明清檔案工作室 | GRAND SECRETARIAT ARCHIVES PROJECT

The Provincial Examination in the Qing take place in the lunar August, and has three tests. The examination is distributed to the candidates the day before the first test, and will be submitted the day after. Every candidate will also get one piece of answer sheet paper. The examination will be written by the main proctor or examiners, inked at the Jukui Hall, and printed based on the number of participating candidates. The subject of each test changes frequently at the start of Qing. Yet in 1787 (Year 52 of Qianlong), the first test will have three essays based on the Four Books and one Fude-style poem (five characters per line, eight lines, interposed rhyme scheme). The Four Books essay questions come from the Four Books -- namely "The Analects", "The Works of Mencius", "The Doctrine of the Mean", and "Great Learning". The second test is on the Five Classics, with its questions coming from "The Book of Songs", "The Book of History", "The Book of Changes", "The Book of Rites", and "The Spring and Autumn annals". The third test have five strategy questions, surrounding topics about politics, current affairs, and history. Up until the time of Emperor Guangxu, the old tradition is followed and candidates are chosen based on their writing of "Eight-legged Essays". Since the Eight-legged Essays are showing more and more of its drawbacks, in 1901 (Year 27 of Guangxu), the Grand Secretariat received an Edict: "From next year, all Provincial Examinations will have its first test with five dissertation essays on Chinese political history and affairs, the second test on international politics and strategies, the third test with two essays on the Four Books and one essay on the FIve Classics." Therefore, since 1902 Year 28 of Guangxu), the Eight-legged Essay was abolished at all official examinations, marking the end of such a tradition since the Ming Dynasty.