coiling in the north. At this point, the North-South list case is all over. In August of the 14th year of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty (1657), Emperor Shunzhi sent Fang You and Qian Kaizong to preside over the rural examination in Jiangnan. After Ding Younian's senior high school entrance examination in Jiangnan was announced, scholars who failed in the exam gathered in front of Jiangnan Palace Garden to protest. Jiangnan Bookstore also carved a legendary novel "Wanjinji". The square character is 10,000 yuan, the money is gold, and the ten thousand word gold refers to the official friend and the money. This book attempts to describe bribery in the examination room. When Shunzhi learned of the scandal in Jiangnan, he immediately ordered: "Fang You, Qian Kaizong and the examiner are all trying to dismiss their posts and bring them to Beijing for detailed examination as soon as possible." In order to know the truth, Emperor Shunzhi decided to personally preside over a re-examination of all candidates in this subject in Beijing. Those who took part in the second interview all carried instruments of torture, and a large number of non-commissioned officers were sent to guard every juren at the scene, treating them as criminals. The atmosphere in the examination room is extremely tense. It was already winter, and the people in the examination room were shivering with cold, but they dared not say anything. It is the result of this second interview that makes people feel that this case is unjust. As a result of the second interview, 24 people were suspended from the exam, but they were allowed to be jurors because they barely passed the exam; Only 14 people failed, so they were dismissed. * * * 74 people were allowed to take the exam. It should be said that the results were not satisfactory, but Shunzhi saw the results and decided that the provincial examination in Jiangnan was false, so he ordered the immediate execution of Fang and Qian. The other eight people were also punished by the family's exile in Ningguta, Heilongjiang.

Wu Zhaoqian, a celebrity in the south of the Yangtze River, doesn't like the court fooling candidates, especially when he walks into Yingtai and sees that the examination room feels like an execution ground. He threw away his pen and handed in a blank sheet of paper on the spot. This angered the emperor shunzhi, so he was exiled to Ningguta. Nowadays, this case has been called "a famous case in the examination room" by many historians, that is to say, it should be an unjust case. 88 people participated in the second interview, and the pass rate of 74 people should be good. Among the last 14 people, there are many Jiangnan celebrities like Wu Zhaoqian. During the reign of Kangxi in Qing Dynasty, a fraud case occurred in Gongyuan, Jiangnan, which shocked the ruling and opposition parties. This case involves a wide range, involving all provincial officials. The case is flickering, confusing and sensational.

It turned out that the examiners after having obtained the provincial examinations in Jiangnan accepted bribes and betrayed the reputation of a juror. The examiners colluded and cheated. As a result, Jiangnan scholars made a fuss, out of indignation, scrawled the word "Gong Yuan" on the plaque of the examination room as "sold out"; Other candidates brought clay sculptures of the God of Wealth to the Confucius Temple. When this incident reached the ears of Emperor Kangxi, Yan Long was furious and immediately sent ministers to Jiangnan to find out the truth. However, the case involved court officials and the governors of the two rivers, so the two groups of ministers failed to complete their mission after repeated delays. In the end, Kangxi personally tried the case of Kechang, and then decided to remove the post of Governor of Liangjiang, and all the cheaters in Kechang were punished. Chen Duxiu, the founder of China New Culture Movement, came to Jiangnan Gongyuan to take the imperial examination. It was this exam that became an important turning point in his life. The "one or two hours of meditation experience" in the examination room became the biggest driving force for his "transformation from choosing to learn evil to kangliangpai". He recorded this experience in the form of autobiography, which is very interesting and thought-provoking to read today. In addition to the eight-part essay, there is such a vivid article Chen Duxiu, 1879, from Huaining, Anhui (now Anqing). The word Zhongfu, whose real name is Qingtong, was born in the imperial examination. When he was studying in Japan, he was named Yu Zi. When he ran Anhui Daily, his name was San Ai. After the Revolution of 1911, it was named Chen Duxiu. His pen names are Chongfu, Neutron, Shi An, Youmin, Hard Rock, Saon and Duxiu Shanmin.

Chen Duxiu studied under the enlightenment of his grandfather since childhood. Chen Duxiu's eccentric grandfather was deeply impressed on his mind. In the autobiography of Shian, he wrote:

This grandfather taught me to read from the age of six to eight or nine. I was a little clever since I was a child, but this cleverness hurt me. He never paid much attention to my eldest brother's study, but he took a fancy to me. He expects me to finish reading four books and five classics in one year. Four books and five classics are just enough. I am most afraid of Zuo Zhuan. Fortunately, this grandfather may not know the importance of the three rites, or he will kill me. It is still a trivial matter to recite the endorsement, which makes him angry and fight; This made him very angry, almost mad. It was terrible. No matter how badly I was beaten, I never cried. ..... My mother has shed countless tears for this, but she is not as pessimistic about me as my grandfather. She always persuades me with good words: "My son, you must study hard. If you finish reading well in the future, you will win a sigh for your father. Your father has studied all his life, and there are no candidates in the exam. It's a pity before death! " I cried when I saw my mother.

But before Chen Duxiu took part in scientific research, his grandfather Chen died. Many teachers have been invited for Chen Duxiu at home, but they are not satisfied. Later, Chen Duxiu continued to study with his brother Chen Qingyuan. My younger brother, Qingyuan, is 5 years old this year. He is a tribute student of the government. He is honest and has a certain talent. He knew that Chen Duxiu didn't like stereotyped writing. So in addition to the classics, he also taught Chen Duxiu the Selected Works of Zhaoming.

Chen Duxiu had a "headache" when he first read Selected Works of Zhaoming, but it didn't take long to read the taste. Selected Works of Zhaoming is a large-scale collection of poems edited and arranged by Xiao Tong, a writer of Liang Dynasty in Southern Dynasties. It is a masterpiece of poems, words and articles from the pre-Qin period to the 800 years of Liang Dynasty. Chen Duxiu realized from the Selected Works of Zhaoming that "there are such lively articles besides stereotyped writing", so he hated stereotyped writing even more. Blinded the learned examiner. However, in those days, winning the first prize was the only way for a scholar to get ahead. If a person does not pursue fame, he will be looked down upon by others.

Under the bondage and pressure of feudal cultural atmosphere, Chen Duxiu had to follow the old path taken by predecessors. Soon, Chen Duxiu's junior high school entrance examination was taken as the first case, but he hated stereotyped writing. When I took part in the college entrance examination, I went into the examination room shed and opened the topic. The examination question is quite strange, and it is a truncated question that "fish and turtles can't beat wood." For this unreasonable topic, Chen Duxiu "uses unreasonable articles to deal with it". He asked himself. The difficult words about birds, animals and plants in Selected Works of Zhaoming and the ancient prose in Kangxi Dictionary, whether they like it or not, are full of an imperial prose. Chen Duxiu came home and showed the manuscript to his eldest brother. After reading the manuscript, eldest brother "frowned and was silent for an hour." They thought they would come last, but the difficulty of the article blinded the "learned" examiner and took Chen Duxiu as the first. Here comes the good news. His mother shed tears of joy and family and friends came to celebrate. People all praise the Chen family's "good feng shui in the ancestral grave", and also solemnly praise the pagoda outside Anqing as a giant pen in front of Chen's ancestral grave.

In the second year of Chen Duxiu's admission as a scholar, that is, 1897, the smoke of the Sino-Japanese War had not yet cleared up. This year, Guangxu took part in the "Jiangnan Provincial Examination", and Cohen soon began to take the exam. Chen Duxiu came to Nanjing with his brother Chen Qingyuan and others with mixed feelings. On their boat, a small yellow flag with six Chinese characters on it fluttered in the wind. The strange situation of three nine-day examination rooms arrived in Nanjing. Chen Duxiu followed his eldest brother ashore from Pukou, crossed Jiang Lai and entered the city from Yifeng Gate (now Zhong Xing Gate). Chen Duxiu, a rural scholar who came to town for the first time, was stunned by his tall buildings and wide streets. Anqing, the capital of Anhui province, which once made him admire, is simply a riverside town and looks very rustic. The houses on both sides of Nanjing Street are short and shabby, sparsely populated and desolate, but this scene is not much different from Anqing. Chen Duxiu later recalled: "The only means of transportation is the little donkey. When running, the jingle of a string of bells on the donkey's head and neck corresponds to the jingle of four small hooves. The man sitting on the donkey's back seems a bit poetic. "

As the entrance examination in towns and villages is just around the corner, there are many people carrying big bags and small boxes on the streets of Nanjing. In addition, due to the huge compensation for the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, the prices here are also rising day by day. Chen Duxiu stopped by the Qinhuai River in the Confucius Temple and greedily looked at the gold dust field of the Six Dynasties. The water of Shili Qinhuai River smells like fish, and ships are moored on the river, some of which are exquisite, and dragons and phoenixes are carved on the window lattice; Some are tattered, like wupeng boats. The big girls and kannika nimtragol sitting in twos and threes at the bow and stern are dazzling. Chen Duxiu, a newcomer, is afraid of getting separated. After seeing the scenery for a while, I left with my eldest brother.

In the autobiography of Shi An, Chen Duxiu vividly described the "strange status quo" in three 9-day examination rooms with spicy brushstrokes:

I brought an exam basket, books, stationery, food, a boiler and cooking tarpaulin. I have tried my best all my life. If my eldest brother hadn't helped me with the test paper, I would have been squeezed to death in the crowd.

As soon as he entered the test shed, the three souls scared away two and a half souls. Each test tube longer than 10 foot has dozens or hundreds of cells. The cell is as big as the police shed now, but much lower. Long people stood among them, bowed their heads. This is the "short room" that imperial examiners are proud of. The uneven brick wall in the low house has never been plastered with lime, and it is full of cobwebs and dust ... Sit in and put a board or even a table in front of you. Needless to say, you have to sit there and sleep when you sleep. ……

In mid-August that year, the weather in Nanjing was still extremely hot. Everyone hung tarpaulins to keep out the sun. The gate is facing the high wall, and only one and a half people can get in and out. There is a light on it. After everyone hung up the tarpaulin, even this ray of light was not exposed. The air can hardly circulate. Everyone hung a boiler for cooking on the opposite wall and began to cook. Besides, when the sun is shining, one day.

One thing impressed me the most. The first time I took the exam, I saw a fat man in Xuzhou, with big braid tied on his head and naked. Wearing a pair of worn-out shoes and holding a test paper, he walked up and down a long alley like a fire, shaking his head from side to side and reading his proud article in a strange voice. What he was most proud of was patting his thighs and giving a thumbs-up call: "Good! This subject must be in the middle. " Sun Shan, a bobbing fat examinee, made young Chen Duxiu gawk for an hour or two, and then forgot the exam. Later, when Chen Duxiu recalled this experience, he wrote with emotion: "In this one or two hours, I didn't look at him all the time, but he was thinking about the status quo of all candidates; Judging from these strange situations, it is related to the success of such a biped and how the country and people suffer; So linked with the so-called gift ceremony, simply put, these monkeys and bears are moved out every few years to hold an animal exhibition; Therefore, it is related to all national systems, and I am afraid there are such problems. ..... This is the biggest motivation for me to transfer from Youbu to Kangliang School. An hour or two of meditation determines my personal actions in the next few decades. "

Chen Duxiu failed in Sun Shan, of course, after having obtained the provincial examination in Jiangnan. Not only is he not depressed, but he feels that "the accident is good." The following year, he was admitted to Qiushi College in Hangzhou, and was later deported to Nanjing for his anti-Qing remarks. In Nanjing, he met Zhang and others who were studying in Nanjing Lushi School. 190 1 year, Chen Duxiu crossed to Japan for the first time and gradually entered a political career.