Chinese characters are considered the most difficult pictographic writing system in the world. Over thousands of years of history, Chinese characters have evolved from ancient Han script to modern simplified writing, which is much easier to write. However, one might wonder, in today’s world of advanced technology and machinery, who still writes or records documents by hand.
Today, most people use keyboards to type Chinese characters. This is a significant advancement in digital technology. However, in ancient times, people had no choice but to use brush pens and inkstones. In fact, during that era, beautiful handwriting was highly praised and celebrated. So, what did beautiful handwritten Chinese characters look like in ancient times?
Let’s take a moment to “feast our eyes” on the examination paper of a top scholar from the Ming Dynasty over 400 years ago. His writing was so exceptional that it was hailed online as “vivid and print-like handwriting” – a style so lively and beautiful that it reached the level of an expert calligrapher.
This writing consists of over 2000 characters without any corrections or mistakes.
The first thing that catches the audience’s attention from this examination paper is the red inked phrase on the left: “First in the first degree” – a phrase penned by Emperor Wanli. To the left of this phrase is the entire writing of the top scholar. What is astonishing is that this writing exceeds 2000 characters without any corrections or mistakes, with each line written neatly and perfectly, indistinguishable from a printed text. Audience members were even excited to claim that this writing was so outstanding that it was “abnormal.”
You might think, what’s so remarkable about an examination paper written without spelling errors or corrections? That would be underestimating this piece of paper. First, let’s understand the content of the examination prompt from the Ming Dynasty.
Examinations in ancient times were also time-restricted. By the time you finished reading the prompt and thought about how to write it, there would be no time left for drafts. Therefore, it was very common for examination papers to contain spelling errors, corrections, and mistakes. Yet, this scholar’s examination paper contains no such errors.
“Eight-legged essay” originated during the Ming Dynasty, also known as “scheme of meaning, scheme of art, time literature, eight-fold literature,” where “eight” refers to the eight parts of the essay: introduction, argumentation, development, main idea, initial argument, middle argument, concluding argument, and final argument. The titles of these essays were selected from the “Four Books and Five Classics,” and furthermore, the last four sections were required to have parallelism, with the entire text mimicking the rhetorical style of Confucius and Mencius. Additionally, the essay could not include references to beautiful or poetic expressions; otherwise, it would be considered blasphemous to the sages.
Meeting all these requirements is already quite challenging, and expressing personal opinions and arguments based on this framework makes it even harder. Moreover, the ancient examination system was also time-restricted; by the time you finished reading the prompt and thought it through, there would be no time left to write drafts. As such, it was very common for examination papers to contain spelling errors, corrections, and mistakes.
Yet, this examination paper has exactly 2460 characters without a single spelling error or correction. Can we really say this is “simple”? This paper consists of 19 folded pages, measuring a total length of 268 cm, width of 47.6 cm, and each folded page is 14.1 cm wide, totaling 2460 characters. Each character is nearly 1 square centimeter, written neatly and compactly. The entire text begins with “Improving governance” and “Enriching the nation and governing the state,” gradually transitioning to express personal views: “To do well, one must first learn the principles of being a person” and “implementing rightful appointments,” reflecting a very high level of execution. Additionally, the author’s handwriting is exceptionally beautiful, making it a pleasure for viewers to read the text.
Thus, when Emperor Ming Shenzong Zhu Yijun finished reading this examination paper, he was overjoyed and used red ink to inscribe six characters: “First in the first degree,” simultaneously declaring “the highest rank” and announcing Zhao Bingzhong as the top scholar of that year’s examination.
Currently, the essay written by top scholar Zhao Bingzhong is preserved at the Qingzhou Museum in Shandong Province, China.
Even more astonishing is that top scholar Zhao Bingzhong was only 25 years old at that time, truly a genius! Soon after, he became the Minister of Rites and later the Minister of Rites (a first-class official). However, it is unfortunate that Zhao Bingzhong was known for his forthrightness, which displeased many powerful people. Ultimately, he was dismissed and returned to his hometown.
