王拱辰是宋朝人，自幼家境貧寒，父親在他很小的時候就去世了，留下無依無靠的母親和四個孩子。王拱辰是長子，於是他就和母親一起挑起家庭的重擔。王拱辰孝順母親，生活儉樸，誠實守信，常受鄉里人誇獎。他還喜歡讀書，而且非常刻苦，經常是天不亮就起床，甚至是半夜醒來也要翻一翻書。

王拱辰通過多年的努力，到二十歲的時候，已經能寫一手好文章，於是他就參加了鄉試和會試，成績都很優秀。公元1030年，他到京城參加皇帝宋仁宗親自主持的殿試。皇上認真審閱了每一個考生和考卷，發現王拱辰的文章立論新穎，見解獨到，文筆流暢，沒有人比得上他，於是就把王拱辰定為狀元。

第三天，宋仁宗把考中一、二、三名的書生都召集到王宮的大殿上，在早朝上當著文武百官的面宣布考中前三名的名單。其他兩個書生都趕緊跪下磕頭謝恩，王拱辰不但沒有謝恩，反而說：「陛下，小生不配當狀元，請您把狀元判給別人。」

金殿上的人都議論紛紛，科舉考試已有四五百年的歷史了，從沒聽說哪個人把到手的狀元往外推，這真是天下奇聞。

皇上宋仁宗聽了也很納悶，就詢問原因。

王拱辰說：「陛下，我也是十年寒窗苦讀，做夢都想中狀元。可是這次考試的題目不久前我剛好做過，被選上狀元是僥倖。如果我默不作聲當上了狀元，我就是不誠實。從小到大我都沒有說過謊話。我不想因為想當狀元，就敗壞自己的節操。」

宋仁宗聽了，非常受感動，特別賞識王拱辰的誠實，認定他將來一定會成為國家的棟樑之才。於是宋仁宗就說：「此前做過考題，是因為你勤奮，況且從你的文章裏可以看出，你表達的是自己的真實想法，理應當選為狀元。再說，你敢於說真話，能夠誠信做人，這才是一個堂堂狀元應該具有的品質，你的誠實比你的才華更可貴。因此，朕一定要選你做狀元，你就不要推辭了。」

就這樣，王拱辰成為歷史上有名的誠實狀元。他在朝中做官五十五年，以自己誠實正直的品格和驚人的才華，得到百姓和官員們的尊敬。他的女婿是宋代有名的學者李格非，外孫女李清照是中國文壇享譽盛名的女詞人。

The Honest First-Place Finisher at the Imperial Civil Service Examination

Wang Hongchen lived during the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 A.D.). He was from a very poor family. His father had passed away when he was very young leaving his mother with four young children. Wang Hongchen was the oldest, therefore he helped his mother with the burden of supporting the whole family. He was a devoted son to his mother. He lived simply and frugally, and was an honest and trustworthy person. All the people in his hometown praised him constantly. Wang also loved to study and was a very diligent student. He often got up before the crack of dawn to study. If he happened to wake up in the middle of the night, he would get up and read a few more pages from his books.

After years of hard work, Wang Hongchen had learned to write excellent essays by the time he was 20 years old. He participated in the local, then provincial civil service examinations and received high marks. In 1030 A.D., he went to the capital and participated in the Imperial Civil Service Examination personally hosted by Emperor Renzong at the Royal Court. The Emperor met with every student and read every student's essay. He felt that ideas expressed in Wang Hongchen's essay were original and unique, while the essay itself was fluid and elegant. No other essays could compare with his. Thus he named Wang Hongchen the first-place finisher of the examination.

On the third day, the Emperor ordered the top three finishers into the Royal Court and announced their names in front of all the officials at the court. The other two students immediately knelt down to thank the emperor. Wang not only didn't thank the emperor for the honor, but he said, "Your Majesty, I don't deserve to be the first-place finisher. I beg you to give the honor to someone else."

People at the court were shocked. The civil service examination system had been in place for four to five hundred years, and nobody who had been given the first-place honor had ever tried to give it away. What a strange thing Wang just did!

Emperor Renzong was also very surprised and asked Wang why.

Wang Hongchen said, "Your Majesty, I have studied very hard for ten long and difficult years now. I have wanted to be the first-place finisher in the imperial examination even in my dreams. But the topic of the essay for the imperial examination was one that I had written another essay on a while ago. I got lucky and that is how you chose me to be the first-place finisher. I don't want to damage and destroy my own virtue just because of my desire to be a first-place finisher."

Emperor Renzhong was very moved and really appreciated Wang's honesty. He became even more convinced that Wang would be able to contribute a lot to the country. He told Wang, "The reason that you had written another essay on the topic used in the examination is that you were industrious. In addition, from your essay, one can tell that you were expressing your own honest opinions, and you deserve to be the first-place finisher. Furthermore, you dare to tell the truth and are honest with other people. That is the very characteristic that an honored first-place finisher should possess. Your honesty is even more precious than your talent. Therefore, I must name you the first-place finisher. You shouldn't try to push the honor away any more."

That is how Wang Hongchen became the "Honest First-Place Finisher" known throughout history. He served as an official in the Royal Court for 55 years and gained the respect of both the common people and his fellow officials because of his honest and upstanding character and extraordinary talents. Li Gefei, a renowned scholar in the Song Dynasty, was his son-in-law. Li Qingzhao, one of the most well-known poets in Chinese literary history, was his granddaughter.