E59 殿试：十年寒窗，一举成名

E59 殿试：十年寒窗，一举成名

课程导读

在上节课中，我们跟随着林语堂先生的漫笔，一睹开封富贵祥和的市井风光。今天这节课，我们会一起来了解科举考试的最后一关——殿试。十年寒窗的考生们面对人生的关键时刻，会有怎样的复杂心情？殿试之中又有什么样特别的考试设置？

英文原文

The time for the palace examinations came.

Ouyang Shiu was nominated by the emperor to be chief examiner, together with a number of distinguished scholars as judges.

The approach to this most critical moment of a scholar's life was always filled with keen excitement, tense hope, and a nervous fear of failure.

It was the moment to which all his years of grinding labor and hours of burning the midnight oil were supposed to lead.

The candidates had to get up in the middle of the night and come to the palace at dawn, bringing their cold meals with them, for they would not be able to leave until the examinations were over.

During the examinations, they were shut up in cubicles under the supervision of palace guards.

There was a rigorous system to prevent bribery or favoritism.