Examinations, Imperial Kējǔ 科 举
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◀ Eunuchs Comprehensive index starts in volume 5, page 2667. Examinations, Imperial Kējǔ 科 举 The term bureaucrat did not always have the Tang Contributions same pejorative attachment it has today. Before the twentieth century, China was administered Like the Han before it, the Tang government established by highly respected, and thoroughly tested, two state universities, one at Chang’an, the principal capi- tal city, the other at Luoyang, the auxiliary capital. The professional bureaucrats, or civil servants. universities admitted mainly sons of the nobility and bu- reaucracy, and prepared them for the doctoral exams held at the capital. But men educated in private academies and hina was the first civilization to develop a civil ser- recommended by local officials after preliminary screen- vice recruited on the basis of merit, not birth. This ing exams could also participate in these prestigious ex- led to the development of a meritocracy (social es- ams. Five types of exams were administered, two of them, teem and position based on learning) millennia earlier than for literary composition and for knowledge of the classics, any other civilization. This system was reported in glow- were the most prestigious. Those who passed were called ing and admiring terms by Jesuit missionaries who came presented scholars, a degree equivalent to the modern to China in the seventeenth century. It was later copied by doctorate. The remaining three exams—for law, math- European nations. Thus the recruitment of a civil service ematics, and calligraphy—were less esteemed. based on learning and tested through the civil service exami- The exams were initially administered by the Min- nations was one of the glories of the Chinese civilization. istry of Personnel because many of the passing candi- dates became government officials. After 736 ce, the Ministry of Rites became responsible for administering Foundations the exams, making them a ritual of the Confucian state and adding to their prestige. Men who passed the doc- The notion of a professional bureaucracy based on merit toral exams underwent further testing on their practi- rather than birth began late in the Zhou dynasty (1045– 256 cal skills, appearance, and speaking abilities and had bce) during the Warring States era (770– 221 bce). Its adop- their personal files checked for moral uprightness. Only tion by the Qin state contributed to Qin triumph in 221 bce. then were they eligible for suitable appointments when The succeeding Han dynasty (206 bce– 2 2 0 ce) adapted the vacancies occurred. Appointments were made in the practice and combined recommendation, testing, and per- name of the emperor. Civil service positions and civil formance rating to recruit a civil service. These practices servants were ranked by nine grades, with ascending persisted until the early twentieth century. But it was the salaries as one rose on the bureaucratic ladder. All civil reunified Sui (581– 618 ce) and Tang empires (618– 907 ce) servants were subject to annual ratings by their supe- that made civil service examinations a full-fledged system. rior officers. 781 C © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC 782 Berkshire Encyclopedia of China 宝 库 山 中 华 全 书 Testing room of the Imperial examina- tion system. Each test-taker would be confined to one of these tiny cubicles for the duration of the examination Students would usually come from families wealthy enough to support a non-working family member, as study- ing would leave little time for anything else. China was the first civilization to develop a civil service recruited on the basis of merit, not birth, and the exam- ination process that sought to establish a person’s worth was extremely rig- orous. The system was reported in glowing and admiring terms by Jesuit missionaries who came to China in the seventeenth century. Photo by Jeff Wang Song Refinements Ming and Qing Bureaucracy The greater egalitarianism of Song dynasty (960– 1279) During the nomadic Liao, Jurchen Jin, and Yuan dynas- society was reflected in the opening of the examination ties (916–1368) rulers relied on ethnic minorities and mili- system and the civil service to men of more varied so- tary force to rule China. Although they were compelled cial backgrounds. With a printing press in operation, to institute the examinations to recruit officials to rule books became cheaper and more widely available. Ob- the Chinese, the Chinese so recruited had only limited jective procedures were also adopted, for example, hav- career opportunities open to them and served only in sub- ing three examiners read each paper and having a piece ordinate positions. of paper pasted over the candidate’s name to prevent The Ming (1368– 1644) government sponsored the favoritism. Men who passed the metropolitan exams most extensive educational system in premodern China. then underwent a palace exam presided over by the The state sponsored at least one school in every county and emperor, in theory, to confirm the results. Other inno- prefectural city with a quota of state-supported students. vations the Song government undertook were to give Beginning in 1370 the Ming government held regular ex- the exams every three years and to narrow the scope ams so that by the 1400s degree holders again dominated of the exams to literary composition and interpreting the bureaucratic elite. There was a great increase in enroll- the classics. About two hundred men received the doc- ment in both private academies and family schools dur- toral degree annually during the Song dynasty. These ing the prosperous Ming and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties, men filled about half of the top government positions. which produced an ever-increasing number of educated Lower government posts were increasingly filled by the men. Neo-Confucianism of the Zhu Xi School had be- prefectural graduates. come orthodox around the end of the Song, and this was © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC Examinations, Imperial n Kējǔ n 科举 783 the basis of the school curriculum and the exams. Stu- also scheduled for the Manchu, Mongol, and Han ban- dents were taught to write their essays according to a stan- nermen. The rise of the Manchus was due to a military dard form that organized them in an eight-part structure. organization called the banner system, which enrolled This form became known as the Eight-Legged Essay. Manchus, Mongols, and Han Chinese who joined the Triennial examinations at three levels became the rule. Manchu cause prior to 1644 into separate, elite heredi- Aspiring young men first had to pass the county-level ex- tary military units. Although Manchu, Mongol, and Han ams. Those who did earned the cultivated talent degree, Chinese bannermen were eligible to take an easier exam, equivalent to a bachelor of arts degree in modern terms. many Chinese chose not to do so because the more easily This entitled them to wear a designating sash, exempted earned degrees were perceived as less prestigious. them from unpaid labor owed to the emperor (corvee), and The personnel administration practices established made them eligible to teach and to serve in minor govern- by the Tang continued during the later dynasties. They ment posts. They could also take the three-day-long provin- included annual merit ratings, triennial appointments, cial examinations on the classics and history, in which they reappointments that could extend a term for up to nine had to be able to relate philosophical principles to current years in a single post, the principle of seniority, and the political issues. Those who passed became elevated men, law of avoidance, which precluded any man from serving equivalent to master of arts degree. They were eligible to en- in his home province. ter government service, teach, or compete in the metropoli- The traditional exam system lasted until the early tan exams held at the capital. About 1,200 men received this twentieth century. The exams became less relevant in the degree triennially in early Ming times; the figure had risen late nineteenth century as China struggled to adapt to the to approximately 1,800 by mid-Qing. Those who passed the modern world. Modern schools, introduced by Chinese difficult metropolitan exams took a final palace exam that missionaries, began teaching the sciences, foreign lan- ranked them in order of excellence. They were called pre- guages, and world history, and were followed by Chinese sented scholars, or doctors. These men became national ce- public and private schools and universities that adopted lebrities equivalent to modern sports heroes. Many entered modern, Western curricula. The exam system was abol- the civil service, starting at relatively high positions. ished in the last years of the Qing dynasty. Schools for The Ming government also set a geographic quota for girls proliferated after the establishment of the Republic the number of passing doctoral candidates: 35 percent in 1911. Universities became coeducational after 1920. was reserved for northerners, 10 percent for westerners Jiu-hwa Lo UPSHUR (mainly for candidates from Sichuan), and 55 percent for southerners. The Qing refined the quota on a provin- cial basis. The quota system was aimed at producing a Further Reading bureaucracy that was nationally based. Without a quota Ho, Ping-ti. (1962). The ladder of success in Imperial China: southerners would have dominated because since the Aspects of social mobility, 1368– 1911 New York: Colum- Song dynasty, southern China had become economically bia University Press. more prosperous than the north and. as a result, had bet- Kracke, E. (1953). Civil service in early Sung China, 960– ter schools that produced better prepared students. 1067. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Menzal, J. M. (Ed.). (1963). Chinese civil service—Career The Qing government founded by the Manchus, an open to talent Boston: D.