三民網路書店 / 搜尋結果

在晚期中華帝國，數以百萬計的讀書人夢想着踏入省會和京城的考場禁地。從外往裡看，這些考場更像是「文化監獄」而不是教育機構，究竟裡面發生了甚麼事情？明清科舉是一個有缺陷但運轉順暢的文化、教育「陀螺儀」，體現了社會地位、政治權力和文化聲望之間的複雜關係，是帝國朝廷及其士紳精英精心平衡、通力合作的結果。明清科舉不僅是一種選官制度，更是連接晚期帝國知識、政治、經濟生活的重要紐帶，是官方/ 非官方、正統/ 非正統、公共生活/ 私人生活互動最為頻繁的交匯點之一。明清科舉的歷史意義和價值，不僅體現在官員和知識精英的再生產上，也體現在數百萬科舉失敗者具有反諷意味的更大的「成功故事」上。對古代科舉考試制度的回溯研析並不會成為建設現代國家的障礙。而就明清科舉考試制度的深挖，對於進一步研究中國制度史乃至世界歷史都具有著至關重要的意義。

During China's late imperial period (roughly 1400-1900 CE), men would gather by the millions every two or three years outside official examination compounds sprinkled across China. Only one percent of candidates would complete the academic regimen that would earn them a post in the administrative bureaucracy. Civil Examinations assesses the role of education, examination, and China's civil service in fostering the world's first professional class based on demonstrated knowledge and skill.While millions of men dreamed of the worldly advancement an imperial education promised, many more wondered what went on inside the prestigious walled-off examination compounds. As Benjamin A. Elman reveals, what occurred was the weaving of a complex social web. Civil examinations had been instituted in China as early as the seventh century CE, but in the Ming and Qing eras they were the nexus linking the intellectual, political, and economic life of imperial China. Local elites and members of the cour