A Study On The Influences Of The Political Group Struggles In Northern Song Dynasty Upon The Reform Of Imperial Examination System

This paper inquires into the influences of complicated political group struggles in the Northern Song Dynasty upon the evolution of Chinese imperial examination system. The political group struggles behind the strategies of reforming the imperial examination system and the practical results of this reform are the main content of this pape. The whole paper consists of five parts:Part One analyzes the motives of the emperors in the early Northern Song Dynasty to enforce a breakthrough reform on the imperial examination system, including the motive of how to prevent the political group struggles from affecting the reform policy and how many well-known reform items which were influenced by this motive. Part Two and Part Three, around the reform of the imperial examination system as one part of twice New Policies of the Northern Song Dynasty,discuss the political group struggles behind the strategies of reforming the imperial examination system as well as the consequences of this reform, so as to truly deduce the developing course of reforming the imperial examination system under the influence of the political group struggles. All of the above will contribute to the discussion of how the imperial examination system as the wind vane of education were devastatedand by the political group struggles and thus controlled the textbooks and even the rise and fall of school education in the Northern Song Dynasty. Part Four is just a brief anylasis following the former two parts, because in the Yuanyou Period the political group struggles had completely become repeatedly unrational prohibition of political parties and culture between the party in power and the parties not in office. As a consequence, the imperial examination system became the victim of the political group struggles and school education was reduced to the place of power abuse. The last part summarizes the paper.