明代会试分区配额制考察

Abstract

明代会试分区配额制的最初设想是将全国分为南、北二区,试卷外分注"南"北"二字,若科取百人,南取六十,北取四十。后虑及四川等地举人不能"概以南省并校",又立中卷区。通过对宣德至正统间连续5科会试各区录取人数和所占比例的测算得知,这一调整当于宣德二年会试之前完成,并于该科付诸实施。就该制执行情况看,宣德二年至景泰五年,南北中卷区录取比例接近于60:30:10。至天顺朝,逐渐趋近于55:35:10的比例。总体而言,三卷区录取人数同时合乎规定比例的科次较少,某区稍高或稍低的波动情况则为常态。该制通过分区和分配比例的办法,将会试的全国性竞争转化为有限区域内的竞争,体现了明廷就地取才、追求区域平衡的意图。然分区配额制下的省区进士数量深受该制调控的影响,如四川中式人数的激增便是该制保护的结果,而这又成为成化年间卷区比例调整与正德年间卷区重组的诱因。

The first proposal for a regional admission strategy for the metropolitan exams was to divide the whole country into two exam districts,north and the south.The exam papers were marked with either north or south after being collected,depending on the Jiguan of the examinee.Should the final admission quota be set to 100,the quota for the southern examinees would be 60,while that for the northerners would be 40.Later,considering the Juren from regions like Sichuan Province were at a disadvantage when competing in the southern district,a middle district was set up.By counting the actual number of Gongshi from each district through the 5 consecutive metropolitan exams from the Xuande era to the Zhengtong era,we found that the middle district was set no later than the metropolitan exam held in the 2nd year of the reign of Xuande.The enrollment quotas for the three districts were in certain designed ratio.In practice,the ratio of the south to the north to the middle was close to 60:30:10 until the Tianshun era.Later,the ratio was more like 55:35:10.However,Minor fluctuations in the proportions always existed.The regional admission strategy and the quota system turned the metropolitan exam from a national competition to one within certain regions,reflecting the political consideration of seeking elites from diverse areas and striking a balance between advanced and backward regions.The number of Jinshi was greatly influenced by this admission strategy,for example,that of Sichuan Province increased markedly after the middle district was set This relevance became the motivation for attempts to modify the strategy,such as the modification of the quotas in the Chenghua era and the repartition of the districts during the Zhengde era.