4 ( Preparing for the Examinations (Ca. 1150–Ca. 1200): the “Yongjia” Curriculum

4 ( Preparing for the Examinations (ca. 1150–ca. 1200): The “Yongjia” Curriculum Commercially printed anthologies featuring the expositions and policy response essays of Chen Fuliang and Ye Shi shaped the perception among their contemporaries that the Yongjia teachers were setting the standard for examination writing. The reputation of the Yongjia teachers was the result of a deliberate effort on these teachers’ part. Printers simply capitalized on the high profile the Yongjia teachers had in the examination field. They taught composition, institutional history, administrative reasoning, and the textual analysis of the Classics, philoso- phers, and the histories as part of a reform program aimed at restoring the authority of the Song court over all its former territories. The reform program called for a retrenchment in government activity domes- tically, a retrenchment informed by knowledge of the history of court- bureaucracy relations, taxation, financial administration, and military organization. The Yongjia teachers were not the only educators to develop examination curricula. In nearby Wuzhou 婺州 prefecture, Lü Zuqian ac- quired comparable fame in examination teaching. Lü’s curriculum over- lapped to some extent with that of the Yongjia teachers, so much so that Zhu Xi, a contemporary critic, labeled his efforts “Yongjia” work. This chapter analyzes manuals attributed to the Yongjia teachers and Lü Zuqian and attempts to reconstruct the curricula for which hundreds of students enrolled at a time. It highlights the similarities in teaching practice among examination teachers in Liang Zhe East 130 Preparing for the Examinations (ca. 1150–ca. 1200) Circuit, which comprised both Wenzhou (Yongjia) and Wuzhou. The curricula developed in Wenzhou and Wuzhou in the 1160s and 1170s played a major role in the definition of the standards for examination success in the late twelfth century. This chapter also draws attention to the different emphases in examination teaching in Wenzhou and Wuzhou. Despite similarities, di- verging visions of reform inspired different analytical approaches and a different assessment of the role of moral philosophy in history and government. Discussion of the similarities and differences in the cur- ricular activities of the teachers of East Zhe illustrates two aspects of the twelfth-century examination field: the appearance of local teachers as authorities in the shaping of examination standards and their partici- pation in examination preparation as an arena in which intellectual for- mations debated standards not only for the examinations but for elite status more generally. History and Administrative Reasoning The eastern prefectures of Liang Zhe built a reputation for examination success in the twelfth century. As noted above, Wenzhou prefecture produced the second highest number of jinshi degree–holders in the Southern Song territories. Wuzhou enjoyed comparable success. Peter Bol estimates that nine or ten candidates from Wuzhou obtained the final degree during each triennial examination after 1150.1 The competitiveness of both prefectures is evident in a decree issued in 1156 setting the ratio of graduates to candidates at 1/100 for all prefectures except the prefectures of Wenzhou, Wuzhou, and neighboring Taizhou, for which the quota was set at 1/200.2 The examination success and the competitiveness of East Zhe were linked to a vibrant examination cul- ture. Hundreds of examination candidates gathered at the schools of teachers like Lü Zuqian and Chen Fuliang. Many more bought or cop- ied the manuals they and their pupils compiled. An emphasis on institutional history and administrative thinking was the hallmark of examination teaching in Wenzhou and Wuzhou. Con- ————— 1. Bol, “Neo-Confucianism and Local Society,” 257. 2. Chaffee, The Thorny Gates, 125, 155. .

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