科举制度的生成和演化机制

科举制度的观念直接扎根于儒家关于“贤能治国”的理想诉求之中,体现了自然经济状态下的一种政治选择。其目标则是在选拔“贤能”的过程中,贯彻君权主导下的“机会均等”原则,以此将一切能够有效影响社会的政治力量纳入到专制君主的控制之中。这既满足了专制君权无限扩张的需要,同时也成为官僚和士绅两大集团分享社会资源的重要途径。因此君主、官僚、士绅为划定各自的利益界限共同推动了科举制度的生成和演化。

The Initiating and Evolving Mechanism of Imperial Examination

The idea of imperial examination system took root from the Confucianism ideal pursuit that "virtuous and talented people rule the country", which reflected a kind of political selection in the state of natural economy. The goal of the system is to carry out the principle of "equal opportunity" favored by the autocratic regality in the process of selecting the virtuous and talented people, and thus to get all the political powers that are likely to have great effect on the society under the control of the autocratic emperor. On one hand, this meet autocratic regality's demand for endless expansion; on the other hand, it is also an important way for the two main political groups of esquires and officials to share the social resources. Therefore, the emperor, officials and esquires' contending for their own interests promoted the establishment and development of imperial examination system.