誰不逐炎涼

Stephen

The Imperial Examination was the most important thing for the entire nation in Ming Dynasty. In the preliminary test of the Imperial Examination in the year 1499， there was a cheating scandal. The examiner The Cheng Min of that year was accused of having alleged leak the test subjects to Xu Jing in advance. Tang Yin was a friend of Xu Jing， and might knew the test subjects by chance. All three of them were in custody and it took a few months to clear this matter and clean their names. The scandal， however， haunted the talented yet proud Tang Yin ever since. He was a little less than 30 when the scandal broke out， an age most of the scholars were still struggling and dreaming of becoming an officer of the imperial court. He was ashamed of this matter for the rest of his life， and turned to sensual pleasures and made a living out of selling his paintings.

If the scandal never had happened， there might be an officer in the imperial court named Tang Yin， who might not become a high rank officer judging from his pride showed in this scandal. When it happened， China welcomed one of its most talented painter in the history. His paintings， especially his portraits of the ladies， vividly showed his loneliness and distress as an outcast of the imperial system.

弘治十二年，即公元1499年，命太子少保禮部尚書兼文淵閣大學士李東陽、禮部右侍郎兼翰林院學士程敏政為會試考試官。科考取仕，對于上至朝野、下至黎民，都是天大的事。然而，就在這一年的會試中，卻爆出了一樁丑聞。

《明孝宗實錄》記載，此事由戶科給事中華昶上奏揭發：“翰林學士程敏政假手文場，甘心市井，士子初場未入而《論語》題已傳誦于外，二場未入而表題又傳誦于外，三場未入而策之第三、四問又傳誦于外。江陰縣舉人徐經、蘇州府舉人唐寅等狂童孺子，天奪其魄，或先以此題驕于眾，或先以此題問于人。”簡而言之，考官程敏政泄題給了江陰縣舉人徐經、蘇州府舉人唐寅。

科場舞弊，朝野震怒，程敏政、徐經、唐寅都給下了大獄。案情復雜，幾位主角的供詞又多有前后矛盾。徐經上奏華昶挾私誣指程敏政，又“自言敏政嘗受其金幣”，后來卻辯稱“來京之時慕敏政學問，以幣求從學，間講及三場題可出者；經因與唐寅擬作文字，致揚之外。會敏政主試，所出題有嘗所言者，故人疑其買題，而昶遂指之，實未嘗賂敏政。前俱拷治，故自誣服”。最后雖對舞弊之事無法定論，但考官程敏政與考生徐經、唐寅之間卻有金錢往來已毋庸置疑。

經此一事，本為江陰望族的梧塍徐氏由盛轉衰，天資聰穎、才華橫溢的唐寅亦從此一蹶不振。

如果沒有發生這件事，中國歷史上或許會多出一個叫做唐寅的官員，從其在科考案中展現的政治情商而言，或許爬不到很高的地位；……