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The Imperial Civil Examination System

This is the system in which officials were selected through different levels of examinations. After Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty(541-604)reunified China in 581, he abolished the system of selecting officials on the basis of family background or moral character. In 605, the first year of the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty(569-618), the system to select officials through imperial civil examinations was officially established. From then on, examination subjects, content, and recruitment standards varied from dynasty to dynasty. The jinshi exam was the most difficult of imperial civil examinations,and was always the most revered by scholars. Since the Yuan and Ming dynasties, examination content had been based on the Four Books and the Five Classics and had to be answered in the form of the stereotyped “eight-part” essay and refer to Commentaries on the Four Books and other classics. In 1905 Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1871-1908)issued an edict abolishing the imperial civil examination system. For 1,300 years since the Sui Dynasty, the imperial civil examination system was the main method for selecting officials, which had a broad and profound influence on Chinese society. It hastened the transformation of aristocracy-based politics to bureaucracy-based politics and had multiple functions such as educating people, selecting officials, choosing talent through examinations, social stratification, and carrying forward the traditional culture.

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Soon after Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty ascended the throne, he wanted to help people with both moral integrity and professional competence come to prominence, so he said to his ministers, “By recruiting remarkable people through the imperial civil examination system, I do not expect five out of ten of those recruited to excel. If one or two out of ten do, the imperial civil examination system can be used as an effective means to maintain political stability.”
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The imperial civil examination system had to be implemented through schools, but those recommended by schools to official positions do not necessarily need to take the imperial civil examinations.
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