清代生员作为功名持有者和特权群体，在面对“凌辱斯文”的责罚时，往往以罢考作为回应手段，共同进退，而在地方社会中，官员也尽量避免招惹这一同质性群体，但“凌辱斯文”之事却依然时有发生。朝廷对生员群体罢考行为的惩处，经历了“严宽之变”，这是伴随着18, 19世纪中央对地方控制力的强弱变化而发生的转变。在朝廷语境变化背景下，19世纪士人对于士子群体罢考行为，不再漂若寒蝉，而是敢于发声，给予了充分肯定与支持。因此，可以说在朝廷的主导下，19世纪统治阶层完成了对生员群体的主动“让步”。

As a group of lower degree holders，.shengyaan，received scholarly honors and held special privileges in the Qing dynasty，but when they faced humiliating punishments，they frequently responded with“examination strikes.”In local Chinese society，officials avoided provoking and humiliating these lower degree holders，but inappropriate punishments from local officials still caused some protests. The Qing court’s punishment of these protests also underwent a transition from severity to leniency that reflected the declining ability of the Qing to control society. By the nineteenth century with the decline of Qing power, local elites recorded these activities and began supporting examination strikes. It can be said that the Qing court made acquiesced in the face of this nineteenth century activism.