| Abstract |
The Book of Rites was one of Five Classics in the imperial examination of Ming and Qing Dynasty, which did not include Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial and Rites of Zhou. The grading criterion was originally based on the ancient interpretation; however, after Youngle Emperor, it was adapted to Chen Hao’s The Collection of Commentaries on the Book of Rites. With regard to the drawbacks and regulations of the exam of Book of Rites, there were former scholars criticizing consecutively. Hence, the three greatest drawbacks which were criticized by the former scholars are the unused content of the Book of Rites involving funerals, taboos and ill omens by the examiners, confined testing content of the Book of Rites leading Chouli and Yili to be ignored, and the criticism of the hollow Rites caused by Chen Hao’s The Collection of Commentaries on the Book of Rites. This study mainly focuses on discussing the reasons why the former scholars dissented. Furthermore, it analyzes the scholars’ suggestions for modifying and the officials’ responses to find out why the modification was failure.
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