明代鄉會試詔誥表公文考試析論

Abstract

本論文使用歷史文獻分析法、統計法，探討明代公文考試。詔、誥為上對下之公文，表為下對上公文，詔、誥、表之公文考試，主要施用在鄉、會試第二場中。本論文首先交代了公文考試之遞變，概介詔、誥、表三種文體，以作為論述基礎。續則闡明考試公文在科舉制度設計上之立意，並呈現科場偏重首場經義，公文非取中的關鍵，但仍需加關注、備考。科場雖規定得於「詔、誥、表內科一道」，但自明初始，考生即偏愛選表題，僅少數選詔、誥作答。明中葉後，益加獨重表文，不但試錄程文僅選表文為式，科舉用書亦多為表文選集。本論文亦從文體特色和科場競爭，分析偏重表文之故。

This study probes into the government document exams in the Ming Dynasty with the approaches of historical document analysis and statistics. The government documents, Zhao and Gao were used for the monarch to his subjects, and Biao was used for the subjects to the monarch, which were mainly as the second exam in the provincial exam and the capital exam in the Ming Dynasty. This research firstly clarifies the differences among the bibliographies of the exam regulations in the beginning of the Houngwu Emperor and presents the development of the government document exams. Subsequently, it discusses the original intention of setting the government document exams and the abuses to overstress the Classics in the first exam, which made the government document exams neglected. However, since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the examinees preferred choosing Biao, scarcely choosing Zhao and Gao, to complete the exam even though the three types of government documents were as choices. After the middle of the Chenghau Emperor, Biao was not only solely selected as a part of the exam, but also compiled as anthologies for the preparation books of the imperial examinations. The reasons to the partiality is elaborated through exploring the styles of the government documents and the competitiveness within the imperial examination arena.