吉水亿田是宋代文化发达的江西中部的一个山村,其时人口当不满百人,却随着北宋皇祐元年刘良肱进士及第而开启了一个家族三代内多人举业成功的历史。将亿田刘氏家族举业成功的事实嵌入中国历史在唐宋之际的深层转型,可以发掘出其特定的社会条件和历史意义,了解宋代科举社会形成的乡村土壤,从区域和基层视角解读北宋科举社会的乡村形态。

As a typical mountainous village with a population fewer than 100 in central Jiangxi Province which was culturally developed in the Song Dynasty, Yitian Village (亿田) in Jishui County (吉水) made a glorious history of success in imperial examinations. In 1049 which was the first year under the reign of Emperor Huangyou (皇祐) in the Northern Song Dynasty, one of the villagers named Liu Lianggong (刘良肱) passed the imperial examination, and then quite a few people within three generations of his family also achieved success in the imperial examinations. To incorporate the success made by the Liu’s Family of Yitian Village into Chinese history concerning the in-depth social transformation during the transitional period between the Tang and the Song Dynasties, will reveal its specific social conditions and historical significance, help to understand the rural environment where the imperial examination society was formed in the Song Dynasty, and interpret the rural form of the imperial examination society in the Northern Song Dynasty from the regional and grassroots perspectives.