A Research On The Scholars Of Shandong Province In Ming Dynasty

During the Ming dynasty, Shangdong Province produced a total of 1710 Jin-Shi (scholars), which was 8.5 times of that in Guanxi. Across the time domain in Ming, this number increased with a significant gradient. From the 4th year of Hongwu till the second year of Chenghua, for 29 subject tests, 216 Jin-Shi emerged, that was an average of 7.45 per test. This period alone provided 12.59% of the total number of Jin-Shi in Shangdong. To one's amazement, Jin-Shi titles spread across all 29 subjects without fail.From the 5th year of Chenghua to 32nd year of Jiajing, an even greater number of 617 Jin-Shi titles were granted, 21.28 titles per test, for again, 29 subjects; totaling up to 35.96% of the total number in Shangdong during Ming. After the 35th year in Jiajiang till the end of Ming Dynasty, subject number increased to 30, and 883 gained the Jin-Shi title, 29.4 per subject, making up the rest of the 51.47% in number. Again, title numbers spread across all 30 subjects! The trend of growth was not only witnessed in the total numbers in each period, but also in their averages. Nevertheless, the geographic distribution of Jin-Shi was not an even one, with the majority found in the west, such as Jinan, Yanzhou and Dongchang. Jin-Shi in these three cities had a number of 1152, which was 67.27% of the grand total; in contrast, eastern cities such as Qingzhou, Laizhou and Dengzhou, only contained a 32.57% of 557 Jin-Shi, outnumbered by the West by more than two times! As aforementioned, the West of Shangdong was marked as the central region of Jin-Shi distribution. Of all, 14% eventually assumed third class officer positions in Beijing, making outstanding contributions., At the same time, they talented in military, literature and opera.