清代江南乡试分闱动议始自康熙,经雍正、乾隆、咸丰、同治,迄于光绪,历时久远,过程复杂。江南分闱之议此伏彼起,根源在于江南分省。无分省,便无分闱,这一原则不仅可以解释江南的情形,也同样适用于湖广、陕甘。江南乡试考生偏多而中额过少这一矛盾则是江南分闱之议不断出现的主要动力。由于江南两省自身的特点和帝国的大一统体制,江南分闱动议无果而终。其主要原因有:城市因素;江南两省官员、士绅群体对于分闱态度不一,甚至互相掣肘,始终未形成命运的共同体;清廷对江南采取防范、压制政策。在知识公平与区域公平发生冲突时,清廷艰难地选择了后者,致使江南两省为此付出了长期又沉重的代价。 In the Qing Dynasty, the test of sub-division of Jiangnan Township started from Kangxi and was complicated by the process of Yongzheng, Qianlong, Xianfeng and Tongzhi. Jiangnan Fenbu proposed this volt, rooted in the southern provinces. Without any province, there is no division. This principle can not only explain the situation in Jiangnan, but also apply to Huguang and Shaanxi-Gansu. The contradiction between the high number of test candidates in Jiangnan Township and the too small amount of them is the major impetus that appears constantly in the resolution of the Jiangnan division. Due to its own characteristics and the grand unification of the two empires in southern and southern provinces, the Jiangnan branch moved without result. The main reasons are: the urban factor; the officials and the gentry groups in Jiangnan two provinces have different attitudes toward separatism and even restrict each other, and have never formed a community of fate; the Qing government took precautionary and repressive policies toward the south. When there was a conflict between fairness of knowledge and fairness in the region, the Qing government chose the latter with a hard time, causing the two southern provinces to pay a long-term and heavy price for this.