Study To The System Of The Official Selecting By Calligraphy In The Ming Dynasty

The present dissertation aims to probe into the system of Official Selectingby Calligraphy in the Ming Dynasty. In the system, the Subject of Calligraphycomprises of three facets: WRITING referring to the practical calligraphy ofofficial stipulated chirography; CHARACTER STUDY which is an ology of theform, sound and meaning of Chinese characters, herein particular refers to thestudy of Hexateuch; and CALLIGRAPHY ART indicating the superb techniquesand aesthetics of handwriting. The Official Selecting system is one means forgovernment posts selection according to the capabilities in the feudalist society.In Ming Dynasty three factors gave rise to the appearance of the system ofOfficial Selecting by Calligraphy: firstly, in the early period of Ming, EmperorZhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to the ancient SIX CLASSICS,secondly at that time recommending was put a high value on; and lastly the courtlaid large weight on the political effect of characters writing. The formats of this system of Official Selecting by Calligraphy arespecifically as follows: <1> The system of regular scripts: the government chose officialfunctionaries in light of the regular scripts. Numerous researches havemanifested that the extensive employment of this particular script came intoexistence from Ming Dynasty. And this was closely related to the officialpromulgation of school-training rules and the implementation of the system ofregular script. Within this system, those common people without any officialrank were chosen by the emperors. The overall procedure of this event was likethe following: the promulgation of imperial edicts and the recommendation tointerview at the capital by the other carders. The interview was mainly the 214regular scripts writing. Supposed the emperor thought those scripts eligible, theywould be granted with official positions or they would stayed in the Yamenconcerned to experience for several years as writing-training scholars beforecoming to the set posts. Moreover, the government laid store by the education ofchild prodigies in calligraphy. Those talents recommended would be examinedby the emperor personally and the qualified would further study at the ImperialCollege or the Imperial Academy. Some were even immediately entitled withhigh ranks. Dynamically this system originated at the Hongwu Time, flourishedat the Yongle Period and swept through the whole Ming Dynasty. 2> The system of seal characters: the court recruited the officials by virtueof the seal character. The seal character consisted of two respects: one was thecalligraphy itself and the other was the Hexateuch character study. Thosecandidates who were excellent in these two sides were qualified to becomeofficials directly or further exercise for several years in the government. Thisresembled to the system of regular scripts. As a style of antiquity, straightnessand elegancy, this script of seal characters was highly valued by the MingDynasty. In Ming Dynasty, there were strict systems of chops in using sealcharacters. Wenyuange uses Yuzhu seal characters, Gen uses Willow leaf ones,the Censor uses Eight-pile ones, other officials use Nine-pile seal charactersmade of copper. The textual research of the names of willow leaf and nine pilesof seal characters makes a lot of fuzzy problems clear. 3> The system of Zhongshu Sheren: those apt to calligraphy were entitledthe post of Zhongshu Sheren. In the initial stage of Ming Dynasty there were 10people serving as Zhongshu Sheren in charge of gentle official documents. Andthe number had been increased to 20 in Yingle Period. In the middle and later 215periods of Ming Dynasty, choosing commoners as Zhongshu Sheren became themain manifestation of the selecting system. Zhongshu Sheren were usuallyintimate officials of the Emperor, accordingly, a lot of treatment was differentfrom other off...