明弘治十二年礼部会试舞弊案

弘治十二年(1499)春,唐寅以南京乡试第一名的成绩参加在京城举行的礼部会试。是次考试后来由于主考官程敏政和考生唐寅、徐经涉嫌鬻题舞弊而成为明代历史上一次受人关注的会试。唐寅也因为这场舞弊案而被废为吏,由此直接影响了唐寅后来的人生道路,特别是他的艺术创作。关于这场舞弊案,历来模糊难辨。本文试图从一些新的角度,如该试另一主考官李东阳与徐经家族的关系、《明孝宗实录》纂修以及关于此事的评价、对舞弊案所涉官员傅瀚、华昶以及唐寅友人都穆的考察等,来重新审视这一事件,这对研究中国绘画史上“明四家”之一的唐寅的个人思想无疑是个关键。

The Case of Fraud at the Examinations in the Board of Ritual in the 12th Year of the Hongzhi Reign of the Ming Dynasty

In the spring 1499,Tang Yin took part in the examinations at the Board of Ritual in the capital Beijing,after having obtained first place in the metropolitan examinations in Nanjing.This particular examination came to be a focus of attention in Ming history after the chief examiner Chen Minzheng together with the candidates Tang Yin and Xu Jing became implicated in an embezzlement case.As a result of the ease Tang Yin was demoted to a very minor bureaucratic position as a non-official(li),and this event had consequences for his later career propelling him to become a painter.From a new perspective,the author re-examines the case,and shows that another chief examiner Li Dongyang was connected with the family of Xu Jing,and that the editor of Ming Xiaozong shilu(Veritable records of Ming Emperor Xiaozong)wrote an assessment of the case showing that the officials Pu Han,Hua Chang and Tang Yin's friend Du Mu all called for a review of the case.The incident is crucial for examining the individual thinking of Tang Yin,who was regarded as one of the four leading painters of the Ming Dynasty.