Study On The System Of Cheating Prevention And Punishment In Imperial Examination Of Ming Dynasty

Following the Recommending System and Nine Grades Appraisal System,the Imperial Examination System was another method of Official Selection in Chinese history.With Examination as the key measure,this system was characterized by being fair and objective.Nevertheless,cheating was still found in the process of examination.Tempted by the great fame and fortune in being selected as officials,some people might become dare-devils of illegal means to achieve success in the imperial examination.Corresponding counter-cheating measures were adopted by dynasties of ruling authorities,in order to maintain the impartiality of Imperial Examination System and to achieve the aim of selecting the able and the talented.Having developed from Tang dynasty,those measures then underwent further improvement and reformation in Two Song dynasty and in Yuan dynasty.And it was until in the Min dynasty,an unprecedentedly complete system of Cheating Prevention and Punishment was established.To reduce the False Census Register,one common way of cheating in the imperial examination,governors of Min dynasty issued strict regulations that all examinees must take the examination in their native place,along with the systems of Registration Guarantee and Stamping.And Supervision by Local Pilgrimage Official was also practiced for a time in the the late Jiajing period.In the case of on-site cheating in the exams,systems involving Inspection,Patrols and Cells were developed.The system of Inspection was to prevent the examinees from taking prohibited goods into the cells of examination,or the supervisors and examiners from helping examinees to cheat;the system of Patrol and Cells was to guard against the communication and plagiarizing of the examinees,or the admission and indulge of the examiners in helping to plagiarize.Compared with the cheating of examinees,it was of particular significance in restraining the officials of having a hand in the cheating.The main precautionary measures concerning the officials refers to Examiner Avoidance,Hall Locking,Oath Taking,Sealing,Transcribing,Paper Marking in Different Colors and Joint Volume Opening.To ensure the justice and equity in provincial and metropolitan examination,results of the examination would also undergo a detailed remarking,to filtering out those with reactionary or irreverent writings or bribing the paper markers;and for those being reported and doubted,a reexamination would be carried out to rearrange their placement.Candidates take an generally to be leather to fame,back to their home,but there have also been imprisoned by impose a cangue,even;With clip or the examinee of joints,according to its cheating the seriousness could be put to punishment,"asked send charge collectors",cangue number,song.The examiner to cheat,also can according to their seriousness given different penalties imposed on them,demotion,demoted,fired outside spare living and office.Other involved in cheating in the examination personnel,are generally officials imposed on them,no.1 edge,potter "hair" are used for the people".For a sum-up,in the Min dynasty,various measures of Cheating Prevention and Punishment were developed for every link of the Imperial Examination possible for cheating occurrence and different levels of punishment were given to those having cheated in the exams,according to the severity of cheating behaviors.Those were not only significant in maintaining the justice and equity of Imperial Examination system,but also settled an good example to the future generations.