What are the disadvantages of the imperial examination system in Ming Dynasty?

China's imperial examination system was founded in Sui Dynasty, perfected in Tang Dynasty, developed in Song Dynasty and flourished in Ming Dynasty. It has a long history, but the imperial examination in Qing dynasty is still modeled after the stereotyped writing of the previous dynasty, but it pays more attention to the prevention of scholars' thoughts. Objectively speaking, the imperial examination system has certain historical advantages in selecting talents, but with the passage of time, its disadvantages are increasingly exposed, especially after modern times, it is more difficult for the imperial examination system to adapt to the development requirements of the times. The ancient imperial examination system is related to the selection of officials and the education of the whole nation, which are closely combined and indispensable. But the terrible thing is that those scholars who study hard for life are useless administratively, even in real life, let alone promoting the development of modern industrialized society. During the Westernization Movement, it was difficult for Tongwenguan to recruit suitable talents, because in the eyes of scholars at that time, Tongwenguan was not born in the right direction. The Wentong Museum sponsored by the imperial court is still the same, not to mention other schools that study western learning. When Shen Baozhen ran Fuzhou Ship Administration School, most of the students were poor children, because they had to sign a contract to ensure that they would not take the imperial examinations in the future. There was no shortage of talents in the Qing dynasty, but under the guidance of the imperial examination system, those outstanding scholars paid more attention to official career than skills, which of course led to the nowhere to go in modern industrialized society. However, the complexity of the imperial examination system lies not only in the educational content, but also in the selection mechanism of court officials. Once the imperial examination is abolished, it will affect the origin and occupation of millions of scholars, and it is conceivable how much resistance there is. For example, during the Reform Movement of 1898 (1898), the reformists put forward some reform measures, such as abolishing the eight-part essay reform strategy, stopping the martial arts and offering special economic courses, and some scholars threatened to assassinate Kang Youwei. After the failure of the political reform, the imperial examination remained the same, and Wu Ju even started their subject of "Knife, Bow and Stone", completely ignoring that the world at that time was already a long gun and cannon.

The repeated defeats in the Sino-Japanese War made it the most vulnerable place to break through. 190 1 August, the imperial court issued a decree to stop the martial arts examination forever, and the provincial examination and the general examination were all attempts, and the stereotyped writing proposition was no longer used; At the same time, the court decided to add politics, history, geography, military and other subjects to meet the needs of the times. 1904 65438+ 10, Zhang Zhidong, Minister of Education Zhang Baixi and Rong Qing, who were in charge of revising the new academic system, pointed out that the establishment of new schools was hindered by the non-stop of the imperial examination. However, because no new schools were established, the imperial examinations could not be stopped immediately. Therefore, the imperial court should establish a transitional period to unify the imperial examination and school education. After this memorial went up, it was recognized by the Qing court. As a result, the imperial examination began to gradually reduce the number of admission places and turned to schools to select talents. Interestingly, the development of history sometimes exceeds people's expectations. After a year, under the great stimulus of the Russo-Japanese War, the voice of Chinese people demanding the immediate abolition of the imperial examination greatly increased. In this situation, Yuan Shikai, together with Zhang Zhidong, Zhou Fu, Cen Chunxuan, Zhao Erxun and other local governors, played in the court to invite "all scholars get the first place by luck, and the people will sit on the sidelines if they don't stop the imperial examination". Please stop the imperial examination and promote the school. Under the pressure of the times, Empress Dowager Cixi also felt that the method of reducing the imperial examination was too slow and too urgent, and finally accepted the idea of stopping the imperial examination immediately. The Qing court subsequently issued a decree announcing that imperial examinations at all levels would be stopped from the thirty-second year of Guangxu (1905). As a result, the imperial examination system, which lasted for more than 1000 years, was completely abolished in less than five years after the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty. In this regard, American sociologist rozman praised in his book "Modernization of China": "Abolishing the imperial examination system represents China's breaking with the past, and its significance is roughly equivalent to the abolition of slavery in Russia in 186 1 and the abolition of vassals shortly after the Meiji Restoration in 1868." It should be said that this evaluation is quite pertinent, not intended to compliment.