Ancient college entrance examination system: why should the first place be called champion lang?

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, palace examination ranked first, second and third, named "No.1 Scholar", "No.1 Scholar" and "Flower Exploration", which were collectively called "Sandingjia".

In the Tang dynasty, after the imperial examination, the examiner would submit the admission file to the provincial capital, and then the provincial capital would write a complaint and report it to the current emperor for approval. The first name in this complaint was called "Zhuangtou" at that time, but later it was changed to "Champion" because it was indecent. There is also a saying that all candidates who go to Beijing have to hand in their papers, so the first one to come is called the head, so it is called the champion. The number one scholar in No.1 Middle School is also called "Dian Yuan" because palace examination is the first, and it is also called Dingyuan because it ranks first among the three Ding Jia.

The word "second place" appeared later than "champion", and this title disappeared in the Tang Dynasty. The name "No.2" began in the fifth year of Taizong's Taiping and Xingguo in the Northern Song Dynasty. At first, the first name was 1, and the second and third names were 2, so it was called because the name of 1 was in the middle of the top, and the second and third names were separated, such as its eyes. Zhao Yi, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, once made a textual research in Yu Cong Kao, No.1 Scholar and No.2 Scholar: "The third person, also known as No.2 Scholar in the Northern Song Dynasty. There must be two things to cover your eyes, so the second and third person is called the second place. Later, I used the third person to explore flowers, so I used the second person to call the second place. "

The word "flower exploration" first appeared in the Tang Dynasty, but it had nothing to do with the scientific research ranking at that time. In the Tang Dynasty, the release time was spring, when Chang 'an was a romantic spring flower. In order to celebrate the first place, the new Jinshi held a grand banquet in Qujiang, which was called "Apricot Garden Banquet". Generally speaking, the youngest person is called "flower exploration", and it is not accurate to call flower exploration the third among Jinshi.