Riding the wind of rebirth

"However, literacy rates were very low in ancient times. Families with connections were usually wealthy and powerful. Hanging such things up to scare unsuspecting people should have been quite effective at the time."

"The 'Jinshi' and 'Enjinshi' on the plaques are actually pure fakes. They are just respectful titles for 'Suigongsheng' and 'Engongsheng'. In the countryside, people think that such people are already remarkable and have a relatively high social status. When relatives and friends meet, they often address each other as 'Jinshi'."

“The scholars of the Ming and Qing dynasties were hypocritical and frivolous. They would often make plaques to hang in their main hall to create a sense of vanity. However, they dared not impersonate genuine Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) plaques, because those were state-approved and forgery would be a crime. So they would only take the two characters “Jinshi” and add characters such as “En” and “Sui” in the middle. However, the characters were very small and usually painted the same color as the background, so that you could hardly see them at a glance.”

Even the usually conservative Huang Ruishan couldn't help but burst out laughing: "This is absolutely bizarre! If they put this much effort into scholarship, wouldn't they have already passed the imperial examinations by now?!"

Everyone burst into laughter at this remark.

It's quite amusing to expose these fakes along the way. It turns out that not many of the Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) in this alley are genuine. The real Jinshi who passed the exams are military Jinshi, and their status is even higher than theirs.

"Then what do these plaques with the title of 'Wen Kui' mean?" Now everyone was more suspicious. Even someone as naive as Li Yijia no longer believed that these plaques belonged to the families of top scholars, because she had never heard of so many top scholars coming from one alley.

"Ancient examinations were divided into six levels: county, prefectural, provincial, township, metropolitan, and palace examinations. The provincial examination produced successful candidates, and it was held in the eighth month of the years of Zi, Wu, Mao, and You, hence the common name 'Autumn Examination'. The results were announced between the fifth and fifteenth of the ninth month, often on the days of Yin and Chen. Chen belongs to the dragon and Yin belongs to the tiger, hence the name 'Dragon and Tiger List'. Because it coincided with the season when osmanthus flowers were in bloom, it was also called 'Osmanthus List'."

"The list is divided into the main list and the supplementary list. The main list starts from the sixth place and goes up to the last place, then goes up to the top five, and so on down from the fifth place to the first place. It is called the 'Five Classics Champions' or 'Five Champions'. New candidates will receive twenty taels of silver from the provincial finance department for a memorial arch. In some places, they simply make the plaques and give them to them directly."

"Therefore, the inscriptions on the plaques are all prescribed by the government. The first place is written as 'Jieyuan', the second place as 'Yayuan', the third, fourth and fifth place as 'Jingkui', and the sixth place and subsequent supplementary candidates do not have these privileges, but they can make their own plaques. However, according to the regulations, they can only write the two characters 'Wenkui'."

"So these 'Wen Kui' are actually all Juren who ranked sixth or lower..." Xu Anxin understood.

“Yes, but even a scholar who passed the imperial examination in the Ming and Qing dynasties was already quite remarkable,” Zhou Zhi said. “Everyone has read the story of Fan Jin passing the imperial examination. After passing the examination, another scholar immediately came to visit him and offered him two hundred mu of land as a ‘tribute’. As a result, the corvée labor on these two hundred mu of land was exempted. All of this was to benefit the scholar. The equivalent income that should have been handed over to the national treasury or used as national labor became ‘profit’ to be shared with the scholar.”

"Therefore, starting from the Ming Dynasty, there were no poor people among the successful candidates in the imperial examinations. Once you passed the examinations, your social class changed immediately."

“Although it’s not quite at the level of a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations),” Zhou Zhi pointed to the two characters “Wen Kui” (literary champion) above the door: “This plaque alone can crush all the others we just saw. Even a military Jinshi can’t compare to this.”

"If elbow were in ancient times, it wouldn't be difficult for it to pass the imperial examination, right?" Old Li teased.

“If one is single-minded, the chances of becoming a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination) are uncertain, but as for a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the metropolitan examination)…” Zhou Zhi shook his head: “That is like a thousand troops crossing a single-plank bridge, it basically depends entirely on luck.”

"You're certainly not being polite," Xu Anxin said with a smile.

“We think Zhouzi is being modest,” Li Yijia and Huang Ruishan said.

“Actually, official rank isn’t important; even a Xiucai degree is enough,” Zhou Zhi said. “Once you pass the Xiucai exam, you’re considered a formal scholar. Do you know what the greatest advantage of being a scholar is?” “What is it?”

“You don’t have to bow to officials.” Zhou Zhi said, “A scholar only needs to bow to the county magistrate, while a graduate can address the county magistrate as a brother and sit on equal footing. But these are not the biggest advantages.”

"What is the biggest benefit?"

“The biggest advantage is that you can travel and go all over the world,” Zhou Zhi said. “In ancient times, ordinary people could not leave their homes for more than a hundred miles without a travel permit, and applying for a travel permit was extremely troublesome. But once you passed the imperial examination and became famous, you no longer needed a travel permit.”

“That’s not bad,” Li Laosan laughed. “Actually, as long as you can travel all over the world, you can make a fortune just by taking advantage of information asymmetry and reselling things.”

"Back then, being a merchant was considered a lowly profession. But if a scholar could swallow his pride, there were quite a few ways to make money," Zhou Zhi said. "However, his reputation would most likely be ruined. Oh, finally, we see a proper Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination)'s family."

This is a large courtyard, and a sign on the side of the gate reads "Hu Family Courtyard".

When everyone looked up at the plaque, it was upright and clearly visible, far more impressive than any plaques they had seen before.

In the center are three large gold-lacquered characters, “Jinshi Di” (进士第). To one side of the character “Jin” (进), there are three fist-sized characters, “Da Zongli” (大宗公). Below them, from left to right, are listed a certain Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, a certain lecturer of the Imperial Academy, a certain lecturer of the Imperial Academy, and a certain Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Below that is the character “Wei” (为).

Clearly, these are the names of the chief examiners of that subject, the mentors of the successful candidates.

On the other side of the plaque is written: "Erected by Hu Moumou, who was granted the title of Jinshi in the supplementary list of the imperial examination in a certain year of Tongzhi, the metropolitan examination in a certain year of Tongzhi, the palace examination, and the court examination."

He wrote down the process of passing the imperial examination in great detail, as if afraid of omitting a single detail.

"Granted the title of Jinshi, born in Hu, what does that mean? Why is there an extra 'born' in the middle?" Xu Anxin asked.

“It is the title of ‘Ci Jinshi’ (赐进士出身).” Zhou Zhi explained: “In ancient times, the imperial examination was divided into three grades. The first grade was the top three, namely Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua. These three were awarded the honorary title of ‘Ci Jinshi Jidi’ (赐进士及第) by the emperor. The second grade was usually from the fourth to the fiftieth place, and they received the title of ‘Ci Jinshi Chushen’ (赐进士出身). The third grade was more common, usually between one hundred and three hundred, and they received the title of ‘Ci Tong Jinshi Chushen’ (赐同进士出身).

"All three are Jinshi, but their treatment is different. The first-class Jinshi are directly granted an official position after passing the exam. The second and third-class Jinshi are usually assigned to various departments for a period of time to study, which is called 'observing the government,' to learn some common sense about officialdom. After that, they still have to go through the selection exam of the Ministry of Personnel before they can get an official position."

"When we memorized history, didn't we learn about county governments, townships, assemblies, and halls? What is this 'court examination'?" Li Yijia asked.

"This was the Qing Dynasty's system," Zhou Zhi said. "After the palace examination, which determined the top three ranks—as I just mentioned—the top three in the first rank were appointed as compilers and editors in the Hanlin Academy. This was equivalent to directly becoming a member of the emperor's secretariat, the narrowest definition of 'the emperor's disciples.' The rest participated in the court examination. The court examination consisted of one essay, one memorial, and one poem, with questions set by the emperor. Papers were submitted on the same day, and the emperor personally appointed ministers to review them. They would then draft first, second, and third-class rankings and submit them to the emperor, who would personally determine the rankings of the top ten papers." (End of Chapter)