The Literature and Cultural Ecology of Imperial Examinations in the Ming Dynasty

The book examines the relationship between imperial examinations and literature from the perspective of restoring the cultural ecology of imperial examinations in Ming China, breaking through the paradigm of pure literature research. This book presents an important practice in adjusting the pattern of literary research. The contents of this book include five mutually independent but supportive parts: 1) the living conditions and careers of the literary attendants; 2) the educational background and school's consciousness of the Ming literati; 3) top candidates and Ming literature; 4) genres of imperial examination and the Ming society; 5) exam cheating cases from the perspective of politics and literature. This book will appeal to readers interested in Chinese literature and culture and the imperial examination system in ancient China. Contents 5 List of Tables 9 1 Introduction 10 2 The Living Conditions and Literary Careers of the Hanlin Literati in the Ming Dynasty 18 The Literary Activities and Self-Identities of the Ming Hanlin Literati 18 Living Conditions of the Ming Hanlin Literati 19 Writing Career of the Ming Hanlin Literati 25 Identity and the ‘Wealthy and Blessed Style’ of the Ming Hanlin Literati 35 The Significance of Literary Activities in the Ming Hanlin Academy 47 ‘Hanlin Writing’ in the Collections of Ming Huiyuan 57 The Positions of Ming Huiyuan 58 Schoolwork in the Hanlin Academy and Lecture Notes 65 Cabinet-Style Literature in the Collections of Ming Huiyuan 76 Cabinet-Style Literature of the Early Ming Seen in Huiyuan’s Collections 77 Cabinet-Style Literature of the Middle and Late Ming Seen in Huiyuan’s Collections 96 3 The Background of the Imperial Examinations and the School Consciousness of the Ming Literati 115 Local Confucian Schools and Cabinet-Style Literature in the Early Ming Dynasty 116 Status of Local Confucian Schools and Teaching Experience of Cabinet Ministers 116 Popularity of the Cabinet Style Enabled by Two Communities’ Interaction 123 The Cabinet Style: Mark of the Formation of a New Cultural Pattern in the Early Ming 129 The North–South Contest in the Selection of Officials and the Rise of the Earlier Seven Masters 137 North–South Cultural Differences and Their Influences on Ming Literature 138 North–South Contest for Selecting Officials and the Rise of the Earlier Seven Masters 145 Decline of the Archaist Movement and Its Impact 155 The Educational Background and School Consciousness of the Later Seven Masters in the Jiajing Period 161 Special Bond of the Later Seven Masters and the Generation Gap Between Them and the Tang-Song School 163 The Educational Background of Tang Shunzhi and Wang Shenzhong and Their Special Consciousness of the Cabinet 168 The Later Seven Masters’ Consciousness of Capital Ministries and Their Struggle Against Yan Song 174 The Competition for the Leader Among the Later Seven Masters Against the Background of the Imperial Examinations 184 4 Zhuangyuan and Literature in the Ming Dynasty 192 The Position of Literature in the Ming Imperial Examinations Seen from Zhuangyuan’s Selection and Political Career 193 Emphasis on and Paradigm of ‘Literary Grace’ 193 Relations Between Zhuangyuan’s Official Careers and Literature 203 Evolution of the Cabinet Style as Seen from Zhuangyuan’s Style of Writing 210 Zhuangyuan’s Style of Writing and the Prosperity of the Cabinet Style in the Early Ming 211 The Turn of Kang Hai’s Writing and the Decline of the Cabinet Style 220 The Folk Complex of Zhuangyuan Jiao Hong and the End of Cabinet Style 227 Distribution of Genres in the Ming Zhuangyuan’s Collected Works 236 Study on the Existing and Lost Collected Works of Zhuangyuan in the Ming Dynasty 237 Zhuangyuan Whose Collected Works have been Lost 237 Zhuangyuan Whose Collected Works Can Only Be Found in Relevant Written Descriptions 238 Zhuangyuan Whose Collected Works Remain Preserved Today 238 Genres in the Collected Works of the Ming Zhuangyuan 239 The ‘Most Important’ and the ‘Least Important’ Genres 240 The Three Major Categories of Prose: Presentation Prefaces, Stele Biographies, and Letters 242 Different Treatments of the Styles of the Imperial Examinations: Zhuangyuan’s Policy and Eight-Legged Essays 243 Seven-Character Regulated Verse Was Favoured, While Lyrics Were Largely Excluded 245 Ming Zhuangyuan Literature from the Perspective of Literary History 249 5 Writing Styles of the Imperial Examinations and Ming Society 253 Policy Essays in the Palace Examinations and Social Issues and Decision Orientation During the Ming Dynasty 254 Close Ties Between Policy Questions and Social Issues 255 Policy Essays in the Palace Examination and Issues Related to People’s Livelihoods 255 Policy Essays in the Palace Examination and Folkway Issues 269 Policy Essays in the Palace Examination and the Administration of Officials 276 Policy Essays in the Palace Examination and Military Issues 285 Impact of Ming Thought and Culture on Eight-Legged Essays 291 Adherence to Cheng-Zhu’s Commentaries on the Classics: 1368–1505 293 The Philosophy of Mind Penetrated the Eight-Legged Essay After 1506 302 Taoism and Buddhism Mixed with Eight-Legged Essays After 1567 310 Values of the Eight-Legged Essays: To Expand and Enrich Confucian Traditions 317 Enrichment of the Ming Ideology and Culture 317 Evaluation of the Study of the Eight-Legged Essay in Mainland China Since 1905 327 6 Exam Cheating Cases from the Perspective of Ming Politics and Literature 341 Cheating Cases in the Imperial Examinations and Ming Politics 341 The Case of ‘North-South Lists’ and Regional Balance in 1397 342 Cheating Cases of the Grand Secretaries’ Offspring in the Mid-Ming Examinations 349 Attacking Dissidents: Cheating Cases in the Late Ming 360 Cheating Cases and the Literary Careers of the Ming Writers: Taking Tang Yin and Wang Heng as Examples 365 Cheating Cases and Tang Yin’s Literary Career 366 Cheating Cases and Wang Heng’s Literary Career 377 Conclusion 388 Bibliography 392 Index 410 The book examines the relationship between imperial examinations and literature from the perspective of restoring the cultural ecology of imperial examinations in Ming China, breaking through the paradigm of pure literature research.This book presents an important practice in adjusting the pattern of literary research. The contents of this book include five mutually independent but supportive parts: 1) the living conditions and careers of the literary attendants; 2) the educational background and school's consciousness of the Ming literati; 3) top candidates and Ming literature; 4) genres of imperial examination and the Ming society; 5) exam cheating cases from the perspective of politics and literature. This book will appeal to readers interested in Chinese literature and culture and the imperial examination system in ancient China. CHEN Wenxin, Professor of Chinese Literature at Wuhan University in China, is currently the chairman of the Professor Committee of the College of Chinese Language and Literature and the director of the Academic Committee of the Chinese Traditional Culture Research Centre of Wuhan University. As the chief editor of the 18-volume Chinese Literary Chronicle, he has won the first Chinese Government Award for Publishing