It is said that the eight-part essay places too much emphasis on form and "binds the mind." Didn't the ancients understand this truth? If you know this and still don't change it, then there must be a reason not to change it, and you must have carefully weighed the pros and cons. Like Gao Pragmatic in his previous life
The civil service examination also tests the essay. Those who have passed the civil service examination should know that it is not easy to write the essay, which is often the key to getting points. The content is mainly about today's hot and difficult topics, and there are also fixed formats to follow, such as "syllogism" and asking questions.
, analyze problems, solve problems, etc. In fact, isn’t this the modern version of the eight-part essay? Of course, in comparison, its degree of freedom of expression is slightly higher, but the disadvantage is that it is difficult to judge the level. Perhaps from a formal point of view,
It seems to be more free than the eight-legged essay, but sometimes I feel that it is well written and the discussion is exciting, but it does not match the "standard answer" and the score is very low. Or the same article is read and approved by another person, and the reviewer changes it to another person.
I thought the test paper was nonsense and my score was very low.
In fact, the ancients understood this truth long ago, which is why there are strict requirements for the eight-part essay. First, unify the standard in form, formulate the rules of the game, and ensure fair trade-offs to avoid criticism. The eight-part essay has formatting requirements, but there are no
The so-called "standard answers", and the test papers after the examination at that time would be returned to the individual, with marks of correction on them. This was a huge pressure on the examiners, and they had to be serious and cautious. Compared with the previous life, they only knew the scores and could not check the papers.
Is the change correct or incorrect? On the contrary, it is more open and democratic.
The eight-part essay has advantages and disadvantages. Generally speaking, its disadvantages have been exaggerated in modern times, while its huge role in selecting talents, ensuring fairness and justice, continuing Chinese traditional culture, and maintaining social stability has been ignored. In fact, the real biggest drawback of the eight-part essay, from a highly pragmatic point of view, is not the style of writing, but the scope of the questions. For the eight-part essay in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the scope of the test questions was basically limited to the "Four Books" [Note: In theory, the "Five Classics" also
Calculate, but in fact the test is very few], when writing articles, they are almost not allowed to have their own thoughts, and can only "speak for the saints", then it is no wonder that they "confine their thoughts". Moreover, the test questions are only "Four Books"
It also led to trouble in setting questions in the later period - I went through the "Four Books" over and over again to pass every sentence, and there were countless "model essays" for each sentence. As a result, I had to be "ingenious" and come up with various combined questions. Although
There are also many whimsical and unique questions in these cut-and-match questions, but they also inevitably lead to some weird and speechless jokes.
In fact, when he had nothing to do in the past few years, the Ming Dynasty reform plan made by Gao Jingshi included a lot of content about the reform of the imperial examination, but that was all after he took over the power in the future, and not only took over the power - but also
It must be supported by a huge reputation and a lot of preparations made in the early stage, and then it can be reformed step by step, bit by bit.
As for the abolition of the imperial examination system, which was thought by those who wanted to engage in "****" in the previous life, Gao Pragmatic had never thought about it - have you not seen that so many French Enlightenment thinkers strongly advocated China's imperial examination system? Vol, the leading figure in French Enlightenment thought
Tai even wrote in "On Confucius": "No legislator has ever declared a more useful truth to the world than Confucius." "'Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you' is the purest doctrine beyond Christianity.
Morality". The "Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen" attached to the French Constitution of 1793 and the "Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and Citizen" attached to the French Constitution of 1795 both include Confucius' famous saying "Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you."
", respectively defined as the moral boundaries of freedom and the principle of civil obligation. This is the first example of writing the mottos of foreign sages into the constitution! This shows the extent to which Chinese civilization was respected in France at that time. [Note: "
"Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you." This classic line from the Analects is now very prominently engraved in the hall of the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and is known as the "golden rule" for handling state relations.]
Not only did he worship Confucius, Voltaire also greatly praised the administrative operation mechanism of ancient China, believing that China was much luckier than the political governance forms of India, Persia and Turkey. He said that here, "everything is controlled by
The first-level yamen are subordinate to the first-level yamen to make decisions, and officials must pass several rigorous examinations before being hired. In China, these yamen are the institutions that govern everything. The six ministries belong to the heads of the imperial offices; the Ministry of Personnel is in charge of provincial officials; and the Ministry of Revenue is in charge of
Finance; the Ministry of Rites is in charge of etiquette, science and art; the Ministry of War is in charge of war; the Ministry of Punishment is in charge of prisons; and the Ministry of Work is in charge of public works. The results of affairs handled by these ministries are reported to a highest body [Note: It should refer to the cabinet]. Under the six ministries are
There are 44 subordinate agencies permanently located in Beijing, and officials in each province and city have an auxiliary yamen."
Therefore, in Voltaire's view, mankind certainly cannot imagine a better government than the political form of China, and the ancient Chinese government was not an autocratic government like Montesquieu's mind. Under this administrative system, the emperor
It is impossible to implement arbitrariness. General laws come from the emperor, but because of such government agencies, if the emperor does not consult elected people of insight who are proficient in the law, then he will not be able to do anything. Even if people are in the emperor
You must kneel down in front of him as if you were worshiping a god, and any disrespect to him will be punished for offending your beauty. However, none of this means that this is an authoritarian government.
Why? Because in Voltaire's view, a dictatorship should be like this: the monarch can not follow certain forms, but only rely on his personal will to deprive his subjects of their property or lives without breaking the law. So if there has ever been
A country where people's lives, reputations and property are protected by law is the "Chinese Empire". The more institutions there are to enforce these laws, the less arbitrary the administrative system can be. Although sometimes a monarch can abuse his power to harm a few with whom he is familiar.
People, but he cannot abuse his power to harm the majority of people whom he does not know and who are protected by the law.
In Gao Pragmatic's view, Voltaire's statement was somewhat "China-only", and he may have intended to use China's advancement at that time to promote the French Revolution. But it has to be admitted that Voltaire was keenly aware of the restrictions on China.
An important factor in the emperor's exclusive power is that because Confucianism is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, almost everyone from officials to common people has become a member of the supervise the emperor's words and deeds.
Confucianism has extremely strict requirements for the "sage king", which also places strict restrictions on the emperor's actions in terms of public opinion and popular sentiment. This restriction eventually even formed a hand that hung over the heads of rulers of all dynasties.
Sword of Damocles - He who wins the hearts and minds of the people wins the world. If we say the other way around: if we lose the hearts of the people, we are destined to lose the world.
Just like how Emperor Longqing is constantly being criticized by his courtiers, and his body is completely bruised, isn't it because of this? It's just that Gao Pragmatism was used to being a "party cadre" in his previous life, and it is difficult to be satisfied with the performance of the current Mingyan officials.
——Supervising the emperor is of course necessary, but the focus of supervision should not be on those trivial matters; and it is actually very simple for so many people to supervise the emperor alone, and it really does not need to waste too much effort. More importantly, it should be placed on the whole
When it comes to the management of officials, we cannot put the cart before the horse, let alone put the cart before the horse.