The Influence of Immigrants in Qing Dynasty

The theme movie "Bad Genius" which is being shown tells the story of cheating in the examination room. During the ancient imperial examinations in China, all kinds of cheating methods were dazzling.

The problem of cheating in Qianlong period is the most typical.

The imperial examination system developed to the Qing Dynasty, with a history of more than 1 100 years, and various systems became more and more perfect. However, it is the various and endless cheating methods of scholars that reach the peak. Among these cheating methods, gun substitution, entrainment and cheating are the most prominent, and cheating is the most "soft" one.

To say that it is soft does not mean that impersonation deserves sympathy, but that this kind of fraud is relatively "fair" to other candidates compared with finding someone to replace the exam or cheating. After all, people are still really talented and practical. On the other hand, however, fraud has increased the crisis of social conflicts.

There were many nicknames in the history of China in Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties, such as sending, attaching and passing on. It was not until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, that they were collectively called imposters.

This is not because the problem of cheating in Qianlong period was more serious than that in later years, but because the national strength in Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty was the strongest, and the imperial court represented by Emperor Qianlong had the determination and ability to solve the disadvantages of this examination room, so the information left behind was the most comprehensive, so that we could restore history better. In the later period, the national situation is declining. Compared with other more threatening social problems, cheating in the examination room has become a "burden" that no one cares about.

So, what is imitation? Simply put, cheating is equivalent to the "college entrance examination immigrants" in today's society. For example, students from Zhejiang go to Guizhou to take the college entrance examination, and students from Jiangsu go to Tianjin to take the college entrance examination. In the Qing Dynasty, as far as the general trend is concerned, three kinds of regional mobility were the most common: the southern scholars' northern expedition; Scholars from rich areas go to poor areas to take science exams; Scholars with a large population go to provinces with a small population to participate in scientific research.

Make a scene in the examination room. Chen Jun, the champion of Huaining County in the late Qing Dynasty, won the fifth place in the exam, but he was dissatisfied with other champions. Someone posted that Jun Chen, a native of Jinling, Jiangsu Province, was born in Huaining County to take the exam, and should be disqualified, which eventually triggered an attack by a local boy on the scholar who took the exam. Caption from Dianshizhai Pictorial

Shuntianfu, Tianjin, Guizhou, Guangxi and Taiwan Province provinces are the "hardest hit areas" for fraud.

Then, why are there the above three regional trends of impostors? In fact, the reason is simple: the competition in my hometown is too fierce! The imperial examination in Qing dynasty implemented the provincial quota system. There is a quota for how many people can be admitted to the rural examination in each province.

For example, Tsinghua of Peking University enrolled 100 places in Zhejiang this year, but the competition in Zhejiang is too fierce. Even if the candidates have the ability, some people can't get into their own "dream school" because of quota restrictions. So, what should we do? Studying abroad? Stop joking! For most of the Qing Dynasty, China was the whole world, so how can we learn? Therefore, there is only one way left, to take exams in other places, to occupy places in other provinces by means of "college entrance examination immigration" and to fulfill their dreams.

Therefore, in the Qing Dynasty, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, which were relatively prosperous in study style, relatively rich in economy and densely populated, became "talent export provinces", while Shuntianfu, Tianjin, Guizhou, Guangxi and Taiwan Province provinces at that time became "hardest hit areas".

What should be added here is that the reason why Shuntianfu, which is equivalent to Beijing today, has become the hardest hit area for fraud has little to do with the level of the score line. The reason is that, as the capital of the first good area, the state gives a place here in the imperial examination, that is, the number of places recruited is almost the sum of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, but the population here is much less than that of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, which invisibly improves the chances of candidates realizing their dreams. So it is not difficult to understand why Shuntianfu, especially Daxing and Wanping, became the most densely populated places at that time.

However, these cheaters pose a threat to foreign candidates, which leads to another unfair phenomenon in the examination. Cheating often leads to hostility or even conflict between local candidates and these foreign cheaters.

Learning makes people regret. Scholar Tang Jisheng was originally from Wuxi County, Jiangsu Province, and later participated in scientific research in Wuxian County and was reported. At that time, the academic government, who was in charge of Jiangsu imperial examinations, learned about this situation during invigilation, but because the academic government cherished Tang Jisheng's talent, he was not investigated for cheating. From a subset of Dianshizhai Pictorial

The rules and regulations are strict, but there are still many candidates taking advantage of them.

In order to solve this problem, the Qing Dynasty first promulgated a series of rules and regulations, such as the Imperial Examination Regulations, to restrain cheating and provide a fair examination environment for local candidates. At the same time, it took a series of measures to prevent and combat this kind of "college entrance examination immigration" behavior.

Among them, the main means are: five candidates as a unit to guarantee each other, prestigious candidates to guarantee each other, and send officials to inspect the candidates' accents, and finally try to make the test dates consistent. Once a candidate is found to be a false reference in the examination room, he will be disqualified, beaten with a stick for 80 years, and unable to take the exam in the next 6- 12 years. This last point is undoubtedly the most severe blow to candidates in A Qing society, which regards the imperial examination as the only way to be an official and realizes their ideals.

However, despite all kinds of laws and regulations, many candidates took advantage of the loopholes in the imperial examination and finally realized their dreams. For example, Zhang Jian, the top scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, and Liu Guangdi, one of the "Six Gentlemen of the Reform Movement of 1898", both took part in the Chinese imperial examination under false names.

Zhao Yi, a famous scholar in Qianlong dynasty, should be the most representative and legendary among many candidates who realized their dreams under false names. Zhao Yi, whose name is Geng Song, is a Jiangsu Yang Laker. According to his native place, he should have taken the imperial examination in his hometown of Jiangsu, but according to the data, he took the imperial examination in Tianjin 1750 under a pseudonym, thus starting his career. So, is it true that no one found his false identity? Don't! The story has to start from the year before he took the Beijing exam in Lai Su.

The prohibition of impersonation in Qing dynasty originated from the provisions of imperial examinations.

Zhao Yi, the lucky one in the "College Entrance Examination Immigrants", was found and narrowly passed.

1749 Zhao Yi, who came to Beijing, made a living selling documents and stayed at the home of an official at that time, Yin Jishan. Zhao Yi, who was in a difficult situation at that time, only hoped that the examination hall could successfully change the status quo. However, as a native of Jiangsu, it is obviously difficult for him to guarantee that he will be admitted when he returns to his hometown, so in order to increase his chances of success in the exam, he thought of a way, that is, to cheat to take the exam. It happened that there was a clansman in Zhao Yi's hometown who was doing salt business in Tianjin, which provided Zhao Yi with an opportunity to muddle through. So Zhao Yi decided to take the exam by forging a business identity. He lied that he accompanied his relative from Jiangsu to do salt business in the north, so as to get the opportunity to take the exam in his temporary residence in the north.

In fact, when Zhao Yi took the exam, someone had already seen through his false identity. However, on the one hand, Ye, the official in charge of the examination at that time, appreciated Zhao Yi's talent, on the other hand, due to his face, he didn't seriously picket his fake identity, so that he passed the customs smoothly and made him famous on the list, thus opening Zhao Yi's official career. Zhao Yi, the lucky one in the "college entrance examination immigrants", also restored this matter in the long poem "Going to Tianjin". Although the poem describes the affair of cheating, she is quite proud of it, but Zhao Yi also knows that cheating is not allowed by the Ministry after all, and this is exactly the theme mentioned in the poem, "The South strives to go north to keep the first place unaffected". Judging from a series of experiences reflected in the poem, Zhao Yi felt quite embarrassed. In fact, Zhao Yi felt humiliated herself, and even thought that the elder sister was losing money, so she finally had to laugh it off, and she was relieved that the elder sister didn't feel guilty.

Poetry:

Xiao went to Chang 'an and found an official who could handle affairs.

I don't know, a green broom is easily abandoned.

Nan Yao tried the Northern Wei Dynasty, which made the first place suffer.

I heard that there are prison records, which tourists have borrowed for a long time.

If you are a student, you can be a couple.

Take a thin and stupid car, and the road points to Dingjiakou.

Ludi winds straight, and the brocade box is greener than wine.

It will be a fake route, so be careful first.

Who is strict, who dare not sue.

For example, vote for Qin Ke and change its name.

Meng tasted Hangu Pass and barked at midnight.

Zuo Zongtang's pursuers were defeated, and Huang Ma was the last one.

In fact, catkins float in spring and willows fall to the ground.

Although you are greedy and eager to fly, you will be ashamed of ugliness in the end.

The ancients started again. The source is banned.

The letter of appointment is a public official, afraid of friends.

What did I do alone? I went to Tibet to recuperate.

There are many options for stealing springs. I want to have a drink when I am thirsty.

Traces are like nests occupied by pigeons, and emotions are looking for stags.

There is no need to thank the traveler when he wakes up from his dream.

Laughing and laughing, the proportion is 89%.

Xu Ningjiang, a right-handed scholar, went to Hangzhou to find the first place.

Fan, a famous minister, also did as Zhu said.

Has always been a poor scholar impetuous.

It is necessary to have a big festival in the current period.

Carelessly, Zhao Yi, who took the exam, almost became the champion.

For Zhao Yi, who has passed the provincial examination, she still needs to continue to take the examination and the palace examination in order to obtain the highest level of imperial examination fame-Jinshi. Therefore, although he was lucky enough to pass the provincial examination, he also needed to worry about his identity during the examination and the palace examination. But later it turned out that Zhao Yi was so lucky! Zhao Yi first won the protection of Wang Youdun, took the entrance examination and palace examination as a fake, and even changed the font, fooling the examiners Liu Tongxun and Liu Lun, and was listed as the top ten. At this time, the general hit Kai and sent him to read the papers together. Zhao Yi was promoted as the top scholar. It's just that something more interesting happened later. The first place promoted by officials was mistakenly the third place.

When Emperor Qianlong finally got the top three papers recommended by officials, he found that Zhao Yi, who was promoted as the first, was from Jiangsu, the second was from Zhejiang, and the third was from Shaanxi. Later, Emperor Qianlong asked the ministers around him: "Do we have Shaanxi-born champions in the Qing Dynasty?" The minister next to him replied, "There used to be a Kang Hai in the Ming Dynasty, but not in the Qing Dynasty!" In this way, Emperor Qianlong decided to swap the first place with the third place, and explained: "Although Zhao Yi, the first place, has a good literary talent, there are many people with good literary talent in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, so there is nothing to make a fuss about. However, not only has there not been a champion in Shaanxi so far, but the army of the Western Expedition has just triumphed. Such an opportunity, it is not an exaggeration to transfer Wang Jie, which has ranked third, to the first! " In this way, Zhao Yi, who took the exam as an impostor, became a flower explorer in one fell swoop, while Wang Jie became the first Shaanxi scholar in the history of the Qing Dynasty.

Although the story of Zhao Yi's impostor today has become a much-told story to mention the disadvantages of this examination room, we can't cover up his unjust and unfair principles because of his legendary nature. If Zhao Yi got the position of flower exploration largely by virtue of his own intelligence, it is at least because of this scam that he has a platform to display his talents. But in more materials, what we see is not that cheaters like Zhao Yi have successfully passed the exam, but that there has been a "local-guest conflict" caused by cheaters, and even examples of mutual criticism for decades.

Although represented by the Qianlong dynasty, the imperial court took various measures to rectify the imperial examination, and achieved certain results, which made scholars all over the world afraid to take exams with false certificates, but with the passage of time and the decline of national strength, the trend of taking exams with false certificates could not be stopped, and scholars were not ashamed of taking exams with false certificates, but proud of taking exams with false certificates, which also reflected the sadness that the imperial examination system was going to the end. Taking history as a mirror, we can know the rise and fall. The interpretation of cheating in imperial examinations in Qing Dynasty can not only help us understand a period of history, but also provide a reference for us to prevent and solve cheating in today's examinations. I think this is also the charm of history.