| Abstract |
This study probes into the government document exams in the Ming Dynasty with the approaches of historical document analysis and statistics. The government documents, Zhao and Gao were used for the monarch to his subjects, and Biao was used for the subjects to the monarch, which were mainly as the second exam in the provincial exam and the capital exam in the Ming Dynasty. This research firstly clarifies the differences among the bibliographies of the exam regulations in the beginning of the Houngwu Emperor and presents the development of the government document exams. Subsequently, it discusses the original intention of setting the government document exams and the abuses to overstress the Classics in the first exam, which made the government document exams neglected. However, since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the examinees preferred choosing Biao, scarcely choosing Zhao and Gao, to complete the exam even though the three types of government documents were as choices. After the middle of the Chenghau Emperor, Biao was not only solely selected as a part of the exam, but also compiled as anthologies for the preparation books of the imperial examinations. The reasons to the partiality is elaborated through exploring the styles of the government documents and the competitiveness within the imperial examination arena.
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