A Study On The Book History Of The Anthologies Of Eight-legged Essays In Ming Dynasty

The eight-legged essay was the literary form required by the imperial examination.The anthology of eight-legged essay is a specific type of books selected according to certain standards.Guided by the development of the imperial examination system in the Ming dynasty,the anthology of eight-legged essay was germinated in years from Hongwu to Chenghua,made great progress in the years from Hongzhi to Wanli,and were finally popularized in the years of Tianqi and Chongzhen.It can be seen from the investigation of the anthology of eight-legged essay in the history of books that the book form,printing and distribution of the anthology of eight-legged essay can be roughly divided into two periods.Before Wanli period,the book form of anthology of eight-legged essay was mostly handwritten,the printed edition was still in the early stage of development,and presented the situation that the official edition was dominant,the private edition was underdeveloped.And the coverage of the anthology of eight-legged essay was very limited.After Wanli period,the printed edition of anthology of eight-legged essay made a breakthrough,especially the development of for-profit publishing made the commercial circulation become the main mode of its circulation.And the coverage of anthology of eight-legged essay was gradually expanded.On the one hand,the anthology of eight-legged essay manifested the national standards for selecting scholars,which standardized and perfected the imperial examination.On the other hand,it was regarded as the guidance and demonstration for examinees' writing and simplified their preparation for the imperial examination.As a result,anthology of eight-legged essay became an important support for the continuous and stable operation of the imperial examination system.In addition,the anthology of eight-legged essay was also an important driving force for the rise of the social forces represented by the scholars group in the late Ming dynasty,and one of the driving forces for the transformation of the state social relations of "strong government,weak society".