당대 과거(科擧)와 수도(首都) (The Dynastic Competitive Examination(科擧) of the Tang(唐) period, and the Capital City)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 서울시립대학교 서울학연구소
· 수록지 정보 : 서울학연구 / 60호 / 93 ~ 127페이지
· 저자명 : 김종섭

초록

唐代 科擧는 동아시아의 首都 집중화를 이해하는데 하나의 단서를 제공한다.
과거는 공정한 시험을 통한 우수한 인재를 선발하는 제도이면서 지방에서 중앙으로 향하는 각 단계별 시험을 통과해야 하는 절차를 지닌 제도이기 때문이다.
高祖가 향촌조직을 정비하고 鄕마다 학교를 세움으로써 과거의 출발점은 마련되었다. 縣에는 縣學이, 州에는 州學이, 京師에는 國子學이 세워져 단계별 수학도가능하였다. 官學에서 수학하고 있는 학생을 生徒라 불렀으며, 이들은 일정한 자격을 획득한 후 경사에서 치르는 省試에 응거할 수 있었다. 또한 私學도 점차 나타나기 시작하였으며, 이곳에 수학한 사람들은 州에서 주관하는 鄕試에 응해야했다. 향시에 합격하면 鄕貢이라 불렸으며, 省試에 응거할 수 있었다.
성시에 應擧하는 인원은 매해 대략 3,000명 전후로 추산되며, 이들 가운데 進 士를 포함하여 120여 명 정도가 급제하였다. 성시에 낙제한 사람들은 다음 성시에 곧바로 응거할 수 있는 것이 아니라 다시 성시에 응거할 수 있는 자격을 얻어야만 했다. 즉 성시에 급제한 일부를 제외하면 다수의 사람들은 다시 지방으로 내려갔다가 성시에 응할 수 있는 文解를 발급받아 경사로 올라오는 일을 반복했다.
성시 응거 행렬은 평화로운 시절만이 아니라 唐朝에 반기를 든 지역에서도, 전쟁이 발발한 상황에서도 끊이지 않았다. 安史의 난 이후 당조의 명령을 받들지않는 ‘反側之地’의 藩鎭에서도 성시 행렬은 이어졌고, 黃巢의 군대가 長安을 위협하던 시기에도 과거는 시행되었다. 이런 성시 행렬이 가능했던 것은 수동적인 薦 擧와 달리 그들의 자발성 때문이었다. 과거는 타의에 의한 추천이 아니라 본인의의지에 의해서 참여하는 관리선발제도였기 때문이다.
과거는 작은 구심점에서 점차 큰 구심점으로 나아가는 중앙집중형 사회를 형성시키는데 큰 영향을 주었으며, 이런 구조 속에 사람들은 자연히 이런 사회를받아들이게 되었다. 바로 그 정점에 오늘날 수도와 비슷한 개념의 京師가 자리하고 있으므로 과거는 전근대 동아시아 수도의 특징인 집중화를 더욱 강화시키는역할을 수행할 수 있었다. 따라서 수도의 집중화는 수도라면 당연히 그러해야 된다는 것이 아니라 전근대 동아시아 역사의 기반에서 형성된 중요한 특징이라고할 수 있다.

영어초록

The Chinese Tang(唐) period’s dynastic competitive examination(科擧) system is very important in understanding the particular phenomenon of ‘population buildup’ inside East Asian Capital cities. This dynastic examination was in nature a tool to select superior talents through a fair test, and was also a system that required applicants to pass multiple sub-tests along their way up from local regions to the center of the dynasty.
Emperor Gaozu(高祖) renovated the local communities and built schools in every ‘xiang(鄕)’ units, effectively creating a foundation for future implementation of a dynastic examination system. In xian(縣) units xianxue(縣學) schools were established, while zhouxue(州學) schools were in zhou(州) units and the Guozixue(國子學) dynastic University was at the very capital(京師, jingshi). All these schools established at various levels encouraged and enabled students to engage in further studies of their own.
Students who studied inside this official education system(“Guanxue, 官學”) were called as ‘shengtu(生徒, students),’ and after earning a certain status, they were authorized to apply for the ‘Shengshi(省試, provincial test),’ which was held at the capital. In the meantime, private schools(“私學”) also started to emerge, and people who studied in these civilian facilities had to first apply for the ‘Xiangshi(鄕試, local test)’ exam which was overseen by the zhou(州) authorities. If they successfully passed that exam, then they would be designated as ‘xianggong(鄕貢, local applicants for the provincial test),’ and would become able to apply for the final round, the ‘Shengshi(省試).’ The number of people who applied(“yingju, 應擧”) for the ‘Shengshi(省試)’ is estimated as 2 or 3 thousand every year, and among them, about 120 people, including the ‘Jinshi(進士)’ figures, were able to pass the exam. People who failed at the Provincial tests were not allowed to apply for the same round next year, and instead were required to reearn the status that would allow them to take the ‘Shengshi’ again. The ‘xianggong’ figures mentioned above had to reapply for the ‘Xiangshi(鄕試)’ test again, and only after they successfully passed it again, they were allowed to reapply for the ‘Shengshi’ as well. In other words, students other than successful passers of the ‘Shengshi’ test had to return home only to come back later, and in some cases, multiple times.
People’s determination to apply for the Shengshi test was neither discontinued nor discouraged even during times of war, and even in regions which were rising up against the Dang regime. Even since the Anshi(安史) Insurrection, and interestingly enough in the Fanzhen(藩鎭) regions ruled by military governors who were not obeying orders issued by the Tang government, people continued to apply for Shengshi, and even while Huangchao(黃巢) was raging through Tang and threatening the Changan(長安) capital, the dynastic examinations continued to be held. The examination system was by nature very much inducive of active applications, as it was not an institution that relied upon “recommendations(薦擧)” from other people. The examination system in origin was all about deciding one’s own fate, with their own talents and their own efforts.
This dynastic competitive examination system very much contributed to the formation of a ‘centric society.’ And people became used to the idea and notions of such society. The premodern capital cities was the embodiment of such change. We can say that this dynastic competitive examination system played an imperative role in creating(or at least reinforcing) a specific characteristic displayed by premodern East Asian capital cities, which was no other than the concentration of population. It was not like any capital city would naturally experience a surge of population. East Asian capital cities witnessed such incoming waves of people because of the specific nature of their own histories.

참고자료

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