The Coincidence And Divergence Of The Imperial Power And The Historical Power:A Study On The Historical Writing Of The Imperial Examinations And The Power Discourse In The Ming Dynasty’s Memoir

The Ming Dynasty’s Memoir is a basic historical text for studying the history of The Ming Dynasty,and the history of imperial examination is one of the important contents in it.There are more than 3,900 historical materials about The Imperial Examination,and the total number of them is more than 350,000 words by conservative estimated.These historical materials about The Imperial Examination in The Ming Dynasty’s Memoir not only possess documentary value,but also possess historiography value.Discussion on the writing of The Imperial Examination is a study which depends on the historiography value of these historical materials about The Imperial Examination.The writing of The Imperial Examination is not only restricted by objective historical facts,but also interfered by the imperial power and impacted by the historical power.The imperial power and the historical power have intervened in the writing of The Imperial Examination.Thus,the discourse of the imperial power and the discourse the historical power were appeared in The Ming Dynasty’s Memoir.In the circumstance,the historical writing of The Imperial Examination has formed a specific rules :shaping the protagonist image of emperor’s during the operation of imperial examination,promoting the great achievements of emperor’s cultural projects and the grace of emperor for the examinee,attaching importance to the writing of the upper imperial examination events,the writing of biography always make the imperial examination as source material,promoting the glory of the imperial examination and the position of "The Right Way" to become an official.In order to achieve these writing intentions,the historian officials not only obey objective historical facts,but also adopt some writing methods,for example,recording,concealing,distorting and even making "history".The interests of imperial power and the historical power in the writing of The Imperial Examination were not identical.The imperial power attached attention to the writing of The Imperial Examination under the circumstances of changing imperial clan,while the historical power attached attention to the writing of The Imperial Examination related to the interests of the official historians.The writing of The Imperial Examination under the circumstances of the change of imperial clan were concerned by the imperial power,because of its involved in the legitimacy of imperial power.The imperial power has intervened in the writing of The Imperial Examination in Jian Wen,Jing Wai,Zheng De and Chong Zhen Dynasty.The historical power was subordinated to the imperial power.The coincidence phenomenon emerged between the imperial power discourse and the historical power discourse.The Imperial Examination was strongly impacted by other forces,which was not conducive to the political rule of The Ming Dynasty,but also harmed the interests of the official historians.Therefore,the writing of The Imperial Examination in Cheng Hua,Hong Zhi and Wan Li Dynasties were concerned by the historical power.The writing of The Imperial Examination in these three dynasties expressed the interests of the historical power（praised the glory of The Imperial Examination and guarded the status of The Imperial Examination）,but exposed some problems of imperial rule.The historical power struggled against the imperial power,and the imperial power was forced to compromise.The divergence phenomenon emerged between the imperial power discourse and the historical power discourse.Meanwhile,the restriction of objective historical facts on the historical writing of The Imperial Examination should not be neglected,the interfered by the imperial power and impacted by the historical power were possess some limitations.Therefore,although there are subjective elements in the writing of imperial examination,on the whole,they are basically authentic and credible.It can be seen that the writing of The Imperial Examination in The Ming Dynasty’s Memoir including true and false information.The study on the historical writing of The Imperial Examination can deepen the understanding of the history of The Imperial Examination in the Ming Dynasty,the understanding of the true and false in historical writing,and the understanding of the complex relations among the historical facts,the historical text,and the consciousness of historians.It can also provide empirical basis for the research model of historical writing and provide reference for the study of The Ming Dynasty’s Memoir.Consequently,the study on the historical writing of The Imperial Examination has certain academic value.