One day in late May this year, when Ji 'an TV broadcasted the news of our city's participation in Hong Kong's investment promotion activities, it said that there were many talented people in Ji 'an history, and 2,678 scholars emerged (the broadcast date and exact number can't be remembered). I was a little surprised to hear that, because last year's influential publication Jiangxi Social Sciences introduced that "there are about 3,000 Jinshi in Ji 'an". How did you lose hundreds of dollars in less than a year? I have consulted books and newspapers published in recent years, and the number of Jinshi in Ji 'an is varied and suspicious. The History of Ji 'an compiled by the head of Ji 'an Local Records Office says that there are 2,855 scholars in Ji 'an, while the Range Rover of Ji 'an published by Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House, edited by the Propaganda Department of the former Ji 'an District Committee, says that there are more than 2,300 scholars in Ji 'an. On July 9, 2002, a signed article in the second edition of Jinggangshan Daily also said that there were more than 2,300 scholars. In some information about the market, there are more than 2500 and 2700 people. From more than 2,300 to nearly 3,000, the difference is six or seven hundred, which is incredible. ? You know, it's not easy to take an examination of a Jinshi. The examination methods of Jinshi in Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties were quite different, and they were basically stable in Ming Dynasty. First of all, he was admitted to the scholar in the county and took the provincial after having obtained the provincial examination, which was called a juren in the examination; In the second year, I took the exam in Beijing and took the exam nationwide; Those who pass the exam again enter the palace, and those who are admitted according to the quota are called Jinshi. Once every three years, the number of places is very limited, sometimes dozens of hundreds, sometimes two or three hundred. Winning the Jinshi is really getting ahead. Old Jin Fan, who won only one juren, was ecstatic. He was slapped by the butcher's father-in-law and still didn't wake up. If he wins the Jinshi, it will be even worse. Jinshi is too difficult to take the exam. Whoever is admitted will be honored from generation to generation, and will be awe-inspiring in four miles and eight townships. It is said that there are only a handful of state capitals with more than a thousand scholars in China. However, in my Ji 'an generation, there are hundreds of scholars announced. Anyway, I am always a little sorry for paying attention to the sages and people from all walks of life in Ji' an. ? Why are the numbers so different? First, the concept of geographical scope is different between ancient and modern times. The current Ji 'an Jinshi should include all counties and districts under the city, and cannot be calculated according to the scope of the old Ji 'an mansion. Because Xing 'an and Xiajiang did not belong to Ji 'an area at that time, but Lianhua County did. According to the statistics of the original government records, it is obviously inaccurate. Second, the number of Jinshi lacks authoritative statistics. The main basis is local chronicles, but the county chronicles of local chronicles basically disappeared before the Yuan Dynasty, and were often compiled every few decades or even hundreds of years in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. After natural and man-made disasters, it is really difficult to trace back to who is the local scholar for hundreds of years. Even the information of Jinshi in the archives of the palace is very incomplete, let alone the people. The third is the confirmation of Jinshi qualification. Until the Ming dynasty, those who passed the court examination were called Jinshi. However, in the Tang Dynasty, people who often took the Jinshi exam were called Jinshi, which means that the imperial court recommended talents, and the admission was called "giving Jinshi and". Therefore, Jinshi and Juren are often called the same people, and there was a similar situation in the Song Dynasty. Some of the Jinshi mentioned in local history books are those who took the examination of Jinshi. In addition, there are gifts for Jinshi and the phenomenon that someone bought the name of Jinshi in the late Qing Dynasty, which is not included in the official admission list. From this point of view, the amount error of Jinshi is inevitable. Today's authors refer to different historical materials, so there is a disparity. However, it is not normal to differ by several hundred in a small area. ?
How many Jinshi are there in Ji 'an city? Let's look at the big picture first. More than 980,000 scholars were officially admitted nationwide, including Jiangxi 1 10,000. According to various official historical records, Ji 'an should account for about one third of Jiangxi. 1985-198 The number of scholars in the New Compilation of Ji 'an County Records published in 1997 is: 635 in Ji 'an County, 552 in Jishui, 460 in Anfu, 369 in Taihe, 287 in Yongfeng, 0/98 in Yongxin/kloc, and 0 in Wan 'an/kloc. Of course, this figure is very inaccurate. First of all, there is repetition. Due to the change of administrative divisions between counties, both the current county and the original county are included. Especially celebrities, such as Ouyang Xiu, Ji 'an County, Jishui County and Yongfeng County, are all included. Second, the identity is not accurate. Have a plenty of juren, according to the custom of the Tang Dynasty, it was also called Jinshi in the Song Dynasty. Third, the gap is serious. The old government county annals can't collect all the local Jinshi lists in history. Because there are some locals who live outside for life after entering the Jinshi, the whole family moves with them, and future generations don't live here either. Several years have passed, and they can't contact each other anymore. Some families moved to other provinces as a whole during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and there was no trace of the local area; Some materials are invalid. When the local government and county annals were revised, they were not reported to the Jinshi in the village in time, and the local government and county did not have these historical materials. My great-great-grandfather, whose genealogy accurately records the scholar of Daoguang's family, clearly engraved with the word "Imperial Scholar" on the flagpole stone, still stands in front of the village. His son's tombstone is also engraved with the words Jinshi in a certain year, which is still vivid, but their names can't be found in the old Ji' an county annals, which may be the reason why they worked as officials in other places.
In Tiaoyuan Village, Jizhou District, the names of six Jinshi were recorded in the old county annals, but the names of three other Jinshi were found on the big tombstone unearthed not long ago. According to Mr Zou Xiaoming's textual research, these three people must be official schools, but they are not included in the old county annals. This kind of missing phenomenon is very common, but how much is missing cannot be verified. Therefore, I think, according to the statistics of New County Records, minus the repeated and inaccurate identities, plus the missing ones, it should be said that there are nearly 3,000 imperial examiners in Ji 'an. It is unscientific and inappropriate to say that there are more than 2,300 or more than 2,600 specific figures, which is not in line with the reality of Ji 'an.