| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 中國文學系 === 106 === SUMMARY
Based on the historical materials of the imperial examinations and the collection of people at the time of quotations that were organised and analysed, the phenomenon of reoccurrences between Biao and test questions can be found. This thesis cites the writings of Biao from different periods of the Ming Dynasty in order to explore the special features and appearances of literary presentation. Although the fact that there are many criticisms regarding Biao in the examinations, the characteristics of literature and the era it presents still cannot be ignored.
Key words：Two exams of the imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty, the second parts of township and metropolitan exams, official documents in Biao style in the Ming Dynasty, the evolution of Biao
INTRODUCTION
The imperial examination system of the Ming Dynasty, lasting for nearly 300 years before the dynasty was ended, played a significant role in the selection of talents. The mechanism of selecting talents is an extremely vital part of the operation of a country. Whether the system is comprehensive or not, the process of examination, the content of examination, the admission standards and so on are all closely connected to each other and cannot be discussed separately.
The examinations in the Ming Dynasty are based on township and metropolitan exams. They are divided into three parts, of which the first part focused on Jingyi and the other two (2nd and 3rd) consist of the contents of commentaries, judgments, and historical records. Biao is a form of official document from a lower level to a higher one and the tests of Zhao, Gao, Biao were mainly used in the second parts of township and metropolitan exams. Question setters collected the questions through the recordings of township and metropolitan exams to observe the special features presented in the questions. This thesis is divided into “test questions” and “style of questions” as the main research.
In the second test, “The Choice of Zhao, Gao, Biao’, although the test required the candidate to only choose one, they still had room to choose the question to elaborate on. It can be seen that from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the candidates preferred Biao whilst only a few chose Zhao or Gao to elaborate on.
However, after the middle period of the Ming Dynasty, a phenomenal rise of choosing Biao was clearly presented. Not only the fact that the candidates only chose Biao compared to Zhao and Gao but the fact that a lot of the exam records were compiled in the style of Biao were clearly seen. The preferences of the question setters were based on their observation of exams of Zhao, Gao and Biao.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
There are 1132 questions consisting of Zhao, Gao and Biao with reoccurrences, and the overlapping of these three styles can be found as well in both township and metropolitan examinations. Based on the historical materials of the imperial examinations and the collection of people at the time of quotations that were organised and analysed, the phenomenon of reoccurrences between Biao and test questions can be found.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
From the perspective of style and literary theory, the form of Biao originated from the evolution of the earliest Chinese Dynasties ( Xia, Shang and Zhou). In response to the needs of the dynasties and the timing of application, or influenced by the ethos of the times, the literary style of Biao became more diverse. At the time of the Tang and Song Dynasties, Biao was mainly written in the form of Pianwen (rhythmical proses characterised by parallelism and ornateness) and such the change affected the development of Biao later on.
CONCLUSION
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, even under the influence of the impetus of the imperial examination along with the influence of internal and external factors, the written style of Biao became nonsensical to the public with its overly-done rhetoric, praise and juxtaposition, gaining itself the ironic name of “unimportance”.This thesis cites the writings of Biao from different periods of the Ming Dynasty in order to explore the special features and appearances of literary presentation. Although the fact that there are many criticisms regarding Biao in the examinations, the characteristics of literature and the era it presents still cannot be ignored.
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