[DOWNLOAD] Ancient China Civil Service Exam
This is a little ironic considering the test did not actually require proving your ability to deal with administrative issues in the job you were testing for. Men Only The exams were open to be sat for men only. Men considered 'undesirable,' such as...
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Influence of China’s imperial examinations on Japan, Korea and Vietnam
They were hired by rich families for their sons, or even worked at small schools for groups of students to prepare them. The Tests Were Often Likened to Actual Hell And this is not only because the tests were really difficult, which they were, but also because the candidates were confined to tiny cells throughout the examinations, which lasted between one and three days depending on the time period. They ate and slept in these cells, and we can only imagine what else they did in there, too. This temple was built to worship Confucius and his ideologies which were central to the education system throughout imperial China, and still have an influence on China's social structure and ethics to this day.
Chinese examination system
Cheating Was Really Very Common Because the examinations were so difficult, there were many cases of cheating, even at that time. One way that it is known that people cheated during their imperial examination was to have the notes written in the inner linings of robes so that they could easily look up the results during the testing. The System Came to an End in The imperial examination system officially came to an end in , in the final years of the Qing Dynasty China's last dynasty, — The devastating decline of imperial China in the s had led to new modernization efforts throughout the country. Learn More About Imperial Examinations and Confucianism During Your Tour Beijing's Confucius Temple You can spend your tour learning more about the imperial examination system and how it has influenced education to this day, just let us know what you'd like to focus on seeing and learning when you are putting together your tour.
2,000 years of Examinations in China
Tours to the cities of Qufu, Suzhou, Quzhou, Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai will generally include a visit to their Confucius temple depending on time.
The Confucian Classics & the Civil Service Examinations
Examinations A unique experiment This is an article taken from our China in Focus magazine written by Justin Crozier. Justin Crozier examines how China's Imperial examination system and its modern remnant - the Eight Legged Essay and the Gao Kao - are unique attempts in world history to aim for a government of wisdom. In "On a Chinese Screen", notes from his encounters during a journey on the Yangzi in , Somerset Maugham relays his conversation with a great Confucian philosopher. The Chinese philosopher, who has studied in Berlin and Oxford, concludes that all wisdom is to be found within the Confucian canon.
The Chinese Imperial Examination System
We sought to rule this great country not by force, but by wisdom. And for centuries we succeeded. But these fruits of Chinese ingenuity are in many ways peripheral to the historical development of Chinese civilisation, and to Chinese society today. Gunpowder may have been discovered in China; but it was chiefly used for fireworks; the value of the compass was squandered by the insularity of the Ming government and its failure to capitalise on Zheng He 's explorations.
Imperial examination
Paper and the printing press were remarkable developments, but were really just perfections of technology already in use in various parts of the world from a very early age; papyrus or vellum, or the scriptoria of monasteries. The most truly unique aspect of Chinese culture - and the one with the most powerful legacy - is the Confucian examination system with which the Son of Heaven's empire was staffed with civil servants over the best part of two millennia. The Imperial examinations represented a remarkable attempt to create an aristocracy of learning, which in itself represent a remarkable advance over the warrior and hereditary aristocracies that dominated in the rest of the world. The Chinese examination system, archaic, laborious and daunting as it may have been, was nevertheless, was a glorious attempt at intellectual meritocracy.
Chinese Civil Service Examination Essay
The Imperial Examination The origins of the exam system lie in the Han period, but the early scholarly examinations were consolidated during the Sui period, and began to be truly effective under the Tang Dynasty. Between the Tang period and the late Qing , the civil service examinations dropped out of use for short periods and underwent occasional reform. But the content remained remarkably constant. The core texts consisted of the Four Books and the Five Classics, works attributed to Confucius and certain of his disciples, along with a number of approved commentaries. Until the Guanxu Reforms of , the notorious eight-legged essay, a rigid traditional format, was the mainstay of the exam papers. Rote learning of the Confucian classics was fundamental to success in the exams, and the scholar who obtained the highest degree, the jinshi, would have his memory trained to a tremendous degree.
What Was Imperial China's Civil Service Exam System?
Joining the Imperial Civil Service To obtain a civil service post, a candidate had to pass through several stages, starting with preliminary local exams, and progressing, if successful, through to district, provincial and palace examinations. Exams were held every three years. The district degree was the shengyuan, which entailed exemption from both corporal punishment and the corvee labour dues, the right to wear a scholar's robes, and a small state salary. Essentially, a successful candidate became a member of the gentry. To obtain a civil service position, a scholar generally required the juren provincial degree, which would take would take years of study, and even a candidate could not reasonably expect to do so before he was thirty.
Ancient Chinese Civil Service Facts For Kids
Many candidates who were eventually successful did not achieve office until they had reached a venerable age. The jinshi degrees were prospects for only a very few exceptional scholars. For the very highest ministerial posts, the best examination essays were selected by the Emperor himself. A Meritocratic Aristocracy Aristocracy-by-examination had far-reaching consequences. A high degree of national stability was ensured despite changes of emperor and dynasty because the civil service, fuelled by the exam system, could continue independently of the imperial regime.
Civil Service of the People's Republic of China
Even China's foreign conquerors, the Mongols and the Manchu, realised the benefits of the examination system. The Manchu tribesmen who captured Beijing in to found the Qing Dynasty restored the civil service examinations only two years later, and although they excluded Han Chinese from the highest echelons of the Civil Service, they clearly recognised the adhesive value of the exams in binding the Han intelligentsia to the Qing regime. Most importantly, the civil examinations provided a conduit for the aspirations of able men from almost any social stratum.
Examinations
While there are a few famous literary instances of women dressing up as men to take the exams, in practice, women were entirely excluded from the system. But amongst men, the exams were generally open to all, with the exception of a few classes such as actors and slaves. Undoubtedly, success in the examinations was easier for the well-off. In the late Qing period in particular, corruption was widespread; examiners could be bribed, and early stages of the exam process could be skipped for a fee.
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Tutors, books and brushes all cost money, so poor candidates were at a disadvantage even during periods when bribery was frowned upon. Despite this, many poor scholars did succeed in their ambitions. During the Qing period, over a third of jinshi degree holders came from families with little or no educational background. Nor was the system biased towards the inhabitants of the capital. Degrees were awarded to scholars from throughout China; indeed the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang boasted the greatest number of jinshi graduates. The Weight of Confucius While the system could be remarkably meritocratic, it was often attacked for its stultifying emphasis on rote learning.
China Ancient Education
In this vein, the Imperial exams have been criticised for stultifying China's intellectual growth. By concentrating intellectual activity on the Confucian Classics, the system limited the possibilities for progress. As Western universities began to move away from their own classical tradition to embrace economics, engineering and natural science, China's scholarly efforts languished in the ancient literary past. While the examinations allowed humble scholars to aspire to ministerial power, they could also prove a powerful source of frustration and bitterness.
History of Psychological Assessment: Chinese Use of Essay Examinations for Civil Service
A rigid examination system does provide an opportunity for intelligent individuals to better themselves; however, the inflexibility inherent to a system used across such a vast nation meant that many talented individuals failed to meet the exacting examination system, and will be left unfulfilled and angry. From Examination to Rebellion The second bloodiest war in human history, the Taiping Rebellion , which claimed some 20 million lives, had its roots in the frustrations of the civil service exams.
China's Examination Hell: The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China
Hong Houxiu, or Hong Xiuquan as he became, failed the shengyuan examinations on four separate occasions. Nursing a grievance against the Confucian state system, Hong's frustration found an outlet when he read a Christian tract condemning the examinations. The Imperial examinations were not the sole factor in the Taiping Rebellion; resentment of Qing rule and the humiliation China suffered in the First Opium War clearly loomed large in Hung Xiuquan's thought, while his mystic inspiration remains inexplicable. Nevertheless, the tantalising frustration that the examination system caused in many aspiring intellectuals was certainly an integral part of Hong's motivation, and a root cause of the tragic ambition that led to slaughter then unprecedented in history. The Flourishing of Great Literature Fortunately, frustration with the examination system could take other forms. Many of China's greatest literary and artistic achievements arose from intellectual energies that their creators had intended to channel into the service of the state through earning Imperial degrees.
Chinese civil service
Failure in the examinations is a recurrent theme running through the Chinese literary canon. The massive amount of scholarly energy required for the exams was often channelled into poetry and prose when aspiring scholar-officials failed to obtain their degrees. The Tang period poet Du Fu is a good example; failure in the Imperial examinations in divorced him from the scholarly traditions of his family, and propelled him on an itinerant career as a poet. Cao's male characters live lives punctuated by the triennial menace of the examinations. Perhaps no literary figure was more affected by his experiences in the Imperial examination system than Pu Songling, the Qing period author of the collection of tales known as Liao Zhai. Pu spent around 40 years in his attempts to obtain the juren provincial degree which would allow him to enter a civil service position.
Ancient Chinese Civil Service Facts For Kids | Savvy Leo
The same sentiment is channelled into the Liao Zhai, where many of the protagonists are struggling scholars. Pu's frustration is made plain in his works as his scholar-heroes have to seek supernatural aid from spirits and demons to achieve the coveted juren degree. Cheating While many artistic figures were perhaps hampered by their own creativity in tackling the relentless rote learning required by the exam system, others succumbed to the temptation to cheat, and suffered the consequences of being caught. The renowned Ming period painter, Tang Ying, resurrected his career through his painting after his hopes of an official position were shattered when he was caught cheating in the exam hall. Before winning influential friends and patrons through his talent, Tang was reduced to poverty as a consequence of his dishonesty.
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The sheer volume of knowledge required to succeed in the Imperial examinations elevated cheating to something of an art form in China. Miniature books were devised to be concealed in the palm of a hand; shirts had important passages from the Confucian Classics sewn, in miniscule lettering, to their insides; fans were constructed with pass-notes on their obverse. Other duplicities included hiring veteran scholars to sit the exams in one's stead, and the simple expedient of copying a neighbour in the exam hall. At certain times, bribery of examiners was commonplace. As every Chinese teacher can attest these cheating methods, refined over centuries - are alive and well today.
10 Interesting Facts about China's Imperial Examination System
One lasting legacy of an inflexible and daunting examination system is that Chinese students have become experts at subverting such systems. But the most important legacy of the imperial examination system is surely the massive academic effort channelled into the National University Entrance Examinations in China each year. Gao Kao - The National University Entrance Exam The current university entrance system is far from perfect; but for thousands of diligent students, it offers a ladder from provincial village schools to the nation's best universities.
Civil Service Exam Ancient China (Page 1)
Residents of metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai may benefit from built-in bias designed to maintain the prestige of these cities, but urban universities nevertheless admit legions of rural success stories, often the children of illiterate parents, who have benefited from the meritocratic reach of the PRC's university entrance exams. In a society where 'guanxi' and naked wealth can buy all sorts of dispensations, the University Entrance Examinations can daunt even the most well connected and well-heeled parents.
Chinese Imperial Examination in Sui & Tang Dynasties
The upsurge in the number of rich parents choosing to educate their parents abroad is in no small part due to the realisation that Xiao Huangdi 'little emperor'- or spoilt child of limited academic ability will not make it to prestigious universities in the Motherland. This is a testament to the rigour of the new system. Since the Imperial examinations were abolished in , the emphasis in China has swung sharply away from the Confucian classics, and from literature and philosophy in general. After , education was slanted heavily towards science as China strove to catch up with the rest of the world. Now, it is generally acknowledged that the educational pendulum swung too far away from literature, and efforts are being made to allow students a choice of exam curriculum, enabling specialisation in literature and the arts once more.
Imperial examination - Wikipedia
Teachers and students making big character posters at Qinghua University Beijing during the Cultural Revolution in China Today's university entrance system is an imperfect heir to its imperfect father, the Imperial civil service examinations. But it does represent a continuing meritocratic trend in Chinese society with a history unparalleled elsewhere. The university system has improved greatly on its forebear, most notably through extending the opportunity of advancement by examination to female candidates. Clearly, the National University Entrance Examinations still emphasise rote-learning far too much, but this is increasingly recognised, as is the level of stress that it places on students. Both areas may be improved in the future. But in providing a system that allows the children of illiterate peasants to study in the nation's greatest universities and to then progress into civil service positions, China is continuing the experiment that Maugham's philosopher described.
CHINESE IMPERIAL EXAMS
China's meritocratic examination system should be a source of pride to its people, and an inspiration to the rest of the world.
China's civil service exam: Can you answer these questions?
Ancient Imperial Exams with Modern Relevance Adjust font size: The ancient imperial exams, on which the Chinese bureaucracy was built, continues to inspire modern talent. The soaring popularity of the nation's civil service exam is a clear indication. Last November's civil servant exam reportedly attracted , participants, a 47 percentincrease over the year before, with Beijing alone having 56, participants. For each out of the 10, positions at State and provincial levels, there was an average of 35 competitors and for some positions the competitors amounted to even 2,, local media reported.
Imperial Examinations (Keju) for Government Service in Ancient China
But "today's exam-takers may not be able to imagine how important the system was for both ancient Chinese rulers and their subjects," pointed out Wang Yi, director of Jiading-based Lu Yanshao Art Museum. In ancient times, the exams were virtually the only path to a privileged life for common people and that made the national keju competition extremely fierce. It was common in ancient China for intellectuals to fall victim to the examination system after years of preparation. Cheating became a big problem despite tough measures to prevent it. And passing the exams became the ultimate goal of schooling. Most candidates tended to repeat the same topics, studying only for the exams' sake, rather than thoroughly understanding all the material. Memorizing just enough to pass the exams, they could not put their knowledge to practical use.
Chinese Civil Service Examination Essay - Words | Bartleby
Humiliated by a series of bitter defeats in the declining late Qing Court, China, then plagued by rampant political corruption and troubled by frequent foreign invasions, was forced to re-examine its education system, which was suffocating under the imperial exam system. The keju system finally came to an end in And that may partly explain why "in our past evaluation of the Chinese imperial examination system, there existed lopsided viewpoints," said Liu Haifeng, a renowned researcher of the imperial examination system.
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Obviously, such evaluation is a misunderstanding of the imperial examination system, he claimed. Today, we should treat the 'imperial examination system' as a neutral phrase," Liu said, adding that the methodology employed since by the Chinese Government to manage the public service sector has its roots in the nation's ancient imperial examination system. Far-reaching influence "The examination systems employed in most countries are copied from the British system. And the origin of the Britain's examination system actually came from China," stated Dr Sun Yat-sen , forerunner of the Chinese democratic revolution, in his Five-Power Constitution.
Imperial examination - Wikipedia
Under this arrangement, Sun assigned a separate body to supervise the exam process, called the Examination Yuan, along with four other bodies, which were responsible for legislative, executive, judicial and supervisory powers. Early in , a book titled "Anatomy of Melancholy" published in Britain created panic among the aristocracy. Author Robert Burton challenged the privilege enjoyed by the aristocracy, suggesting the introduction of China's imperial examination system. Two centuries later, in , the civil official examination system was officially established in Britain. China Daily February 23,
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