Feng Shui and Imperial Examinations: A Case Study on the 1849 Severe Flood in Nanjing and Discussions on Flood Discharge

Social adaptations to natural hazards have been influenced by various social and economic factors including traditional cultures such as Feng Shui that is known as Chinese geomancy. This study examined not only the progressive processes and spatial distribution of the 1849 severe flood in Nanjing city but also subsequent countermeasures based on historical documents, maps, and digital elevation model (DEM) data. As an adaptation to extreme floods, a project that connects Xuanwu Lake to the Yangtze River has been deeply discussed to relieve the flood risk. As the role of the traditional concept of Feng Shui in China was not neglectable, however, local officials and elites of Nanjing city worried that the project may destroy the Feng Shui of the city, which may bring misfortune to local candidates in the Imperial Examinations, their future promotion, and the prosperity of their families. This indicates that, in the complicated traditional Chinese society, such traditional cultures may play an important role in determining social adaptations to climate change. However, these concepts may not lead to a consensus without specific institutional culture. Hence, in a complicated traditional society, the institutional culture was also fundamental to build social adaptations to climate change. This project has been eventually completed in 1931 as the concepts have kept dynamically being changed in a complicated society, which demonstrates that the relationship between the culture and the social adaptation to climate change is also evolving.

Women and language in imperial China

China has an ancient and impressive tradition of philological studies, most notably in the fields connected with the needs of the imperial examination system. The authors as well as the intended readers of this outstanding production of linguistic works were essentially men. Women did not participate to the imperial examinations and were almost completely absent from the landscape of Chinese philology. Nevertheless, Chinese history shows examples of erudite women and their linguistic education should be taken into account. Several textbooks were explicitly conceived for women’s education, and were often written by women. Moreover, women played an important role in the transmission of literacy in the familial context. This chapter investigates the reasons for the almost complete absence of women in Chinese philology, and describes the main examples of women’s contribution to the history of Chinese linguistic studies.

Civil and Military Examination participation of the Que lineage in Shicang village in the Qing Dynasty

The literature on social stratification and mobility in Imperial China reveals that the academic tracking system was one important source of educational inequality. The Imperial Examinations system in Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty China was a dual-track structure formed of Civil ( wen) and Military ( wu) Examinations. Earlier scholars have focused on the provincial and national levels of the system, paying little attention to the lowest, county-level shengyuan examination, the starting point of the wen and wu system. This study looks into the Account Books for Imperial Examination participation in Qing Dynasty Shicang, Songyang County, Zhejiang Province, focusing particularly on examination records of the Que lineage. After making a fortune in the iron-smelting business, the Ques first purchased an Imperial Academy studentship ( jiansheng), then later married into local gentry families and began to participate in the Imperial Examinations. The Taiping Rebellion (1851–1865) brought a high mortality rate to the region, which increased the chances of success in the Imperial wu-track, the Military Examination. The Ques made use of this opportunity to participate in both the Civil and Military Examinations. This paper compares two common motivations for taking the examinations—protection of family wealth and status, and pursuit of the highest degree. This study shows that each motivation had a different outcome. Those only interested in safeguarding and enhancing family wealth were able to maintain a balance between pursuit of their degree and the family business, while those aiming at the highest degrees often fell into the trap of repeated attempts and eventual bankruptcy. The dominance of the first motivation among ordinary Chinese demonstrates the self-adjustment of local society to the Imperial Examination tracking system.

批評與課士：晚明館課評點的特色與文化意義

<p>館課評點是對館課的閱讀及寫作指導，本文討論其形式、體例、原則、目的與著錄。館課評點與晚明其他文體的評點相類，具有自由隨興的表現，也有托名作偽的問題，但因評點者署為館師、閣師，肩負教習庶吉士的權責，其評點以臺閣規模為衡量，以儒家內聖外王、經世濟民為理想，故由課士育才而針砭文體士風之衰，欲導正士習與世道，具有政治目的。惟館課評點雖具政治目的，實際則側重於文學性的鑑賞，反映館閣復古風尚，莊重平穩有餘，對庶吉士擬策施政能力的提昇相對有限。對於公眾而言，館課評點塑造著館閣「實境」的想像，足以強化舉子的應舉心態，吸引他們揣摩擬寫，以待登入館閣，獲得名公獎拔，故為應舉教育的一環，襄贊著科舉文化的源遠流長。</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>&ldquo;Guanke Pingdian&rdquo; is a literature genre that comprises the academicians&rsquo; commentaries and guidance on the students&rsquo; reading and writing in the Guanke courses. This paper discusses its forms, styles, principles, purposes, and problems with authorship. &ldquo;Guanke Pingdian&rdquo; is similar to commentaries on other literature genres in the late Ming dynasty, with a style of spontaneity and the same problem of falsified authorship in disguise of other authors&rsquo; name. However, the authors were being entitled as academicians, who were given the rights and responsibilities to teach &ldquo;shujishi&rdquo; who would have a chance of being promoted to become high rank officials in the government. Therefore the authors of commentaries and guidance would consider the size of existing bureaucrat and promote the Confucian ideal of &ldquo;being sage inside and being kingly outside&rdquo; and &ldquo;to govern and benefit the people&rdquo;. They were politically motivated and intended to educate the students, criticize the decline of literati ethos, and correct the scholar’s habits and manners. Nevertheless, their commentaries and guidance were focused on evaluating literary achievements, reflecting the academicians&rsquo; tendency to return to the ancients and emphasize being solemn and stable. By contrast, they were limited in enhancing the shujishi&rsquo;s capacity of policy making and administration. To the public, &ldquo;Guanke Pingdian&rdquo; shaped the imagination about the &quot;reality&quot; of the Guanke academy and strengthened the students&rsquo; desire to sit for the imperial examinations, so that the students were attracted to write in a similar style to the commentaries and guidance, in the hope that they will be promoted to join the imperial academy. Therefore, &ldquo;Guanke Pingdian&rdquo; is part of the imperial examination, indicating the long lasting legacy of Chinese imperial examination.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Failure Stories: Interpretations of Rejected Papers in the Late Imperial Civil Service Examinations

This article investigates the practice of returning marked papers to rejected candidates in late imperial Chinese examinations. The practice—common from the sixteenth century to the abolition of imperial examinations in 1905—established a sense of personal communication between examiners and examinees and was an opportunity for rejected candidates to benefit from the examination system. The failed papers returned to their authors enabled them to make sense of their performance by interpreting, when not misconstruing, examiners’ comments. The examiners sometimes praised the papers and blamed the decision to fail on other examiners. As a result, most rejected candidates tended not to challenge the examiners through official channels or take collective action against the examination system. Thus, in the late imperial examination system, the ways in which rejecting decisions could be negotiated and construed were no less important than the awarding of degrees to an extremely small proportion of participants. Cet article s’intéresse à la pratique, particulière à la période impériale tardive, consistant à rendre leurs copies aux candidats ayant échoué aux examens. Courante depuis le xvie siècle et jusqu’à l’abolition des examens mandarinaux en 1905, cette pratique créait l’impression d’une relation personnelle entre les examinateurs et les candidats et était un moyen pour ceux qui avaient échoué de tirer profit du système. Les copies rejetées retournées à leurs auteurs permettaient à ces derniers de donner un sens à leur performance en interprétant, voire en dévoyant, les commentaires des examinateurs. Il arrivait que les examinateurs fassent l’éloge des copies et attribuent à autrui la décision de les rejeter. De ce fait, la plupart des candidats malheureux évitaient de contester les examinateurs par la voie réglementaire ou de manifester collectivement contre le système. Ainsi, dans le système des examens à la fin de la période impériale, la manière dont les décisions négatives pouvaient être négociées ou interprétées n’était pas moins importante que l’attribution de rangs académiques à une toute petite proportion de ceux qui concouraient.