Advantages and disadvantages of Song Dynasty's restrictions on military commanders

General situation of Wushu in Song Dynasty

In 960, Zhao Kuangyin seized the power of the Later Zhou Dynasty and established the Song Dynasty. By the time of Emperor Taizong, the division of the Five Dynasties and Ten Countries had ended. However, this unified situation is limited to the Central Plains. At that time, there were three regimes: Liao, Xixia and Jin. 1 1 century, the northern song dynasty was destroyed by gold, and the song dynasty moved its capital to the south. The Song Dynasty was rebuilt in the south of Qinhuai River, and Lin 'an (now Hangzhou) was called the Southern Song Dynasty.

Although there were many large-scale wars in the Song Dynasty, the situation of unification and division appeared alternately, but from the perspective of its political, economic and cultural development, the Song Dynasty was still a peak in the history of ancient civilization development in China. As Chen Yinke, a master historian, pointed out: "The culture of the Chinese nation has undergone several dynasties, and its climax was in the Zhao and Song Dynasties."

Originated in the Sui Dynasty and institutionalized in the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination system was greatly improved in the Song Dynasty. The concept of being an official from the imperial examination was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in the Song Dynasty, and its influence was as far away as the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Martial arts is an important part of the imperial examination system. Wushu in Song Dynasty developed further on the basis of Tang Dynasty.

The first martial arts held in the Song Dynasty was the Palace Examination, which formed a three-level examination system: the general examination, the provincial examination and the Palace Examination. Song Wuju changed Tang Wuju's practice of focusing only on martial arts and not on articles, and paid attention to examining Wu's military theoretical accomplishment, hoping to select a Confucian scholar general with both ability and political integrity. Although the Song Dynasty experienced ups and downs, it finally institutionalized martial arts and compiled a textbook, The Five Classics and Seven Books. The imperial court promulgated the "Law on Making Up the Official Service", which closely combined the granting of military attache with the building of the army.

Judging from the concept of selecting military talents, martial arts in Song Dynasty is more conceptual and progressive, paying equal attention to civil and military affairs, breaking the tradition of selecting generals with bows and horses, opening up a new way to select military talents under peaceful conditions, and impacting the tendency of selecting generals from the children of noble families.

However, the social background of valuing literature over martial arts and the unified military system of "using literature to control martial arts" and "using martial arts to prevent it" made the martial arts in Song Dynasty inevitably show some disadvantages such as "less enrollment", "small scale of martial arts" and "Wu Jinshi was unwilling to join the army or learn something that was not used". None of the famous ministers and generals in the late Song Dynasty came from Wu Jinshi. The ideal of relying on martial arts training and selecting excellent generals with martial arts to improve the quality of officers has not been fully realized.

First, the number of Wu Zhuangyuan and Wu Jinshi in the Song Dynasty.

According to the champion grand prix, compilation of the history of Song Dynasty, compilation of the history of Song Dynasty, compilation of the history of Song Dynasty, supplement to the compilation of the history of Song Dynasty and other related local records, the Song Dynasty began to practice martial arts in the eighth year of Emperor Renzong of Northern Song Dynasty (1030), and in the Southern Song Dynasty (1030). At present, there are eight martial arts champions with names to be tested, of which 1 should be regarded as martial arts champions, and six subjects are unknown.

It should be noted that in these 78 lists, there are two people in the four lists of this book. The reason for this is that the two people listed in each list have their origins and need further research.

From the Table of Military Martial Arts in Song Dynasty of the Grand Prix, we can know that there are 44 military martial arts disciplines that accurately record the number of Wu Jinshi, and these 44 disciplines have produced 1 459 Wu Jinshi. The author found the name of Wu Jinshi in 18 military exercises when looking up historical materials of local chronicles. In this way, the number of known scholars in the Song Dynasty reached 1647. Unfortunately, the total number of Wu Jinshi admitted to this 18 subject is unknown. The number 188 is definitely less than the real number of Wu Jinshi admitted to this 18 subject. For other 16 subjects, not only the total number of Wu Jinshi admitted is unknown, but also the names of other Wu Jinshi except Wu Zhuangyuan were not found in the process of searching historical materials. In addition, in the list of sixteen people, some of them don't even know the name of champion Wu.

Judging from the forty-four lists with the exact number of Wu Jinshi, the list with the largest number of students enrolled in the Song Dynasty is Dong Junping's list, with 6 1 student; What is the list with the least admission? However, only two people were admitted. In Song Dynasty, the number of people admitted to Wushu was mostly between 30 and 50. If the known 44 subjects 1459 people are averaged, the number of people attending the martial arts examination is 33. If it is assumed that the number of Wu Jinshi in various scientific examinations in the Song Dynasty is 30, it can be inferred that there are more than 2,300 Wu Jinshi in 78 subjects in the Song Dynasty.

Compared with the number of people admitted to the same Jinshi, there were too few people admitted to Wu Jinshi in the Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, * * * opened the list of 108 Jinshi, and admitted 42,457 Jinshi who were playing famous works. The number of Jinshi is more than 18 times that of Wu Jinshi.

Second, the Song Dynasty's contribution to the martial arts system

First, martial arts in the Song Dynasty began with court examinations. The martial arts examination in the Song Dynasty was conducted in three levels, namely, solution examination, provincial examination and palace examination.

The appearance of palace examination shows that the rulers of Song Dynasty attached great importance to martial arts. The examination cycle was once every three years or once every four years, but the first martial arts palace examination was only one year apart from the second martial arts palace examination.

From the time point of view, the song dynasty was the end of June to register for the Ministry of war, and the exam was held in August. There must be a qualification test before the solution test, which is directly evaluated by local officials. There is no limit to the number of people, as long as the bow horse is qualified, you can take part in the test. The trial is presided over by the Ministry of War, with a limited number of people, usually about 70.

The provincial examination is presided over by the Ministry of War, which is a real "Ministry of War Examination". The time is 1 month or February of the second year after the settlement.

The time of palace examination varies greatly from March to August. Although the imperial examination was conducted by the emperor himself, it was basically a formality, with the purpose of showing the emperor's demeanor. As long as there are no major problems, all participants can pass. The champion of martial arts is based on the results of candidates and the likes and dislikes of emperors.

Second, the content of the martial arts examination in the Song Dynasty is to pay equal attention to both civil and military affairs.

In the Song Dynasty, martial arts changed the practice of focusing only on martial arts in the Tang Dynasty and became a test of paying equal attention to both martial arts and strategy. Martial arts mainly test bows and horses. Bows and horses are divided into two games, first "step shooting" and then "horse shooting", which are borne by the guards, relatives and horses. If the bow horse is qualified, take the composition test, ask questions first, and then take the Wu Jing Qi Shu test. On the whole, Song Wuju showed a tendency of paying equal attention to both civil and military affairs, with the aim of seeking Confucian generals who can be good at fighting. As a result, the overall cultural quality of Wu Jinshi and Wu Zhuangyuan in Song Dynasty was higher. Many of them have made achievements at the local level, such as Yi Zhu and Cai. Some became military theorists, such as Hua Yue and Jiang Bohu; Some became independent fighters in the army, such as Cheng Mingfeng, Xu Sichun, Zhang,,,.

Thirdly, the Song Dynasty established a relatively complete martial arts-Wushu, and compiled a special textbook "Seven Books on Wushu", which laid a solid foundation for the cultivation of Wushu talents.

According to relevant documents, Wushu was established in the Kaiyuan period of Xuanzong in Tang Dynasty (7 13 ~ 724), but it was not institutionalized. This kind of martial arts originated in the Tang Dynasty and was borrowed, developed and perfected by the rulers of the Song Dynasty.

Wushu in Song Dynasty experienced two ups and downs. It was first established in the third year of Renzong in the Northern Song Dynasty (1043). The location is Wu Wang Chengsi Temple in Kaifeng, Henan. Ruan Yi is in charge of state affairs, and his official position is the martial Oracle. But the school only existed for less than a hundred days. The reason is that no one wants to enter school. Thirty years later, that is, the fifth year of Xining (1072), Song Shenzong resumed his military activities in Zhao Xia. The scale is initially set at 100 students, with a maximum of 200 students, divided into 100 students outside the house, 70 students inside the house and 30 students in the upper house. The study period is three years, and the accommodation is provided by the state. Martial arts students come from civilians, bureaucrats' children and people with military attache qualifications but not official officials. These three qualifications require two middle and senior officials to be sponsors, and they can only enter the school after passing the examination. The contents of Wushu students' study include: Sun Tzu's Art of War-Seven Books of Wushu Classics, examples of success or failure in using troops in past dynasties, deeds of loyal ministers in past dynasties, etc. Students who are interested in arranging troops can also get the ranks assigned by the imperial court for training. With the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, Wude was forced to move to Lin 'an (now Hangzhou). There, the number of Wushu students reached 130. Martial arts students must pass the martial arts (or literature) exam when they enter the official. At the beginning of martial arts career, he usually went to the frontier or other places as a small leader or a grassroots officer.

Wushu is a school specially established in ancient China to train military talents. Bringing the training of military talents into the education system is not only a contribution to the ancient education system in China, but also a perfection of the ancient Wushu system in China. It is beneficial to the implementation of Wushu system, providing high-quality students for Wushu examination and improving the cultural quality of Wushu students.

Fourthly, setting up peerless subjects in Wushu is a major feature and innovation of Wushu in Song Dynasty.

In the era of cold weapons, the level of soldiers' martial arts has a great influence on the combat effectiveness of the army. There are many talented people in the army and the people. They are not good at writing, have outstanding martial arts and have military strategies. In order not to let these skilled warriors feel frustrated, and to give full play to their specialties, Wu Juma of the Song Dynasty set up a peerless division for them. This peerless subject, which began in the Northern Song Dynasty, is not independent of martial arts, but there are some differences among martial arts students in some examination contents. The content of the peerless imperial examination is also "correct", but it lowers the standard of the article when accepting the examination, but it increases the difficulty of the martial arts examination, increases archery and crossbow, and the arrow power is much higher than that of other contestants. The requirements for articles in the Northern Song Dynasty were extremely low, but in the Southern Song Dynasty, the nature of peerless subjects became both civil and military.

Fifthly, in the sixth year of Xiaozong Xichun in the Southern Song Dynasty (1 179), the Law of Annotating Official Service was promulgated, which greatly improved the rank of Wu Jinshi and played a positive role in encouraging him to join the army.

Thirdly, the regionality of Wushu in Song Dynasty.

Judging from the available data, the native place of Wu Zhuangyuan in the Northern Song Dynasty is mostly unknown, and the regionality of Wu Zhuangyuan is mainly manifested in the Southern Song Dynasty. From the second year of Emperor Gaozong's Jianyan in the Southern Song Dynasty (1 128) to the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, among the 48 martial arts, * * * there were 14 champions in Pingyang County, Zhejiang Province, accounting for more than a quarter. Therefore, Pingyang is known as the hometown of Wushu champions. In addition, the top martial arts champion in the eighth list was born in Fuzhou, accounting for one-sixth of the total.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, the appearance of Wu Jinshi also showed strong regional characteristics. According to the records on page 608 of Pingyang County Annals published by 199 1 and the author's statistics, among the 82 Wu Jinshi known in the Southern Song Dynasty, Pingyang County * * produced 276 Wu Jinshi (including 5 Wu Bangyan and 6 Wu), accounting for the known Wu in the Southern Song Dynasty. In addition, there are many Wu Jinshi in Fujian Province, such as Min County and Changle.

Why can Pingyang produce so many Wu Jinshi and Wu Zhuangyuan? This, of course, is inseparable from the material basis and humanistic background of Pingyang County.

First of all, Pingyang's economic prosperity provides superior material conditions for martial arts practitioners.

Pingyang has a vast territory, accounting for 1/3 of the total area of Wenzhou today. It is located on the coast of the East China Sea with pleasant climate, beautiful scenery and superior natural conditions. The Aojiang River runs across the county and flows into the East China Sea. Nanji island in this area is one of the best fishing grounds in Zhejiang, and the fertile Wanquan Plain is a paradise for the growth of food crops. These make Pingyang a fertile land.

Pingyang is rich in products, prosperous in economy and considerable in development space, making it an ideal place for immigrants. Pingyang county has a household registration record, which began in the Song Dynasty. According to records, there were more than 65,000 people in Pingyang County during the reign of Zhezong Shaosheng in the Northern Song Dynasty. Wenzhou was still a "remote state" at that time. After the Song Dynasty, the whole family moved south, and a large number of people moved south. During the period of Emperor Gaozong's Jianyan (1127 ~1130), the population of Pingyang increased by 2 18%, which was particularly prominent in the context of the sharp decline of population in the Song Dynasty.

Secondly, Pingyang has a profound and unique cultural heritage.

The humanistic background of Pingyang County can be summarized in three sentences: first, the military style is strong, second, the style of study is prosperous, and third, Pingyang people associate the realization of their own values with the destiny of the country.

Pingyang is located in the south of Zhejiang Province, bordering Fujian in the west and the sea in the east. Good at winning the victory of mountains and seas. The so-called "facing the sea and shouldering the mountains, but actually facing Fujian" has become "two throats of Zhejiang and eight lips and teeth of Fujian". Since the Northern Song Dynasty, in order to prohibit the illegal trade of maritime merchants, the relevant parties have recruited adult men in the local area, set up elite troops, and set up Pumen and Nanjian villages to guard against pirates and foreign enemies. The localization of soldiers has formed a strong martial atmosphere in the local area. After the Song Dynasty crossed to the south, Pingyang played a more prominent role as the traffic artery of Fujian and Zhejiang, and because it was close to Hangzhou, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, the responsibility of guarding the capital became heavier and heavier, and the court paid more attention to the construction of local troops. Historical origin and realistic demand make local folk customs quite strong, and also make them pay more attention to learning martial arts. Today, there is still a saying that "both men and women practice martial arts, and every village knows the boxing ring". Folk proverbs.

The southern crossing of Emperor Gaozong replaced the ruling center of the Song Dynasty. A large number of people moved to the south, and some social elites came to Pingyang, which made great changes in the talent structure of Pingyang and had a positive impact on Pingyang's humanistic environment. Pingyang, a relatively backward culture in the Northern Song Dynasty, has become a place with a prosperous style of study and talented people in the Southern Song Dynasty. At the end of the Song Dynasty, Pingyang not only produced 14 military champions and many literati, but also produced 3 literary champions, 1 literary champions, 2 literary explorers and 406 literary scholars. Patriotic poet Lin Jingxi, famous scholars Chen, Chen Jingbang and Song Zhicai all came from Pingyang.

In Song Dynasty, Wu Ju not only tested martial arts, but also paid more attention to assessing Wu Ju-zi's military theoretical accomplishment, and implemented the policy of "deciding whether to stay or not, and deciding whether to compete with horses". Learning Sun Tzu's Art of War is inseparable from the necessary cultural knowledge. If Pingyang has only martial arts style and no prosperous style of study, then Pingyang will produce warriors with strong limbs and simple minds, rather than warriors with certain cultural background and military theoretical accomplishment. Among Wu Jinshi in Pingyang, many people are scholars themselves. Some take the examination of literary works first, and then martial arts. Have a plenty of martial arts first, and then change to liberal arts after entering the official position. Although many people are Wu Jinshi, they work in counties. For example, Xue knows Yangshuo County, Zhu Shangzhi knows Wuzhou, tengxian, Yong Yang knows Guizhou, Xue Yinglong knows Huizhou and Xue knows Cili County. Among them, Zhu Yi and Cai are the most successful scholars.

The Southern Song Dynasty suffered from war, and many Pingyang immigrants had too much national hatred and hatred. The cruelty of reality makes Pingyang people know that only protecting the country can govern the country. At this time, what the country needs most is a general who is unified in war. As Chen E, the Pingyang brothers, and Chen Wen, the father of Chen Ao, taught them, "At that time, governing the country leveled the world, respecting the martial arts and making contributions to the country." The so-called "Better be a centurion than a scholar" is also true. It is better for a scholar to sit down and talk about it than for an iron-blooded man to recover lost land, repay national humiliation and welcome the two saints back to the DPRK. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, many Pingyang warriors died fighting in wyndell dichinson. Closely combining the needs of social reality with the realization of their own values can not but be regarded as one of the reasons why most top martial arts scholars are Pingyang people. The strong martial arts style has given Pingyang people a high level of martial arts, and the prosperous style of study has given Pingyang people a profound cultural heritage. In addition, the practical needs of the Southern Song Dynasty influenced Pingyang people, which made Pingyang people make full use of the good weather, geographical location and human harmony of martial arts, and made Pingyang people show their talents and lead the way in the martial arts examination of the Song Dynasty, which paid equal attention to both civil and military affairs and took the selection of Confucian generals as their responsibility.

Fourthly, the limitations of Wushu in Song Dynasty.

With the martial arts of the Song Dynasty, many military talents were really trained and selected, such as Xu Sichun, Xiong Anshang, Cheng Mingfeng, Zhang, Jiang Bohu, Cai, Hua Yue,. On the whole, however, martial arts in the Song Dynasty were not selected, and no outstanding generals were trained. Some outstanding military generals in Song Dynasty, such as Yue Fei, Han Shizhong and Di Qing, were not born in martial arts. If we explore the reasons, there are two points.

1? The enrollment of Wushu is too small, and the scale of Wushu is too small. Wushu is a vassal of Wushu.

As far as the system itself is concerned, the martial arts of the Song Dynasty is undoubtedly advanced. However, it was not the most commonly used method for Song rulers to obtain military generals. On the whole, the most popular system in the Song Dynasty is still the system of being promoted to an officer through heredity or rank. In contrast, the weight of martial arts is too light. Among the 30 Wushu events in the Northern Song Dynasty, many Wushu events have only 10 applicants, and the least number is only 2 or 6. As we all know, quantity is the premise of quality. Without the basis of quantity, it is difficult to make a qualitative leap. How much role can such a few lists and so few people play in army building? I believe it is not difficult for people to draw a conclusion. Although there were more Wu Jinshi admitted to the Southern Song Dynasty, most of them were only thirty or fifty years old. Compared with the number of scholars, the number of people admitted to Wushu is almost negligible.

Martial arts in the Song Dynasty is the most ideal place to train military talents. Here, you can not only discuss the tactics of military books, arrange troops and array, but also practice knives and guns, and be familiar with bows and horses. It should be the cradle of generals. However, it was closed due to the social background of attaching importance to literature over martial arts (in the Northern Song Dynasty), or it was difficult for many talented people to get involved because of its small scale and strict selection. Imagine that there is only one school in the country, and this school recruits once every three years, with only 100 places per period. Need the sponsorship of senior officials, close at any time. Compared with Imperial College, it can be said that the martial arts school is more like an experimental school. Wushu is a selection system and Wushu is an education system. Both should be a kind of selection and training, but Wushu students can only enter the official career through Wushu. Since its birth, Wushu has become a vassal of Wushu and is designed for Wushu. Wushu education has become exam-oriented education, and Wushu restricts its development.

2? Wu Jinshi's own weakness.

There were many loyal people among the Wu Jinshi in the Song Dynasty, and only 8 people entered the Song History Loyalty Biography. However, a strange phenomenon appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty, that is, Wu Jinshi was unwilling to join the army, even Jiang Bohu and Lin? Such a talented martial arts champion also regards joining the army as a shame. Wushu is an effective means for the imperial court to acquire military talents. If the so-called military talents selected and admitted by the imperial court are unwilling to serve the army and be loyal to national defense construction, then the meaning and original intention of Wushu will be discounted. People can imagine that a Wu Jinshi who doesn't want to be a soldier and applies what he has learned all his life to the battlefield will never become a famous soldier. Of course, these weaknesses of Wu Jinshi themselves were also caused by the background of valuing literature over martial arts in the Song Dynasty.

Although martial arts in Song Dynasty has historical limitations, its valuable exploration in selecting military talents and its pursuit of fair competition and merit-based admission are full of advanced ideas. Although the Song people failed to reach the other side of the ideal, their progressive thoughts and advanced ideas shone with wisdom, but they were beneficial to future generations.

In order to prevent the separation of the vassal regions and the power of ministers, consorts, queens, royal families and eunuchs, the rulers of Song Dynasty suppressed the resistance of working people and defended against the intrusion of Liao and Xia dynasties, and concentrated political, military and financial power in the imperial court to the maximum extent, and established a set of autocratic centralized political system.

The highest authority in the Song Dynasty was the government affairs hall. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the viceroy called it a matter of making peace with Zhongshu. In order to decentralize the power of the prime minister, the deputy prime minister was added to participate in government affairs. Song Shenzong Zhao Zhuan divided the functions and powers of yamen into three provinces: Menxia, Zhongshu and Shangshu. Song established the Privy Council as the highest institution in charge of military and political affairs throughout the country. Its leader is called the Tang Dynasty. The highest institution in charge of finance was called the three divisions in the early Northern Song Dynasty, namely, the Salt and Iron Division, the Dusi Division and the Household Division. The person in charge is called the third ambassador. Song Shenzong abolished the Third Division and transferred most of its functions and powers to the Ministry of Housing and Industry. In the early Northern Song Dynasty, the prime minister was in charge of civil affairs, the Tang envoy was in charge of military and political affairs, and the third secretary was in charge of finance. After the official system reform in Song Shenzong, the Prime Minister actually took charge of finance. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the prime minister also served as an envoy of the Tang Dynasty, in charge of military and political affairs. In this way, the prime minister once again mastered the civil affairs, finance and military and political power. The institution in charge of supervision is Yushitai, and its chief officer is Yushizhongcheng. The organization that specializes in admonition and satire is the admonition association. The institution that drafted documents for the emperor was Hanlin Bachelor's College, and Hanlin Bachelor also served the emperor as a consultant. The highest judicial institutions in the early Song Dynasty were Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment. Song Shenzong has reformed the official system, and only three provinces and six departments exercise corresponding functions and powers. In the Song Dynasty, local government agencies implemented the state-county two-level system. In the early Song Dynasty, the Tang system was followed, and the whole country was divided into Taoism. Song Taizong turned to the road.

Zhao Kuangyin appointed a civil servant to preside over the Privy Council, in charge of military and political affairs. There is also a three-official, who is in charge of the guards and soldiers, but has no right to dispatch them. The Privy Council and Sanya are in charge of the military power and the military power, which contain each other. In the Northern Song Dynasty, there were also rural soldiers, fan soldiers, local soldiers and archers. In the Song Dynasty, when the recruitment system was implemented, the method of recruiting soldiers in disaster years was often adopted to recruit fierce soldiers who were dereliction of duty all over the world, but in the case of lack of soldiers, they also arrested their husbands as soldiers. Criminals are also an important source of sergeant Song Jun. In addition, the children of the battalion are encouraged to join the army, not their parents and brothers. At the turn of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty, most of the imperial troops were scattered, and the regular army was reorganized in the Southern Song Dynasty, which was called the garrison. Song Jun is dominated by infantry, and crossbows are the main weapons. Cavalry is often a vassal of infantry. The Song Dynasty has entered a period of using both cold weapons and hot weapons, especially in the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty, when gunpowder weapons were mass-produced.

The imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty were basically the same as those in the Tang Dynasty, including general subjects, compulsory subjects and martial arts subjects. In contrast, the number of regular subjects in the Song Dynasty was greatly reduced compared with that in the Tang Dynasty, among which Jinshi was still the most important, and most of the first-class Jinshi could be prime ministers, so the Song people took Jinshi as prime ministers. Luzon Zuqian said: "Scholars' topics are often the same, and they are all extremely common. "At that time, there was the language of burning incense and Jinshi. Except for Jinshi, other subjects are collectively referred to as subjects. The imperial examinations in Song Dynasty were greatly reformed in form and content.

First of all, the imperial examination in Song Dynasty broadened the scope and function of admission. Jinshi in Song Dynasty was divided into three classes: the first class was called Jinshi, etc. Second-class said that Jinshi was born; A third-class scholar. Due to the expansion of the admission scope, the number of places has also doubled. In the Tang Dynasty, there were no more than 20 or 30 scholars, ranging from a few to more than a dozen. As many as 200 to 300 people, or even 500 to 600 people, were admitted at one time in the Song Dynasty. Candidates who fail the exam repeatedly are allowed to sign up for the attached exam when they meet the emperor's exam, which is called the special name. You can also ask the emperor to have mercy, grant birth qualifications and appoint officials to set a precedent for future generations.

The Song Dynasty established a three-level examination system once every three years. There was only a two-level examination system in the early Song Dynasty. The first level is the solution exam held by each state, and the first level is the provincial exam held by the Ministry of Rites. In order to select talents who were really down-to-earth under feudal rule to serve them, Song Taizu conducted the imperial examination in Kaibao for six years. Since then, palace examination has become the highest-level examination in the imperial examination system, and a three-level imperial examination system of national examination, provincial examination and palace examination has been formally established. After the court examination, you don't need to pass the official examination, and you can directly award the official. Song Taizu also ordered that after the examination, no examiner should be called a master, and no one should call himself a protege. In this way, all the people became students of the son of heaven. The court exam ranked in the top three. After the Southern Song Dynasty, the emperor announced the ranking of Jinshi in the imperial examination and hosted a banquet for Qiongyuan, so it was called Qionglin Banquet, which was followed and customized by later generations. The imperial examination in Song Dynasty was once a year at first, sometimes once a year or twice a year. It took three years for Yingzong to officially make it once every three years. Every autumn, each state takes the exam once, and the next spring, the exam is conducted by the Ministry of Ritual. Palace examination and provincial examination were conducted in the same year.

Since the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination began to be decorated with names and honors, and a new system to prevent favoritism and malpractice was established. Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the phenomenon of favoritism and malpractice has become more and more serious. In this regard, the rulers of the Song Dynasty took some measures, mainly to establish a paste name and reputation record system. Sticking the name means sealing the candidate's name and place of origin on the test paper, which is also called "seal" or "seal". In Song Taizong, according to Chen Jing's suggestion, the court examination was given a paste name system. Later, Song Renzong's provincial and state examinations implemented a paste name system. But after posting the name, you can also know calligraphy and painting. According to Li Yibin, a native of Yuanzhou, candidates' papers will be recorded separately. When marking papers, examiners not only know the names of candidates, but also can't recognize their handwriting. This system has really played a great role in preventing examiners from favoritism. However, at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, due to the increasingly corrupt politics, this system became a mere formality. The reform of examination form in Song Dynasty not only did not get rid of the chronic disease of imperial examination, but made it worse.

The imperial examination in the Song Dynasty also made great reforms in the examination content. The imperial examination in Song Dynasty basically followed the Tang system, and the imperial examination for scholars was accompanied by classics, ink, poetry and fu, which had great disadvantages. Scholars take phonology as their service, ignorant in ancient and modern times; Ming Jing only memorizes and recites widely, but its meaning is useless learning. After Wang Anshi took part in politics, he began to reform the contents of the imperial examination, abolish poetry and fu, attach classics and ink meaning, and pay attention to selecting scholars through righteousness, reason and strategy. The so-called Confucian classics, similar to theory, is a short essay, which is limited to using the sentences in Confucian classics as the topic and using the meaning in Confucian classics to play. Wang Anshi's reform of examination content lies in the application of Confucian classics. In the eighth year of Xining, Zongshen ordered the abolition of poetry and fu, the pasting of classics, and the selection of scholars by ink, and awarded Wang Anshi's "Three Classics and New Meanings" to discuss the selection of scholars. The Book of Changes, The Book of Songs, The Book of Songs, The Rites of Zhou and The Book of Rites are called "The Great Classics", while The Analects of Confucius and Mencius are called "Concurrent Classics" and are designated as required reading books for candidates. It is stipulated that there are four examinations for Jinshi: one is the Great Classics, the other is the Two Classics, the third is the Theory, and the last is the Strategy. The palace exam is limited to 1000 words or more. Wang Anshi's political reform was opposed by Su Shi and others. Later, with the change of political struggle, the new meanings of the Three Classics were cancelled, and sometimes poetry and prose were tested, sometimes classics were tested, and sometimes both were changed.

The main problem of the imperial examination system's influence on the Song Dynasty is "emphasizing literature over martial arts".

The emperor of the Song Dynasty was more talented than skillful in martial arts. They are afraid that soldiers will fight for insurrection and are unwilling to reuse military commanders. Even if they use them, they are not sure. These are all lessons from the demise of the Tang Dynasty.

Song people deliberately suppressed martial arts and advocated literary concepts in the propaganda of cultural and educational concepts, so they could gain more benefits from reading and learning. Therefore, the Song people were not good at using soldiers, and when the war was burning in front of them, they showed panic and cowardice.