明代科舉之地域專經──以江西安福縣的《春秋》經為例

Regional Focus on the Classics in Ming’s Imperial Examination: A Case Study on Spring and Autumn Annals Learning in Anfu County, Jiangxi Province

明代科舉雖然號稱五經取士，然士人只要嫺熟一經即可以博取功名，故業科舉者皆有本經。江西吉安府安福縣的士子多以《春秋》為本經，在鄉、會試中成績突出。窮其源，則宋元以來安福的《春秋》學傳統、明初鮑琮的《春秋》經學教育，是安福《春秋》興起的基礎；溯其流，鮑琮門人劉球、吳節等人的科舉成功及其在翰林院、國子監授徒講學，初步確立了安福《春秋》的全國性影響，而此後彭時、彭華、鄒守益、鄒德溥等一代代安福士子在科舉上的成功，形成了安福《春秋》學的一波波高潮。在此背景下，安福縣形成了不少以《春秋》為家學的家族，如荷溪伍氏、葛溪劉氏、松田彭氏與智溪彭氏、澈源鄒氏，構成安福《春秋》世代不衰的社會基礎。這些家族因師承、婚姻而結成密切的交流圈，但又不對外封閉。安福學者的《春秋》經說亦常因為移民、士子教塾以及經義文字的出版等原因向外傳播。安福《春秋》在十五、十六世紀維持了約二百年的繁榮，大約從明嘉靖年間起開始遇到傳統對手麻城縣以及新興的晉江等縣的挑戰。進入十七世紀，安福《春秋》經的科舉優勢進一步削弱。但是，作為安福縣傳統的經學資源，從清初到十八世紀末，《春秋》依舊是不少安福士子用來考取低級功名的工具。隨著清朝乾隆年間科舉政策的調整，經義移置次場，且五經各出一題一概作答，經義在科舉考試中降到次要位置，且士子也不復有選擇本經之必要，以安福《春秋》為代表的科舉體制下地域專經的歷史遂告徹底終結。

The imperial civil service examination originally named the Five Classics (Wujing 五經) as the core of the curriculum that is to be examined, but in actual practice every student needed to master only one of the Five Classics to pass the examination. The chosen classic, also the one on which he would be tested, became the student’s “basic classic” (benjing 本經). In Anfu (安福), a county in Ji’an Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, most students favored Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu 春秋) over the other four classics and performed outstandingly in provincial and national examinations. The established tradition in the studies of the Spring and Autumn Annals in Anfu since the Song and Yuan dynasty and local scholar Bao Cong’s teaching of this classic in the beginning of the Ming dynasty together accounted for the initial rise of the learning on the Spring and Autumn Annals in Anfu. Many of Bao’s disciples, namely Liu Qiu (劉球) and Wu Jie (吳節), succeeded in subsequent examinations and began to instruct students in Imperial Academy (Han-lin yuan 翰林院) and National University (Guo-zi Jian 國子監), which further built up the nationwide reputation of Anfu’s Spring and Autumn Annals classic learning. Fellow scholars from Anfu, namely Peng Shi (彭時), Peng Hua (彭華), Zou Shouyi (鄒守益) and Zou Depu (鄒德溥), and their success in the examinations at different time continued to promote the learning on this particular classic in Anfu throughout many generations. Consequently, many families, namely the Wu’s (伍), Liu’s (劉), Peng’s (彭), Zou’s (鄒), tended to inherit a family tradition of encouraging their members to choose the Spring and Autumn Annals as their basic classic, which yet again contributed to the popularization of the learning on Spring and Autumn Annals in Anfu County. These clans formulated a complexly intertwined but not completely closed network due to master-disciple relations and inter-marriages, and their teaching on Spring and Autumn Annals often spread as members of the clans immigrated, began teaching at other private schools or published annotations and explanations on Spring and Autumn Annals. The learning on Spring and Autumn Annals in Anfu continued to flourish for nearly 200 years between the 15th and 16th centuries before it began to face fierce challenge coming from both traditional rival the Macheng (麻城) county and new competitor the Jinjiang (晉江) county, which began approximately during the Jiajing (嘉靖) period. Starting from the 17th century, Anfu scholars benefited less from their expertise in the Spring and Autumn Annals and performed comparatively less astonishingly in the imperial civil examinations; however, influenced by the long-term tradition, many Anfu students until the end of the 18th century kept choosing Spring and Autumn Annals as their basic classic and obtained junior degrees. During the Qianlong (乾隆) period in the Qing dynasty, the imperial examination policy changed greatly, with the test on the classics shifted from the first exam to the second and now consisted of five questions corresponding to all Five Classics. This not only reduced the importance of the test on the classics in the examination, but also made it unnecessary for the students to choose a basic classic, marking an end to the regional focus on the Classics in the imperial examination.