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Many people want government jobs. They pay well and some like to be part of the political system that is in power. Some see it as a chance to influence what goes on. Because so many people want government jobs, a fair system for awarding the positions is needed. Countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, and India, use tests called civil service examinations to find qualified people and make competition fair. These modern systems that test people’s skill to see if they can get a government job were influenced by an ancient Chinese way of awarding government jobs called the Traditional Chinese Examination System.
The Old Way: Hereditary Rulers
The traditional Chinese Examination System started during the Han dynasty (203 BCE - 220 CE). It developed because Han rulers wanted to change the way people got power in their political system. The Han government had to rule many people whom were spread over a huge territory. Previous dynasties had handled that challenge by awarding large sections of land to lords or nobles who managed the section, collected taxes from small farmers, and sent part of the payment to the central government. The appointed nobles passed the power to rule such “mini-kingdoms” on to other family members when they died. The power was hereditary, or inherited. The Han wanted to change this by setting up smaller, local governments to make the day to day business between ordinary people and the hereditary nobles who ruled each region run better. This idea is similar to the way we divide some of our country’s control into state and then smaller city governments. They also wanted to stop nobles from just awarding jobs to family members and friends who might not be the best people for the positions.
The New Way: Chinese Examination System
The Han wanted a way to identify people of high quality and talent for the local government jobs. For example, if the government wanted to put someone in charge of building roads and bridges in the territory, the king wanted to be sure the person had skills to handle all the details such as hiring the workers and buying the materials wisely. The Han ruler decided to begin using tests to help control the quality of those who were appointed. Senior officials (high up) in the government would be allowed to recommend talented people they knew for the jobs. That limited the power of the nobles because they could no longer appoint or give the job, they could just recommend people. Though the awarding of a recommendation was still a form of power, it was not as automatic that the person would get the job because the government would test those people to see if they had the skills they needed. A written examination (test) was developed to do that. Anyone who was recommended and passed the examination could get the positions. This did accomplish the goal of identifying people with talent but power was still limited to those who could get the recommendations.
The Exam Changes Over Time
Sixty years later, under Emperor Han Wu-di, the government wanted to focus on the teachings of Confucius. Confucius wrote about the importance of obedience to rulers and living as a good example of kindness and caring to others. Because they considered such ideas to to be important traits for government workers, they wanted people who understood and could apply the ideas of Confucius for the jobs. Young students were chosen to go through a year of hard training by teachers of “Confucian classics.” They studied the writings and were given tests before they could get a job. This limited local government jobs to a small group of people because not everyone could afford the time or schooling to study Confucius. Even after years of study, a person might not pass the test. Gradually, this system limited the civil service jobs to influential Chinese in upper social classes.
Later, during the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 CE), the examination system was again opened to more categories of people. In addition to Confucian classics, knowledge such as law, calligraphy, and mathematics were added to the desired skills. The education requirements were harder, but the system was made fairer in another way. The system was improved by separating the power to select and appoint the local government jobs. One group gave the civil service test and another group looked at test results and awarded jobs. This kept one group from being too powerful and avoided possible bribery. The system also grew away from its former emphasis on the need for an entire year of special learning and preparation for the examination. This meant that people who might not have been rich enough to take a year off and attend the training under the old system could now compete for the jobs. However, a person still needed to be recommended by someone already in a government job, and that kept some people from fair competition for the positions.
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The Exam Changes Over Time (Continued)
The Chinese examination system gradually became a more formal process during the Song dynasty (960-1279). Under the Song rule, recommendations were not required. Those who passed the local tests were sent to the capital for the next level of testing, the metropolitan exam. To ensure fairness, the candidates’ names were covered. Later, they even had copyists to copy what each candidate wrote and only the copies were shown to the examiners. This was so that handwriting could not be recognized or used in the decision process. Anyone who passed the metropolitan examination had to also be tested twice by the Emperor at a “palace examination,” so that the decisions came from the emperor himself. The new system limited power of the examiners.
One scholar, Zhu Xi, made his own version of the Confucian classics by adding annotations, which are comments to explain the text. The government liked that version the best because it made the Confucian ideas easier for regular people to understand. The government wanted everyone to follow them. The Confucian way of thinking began to dominate the civil service examination and left no room for other ways of thinking. Even though this change eventually led the system to fail, people still appreciated the value of the examination and selection system in general.
Lasting Significance of the Chinese Examination System
In the 1600’s, Europeans began to arrive in China and were very impressed with the Chinese examination system. Their reports helped to spread the idea of using an examination process to award government jobs fairly in other countries. Many countries today have used ideas and examples from the ancient Chinese examination system to develop their own systems for awarding government jobs.
The creation of civil service examinations had encouraged and created more educational opportunity for everyone, including the poor. It inspired the Chinese to pursue a wider variety of careers as scholars, artists, poets, historical writing. However, in later dynasties, they realized that the strong focus on Confucius did not allow them to learn about things that were important when trading and working with other societies. To connect China with more modern industrial, scientifically advanced societies, they felt they needed more education in subjects such as modern science and use of technology. The Traditional Chinese Examination System had failed to move China toward that goal and its use was ended in 1905.
* About These Documents
This collection of documents was developed in collaboration with MCPS and ___. They provide additional information and explanation of the political, economic, and social systems of each dynasty. Students and teachers may find them helpful when completing the Dynasty Project in the sixth grade Unit 3 guide The Impact of Economics in Ancient and Modern China. The additional readings are provided to also supplement student understand of the achievements of ancient China and their influence on other civilizations.
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