Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The scholar-officials in the imperial court were concerned with the collation and annotation of the Four Books and Five Classics, while the scholars participating in the imperial examinations were even more concerned with it.

Yang Tingshu was the runner-up in the Jiangnan provincial examination, and he came to take the exam with Zhang Pu this time.

After hearing the news, he spoke with Zhang Pu and others, saying:
"Brother Tianru, do you think the imperial examination system will be changed after the Four Books and Five Classics are revised and annotated?"

"Do we have to relearn the scriptures and memorize new commentaries?"

Zhang Pu, one of the emperor's appointed editors in charge of proofreading and annotation, smiled and said upon hearing this:

"The imperial examination system will naturally be reformed; the revision and annotation are for the purpose of the imperial examination system."

"However, there isn't much new knowledge to learn; most of it will still use the existing annotations."

"With Brother Weidou's talent, he will surely pass the imperial examination this time. There is no need to worry at all."

He advised Yang Tingshu to relax and not worry about changes. As long as he passed the imperial examination, he would be able to make a living.

Zhang Pu had this confidence, but Yang Tingshu did not.

After all, Zhang Pu studied under Xu Guangqi and was skilled in arithmetic. Given his mathematical expertise, as long as he didn't falter in the examination, passing the imperial examination was a certainty.

Even if Yang Tingshu becomes the top scholar in Jiangnan, he will still fail the imperial examination if the examiners do not appreciate him.

So he looked at Zhang Pu with envy and said:
"Tianru is fine, but I'm not."

“Governor Wu of Zhejiang was also a second-place scholar in the imperial examinations, but he had to take the exams eight times before he finally became a Jinshi.”

"Even Shang Gong, who achieved the highest rank in the imperial examinations, had to take the exams three times before finally becoming the top scholar in both the provincial and national examinations."

These examples illustrate the instability of the imperial examination system.

Even the most talented person may encounter obstacles in the imperial examinations.

Zhang Pu sensed Yang Tingshu's nervousness and reassured him:
"The Emperor reformed the imperial examination system to make the examination process fairer."

"In this imperial examination, the examiners will collect the papers from both the main and supplementary lists, and then at least three examiners will evaluate them together to determine the rankings of the main and supplementary lists."

"With this cross-checking method, talented people will surely stand out."

"Brother Weidou, you don't actually think we can't even make it onto the second-ranked list, do you?"

"As long as your exam paper is detected and graded by multiple examiners, you will definitely be on the official list!"

This method sounded fairer than the previous method where the examiners made all the decisions, and Yang Tingshu was indeed much less worried.

However, personal preferences have a huge impact on writing, and Yang Tingshu was really worried that the examiners would dislike his writing style and reject him outright.

So he shook his head and sighed, worried about his future, and said with a touch of envy:

“Brother Zhang is skilled in arithmetic, so there’s really nothing to worry about.”

"I really hope that the imperial examination for the Jinshi degree will also be graded on a 100-point scale."

"If admission is based on scores, I'll accept it even if I don't pass the exam."

"I'm afraid that some people will reject us based on their own likes and dislikes."

These words resonated deeply with many of the candidates who heard them.

They are not afraid of the lack of standards, but rather of the standards changing arbitrarily.

The examiners for this subject might like this writing style, but their preferences might change for the next subject.

This is why some exceptionally talented people fail in the imperial examinations.

Therefore, they generally agreed with the 100-point system implemented by the emperor. At least they could know where they were lacking and why they received low scores.

Sensing the crowd's agreement with the percentage system, Zhang Pu smiled and said:

"Aren't the second and third rounds of the imperial examination for the Jinshi degree graded on a 100-point scale?"

"Only those who pass two or three exams can become the officially listed Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations)."

Everyone had heard about it, but some were still unaware of the details.

After careful inquiry, it was learned that the imperial court implemented this system in order to demonstrate the equal importance of the three events.

Those skilled in strategy were overjoyed by this.

Those who weren't good at policy essays were somewhat worried, but after learning that the difficulty of the second and third rounds of the provincial examination wouldn't exceed that of the provincial examination, and that the topics were even drawn from the provincial examinations of the past few years, they expressed their agreement.

They couldn't very well say that they couldn't even answer these questions, because that would make people question their qualifications as candidates for the imperial examinations.

There are also those who are very good at policy essays but not so good at the eight-legged essay style, who feel that simply passing the second and third rounds is not enough:
“The first exam on the classics is certainly important, but aren’t the second and third exams on policy essays just as important?” “Since we say that all three exams are equally important, then all three exams should be passed, and then the best candidates should be selected from the exam papers on the classics, policy essays and policy essays.”

"The current grading method still doesn't emphasize policy essays."

He complained bitterly about this and believed it should be revised.

Clearly, these candidates who might benefit from the reform of the imperial examination system not only did not oppose the changes, but even felt that they should be more radical.

Seeing this, Zhang Pu, remembering the task the emperor had assigned to guide the scholars, seized the opportunity to say:

"The Emperor also feels that the imperial examination should be changed."

"Currently, all three aspects are given equal importance, with the study of classics taking precedence. However, once the scoring criteria for policy essays are released, it is possible that policy essays will take precedence, while the study of classics will only require a passing grade."

"Therefore, you don't need to worry about the changes in the collation and annotation of the Four Books and Five Classics at all."

"Even with some changes, can your understanding of the scriptures still be considered substandard?"

On the other hand, it reassured students that they did not need to worry about the revision of the imperial examination textbooks.

Furthermore, it was indicated that policy discussions would become increasingly important and would be placed in a more prominent position in the future.

Those who knew Zhang Pu's identity pondered this matter. Many others, however, prepared for the upcoming exams with trepidation.
-

On the ninth day of the second lunar month, the candidates began their first examination, and the second examination was held on the twelfth day.

This day also marked the start of the Spring Lectures on the Classics. Zhu Youjian had previously assigned tasks to discuss the collation and annotation of the Four Books and Five Classics.

The court officials had made thorough preparations for this.

Sun Qifeng, Chen Jiru, and others who were out of office were also invited to participate.

At the very beginning of the lecture, Zhu Youjian set the tone by saying:
"The annotation of the Four Books is based on Zhu Xi's Collected Annotations on the Four Books, and is revised and corrected on this basis."

"What really needs major revision are the Five Classics: Poetry, Book of Documents, Rites, Changes, Spring and Autumn Annals, and the Book of Changes."

"I have observed that most of the candidates in this year's imperial examinations studied the Book of Changes and the Book of Poetry."

"The Book of Documents, the Spring and Autumn Annals, and the Book of Rites are too obscure, so few candidates study them."

"These three classics are most in need of revision to truly reduce the burden on students!"

Under the guise of reducing burdens, the main change is to the Five Classics.

This view was endorsed by the court officials. This is because the foundation of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is the Four Books, which is what all students in the country study, while they only choose one of the Five Classics.

The emperor only requested minor revisions to the Four Books, which meant that most students' understanding of the Four Books did not need to be changed.

The revisions to the Five Classics only affected those who specialized in those classics.

Liu Zongzhou, who had already been appointed to compile the "Correct Interpretation of the Book of Rites," spoke first:

"Your Majesty ordered me to compile the 'Correct Meaning of the Book of Rites,' and after much thought, I decided to divide it into two volumes."

"The first volume consists of the Book of Rites, the Book of Ceremonies, and the Rites of Zhou, all of which are the original three rites."

"The second volume consists of the 'Great Ming Ritual Law Convention,' the 'Great Ming Feudal Ritual Law,' and the 'Great Ming Inheritance Ritual Law,' which are the three new rituals of the Great Ming."

"Future examinations will focus on the new Three Rites of the Ming Dynasty, supplemented by the classics of the old Three Rites."

This compilation method was approved by Zhu Youjian, who nodded and said:

"Rites are dynamic and ever-changing, and students of the Ming Dynasty should naturally learn the Three Rites of the Ming Dynasty."

“We must not abandon the old three rites, especially the chapters such as the ‘Li Yun’.”

"However, the three rites have too many chapters and are outdated. In the past, even if only the Book of Rites was tested, few people were selected. I think the burden must be reduced."

"The teacher can select some chapters from the old Three Rites as required reading and include them in the 'Correct Meaning of the Rites Classic'. Other chapters are optional readings and are listed as reference classics, just like the 'Da Dai Li Ji', 'Xiao Jing', 'Kong Zi Jia Yu', and 'Zhu Zi Jia Xun'."

"Reference texts are not included in the scope of the questions, but candidates may cite them in their essays to support their views."

With this revision, the content of the old Three Rites in the *Lijing Zhengyi* was greatly reduced. In particular, those obscure and difficult-to-understand parts could be relegated to an elective course.

The courtiers all nodded in agreement, agreeing that this was indeed a viable change. The burden on students would be reduced, and more people would be encouraged to study the classics of etiquette.

They began discussing which chapters should be included in the compulsory curriculum.

Chapters such as "Quli", "Wangzhi", "Liyun", and "Yueji" were selected, while other obscure and ineffective chapters were discarded from the reference list.

The study of rites in the Ming Dynasty began to enter a new era, shifting from rote memorization to practical application. (End of Chapter)