What are the subjects commonly tested in the Tang Dynasty?

Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties

Yang Di's imperial examinations are divided into two subjects, one called Mingjing and the other called Jinshi. Although the number of subjects increased greatly in the Tang Dynasty, Ming Classics and Jinshi were still the main subjects for selecting officials.

The main examination contents of Ming Classics include classics and Mohism. Sticking classics is a bit like filling in the blanks in modern exams. Test questions are usually extracted from a classic sentence and covered with a few words. Candidates need to fill in the missing words; As for Mo Yi, there are some questions and answers about the Bible. Examining Jinshi mainly requires candidates to create poems with specific themes, and sometimes add classics.

After Tang Gaozong, the position of Jinshi gradually surpassed that of Mingjing and became the only important subject in the imperial examination. The main reason for this phenomenon is that Jinshi candidates need to be creative, while Ming Classics can only be admitted if they are familiar with classics. In addition, the selection criteria for Jinshi are very strict, and the number of people admitted is often only one tenth of that of Mingjing. At that time, there was a saying: "Those who stand at the age of 30 are enlightened, and there are fewer scholars at the age of 50", which shows the difficulty of entering a scholar.

In addition, the Wu Zetian era also set up a martial arts examination to select military commanders.