The utility of Confucianism & civil service examinations: from Han to Qing
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history 500-1789
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published 04/09/2008
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SummaryIt was during the Han Dynasty under Confucian scholar Dong Zhong Shu’s persuasion that Emperor Wu (r. 140-68 BC) canonized the five Confucian classics as teachings of the state, created an imperial academy and instituted the civil service examinations as a nascent tool of talent recruitment. The examination system was theoretically posited as the means by which “scholastic achievement and dedication to public service, and not noble birth, [would be cemented] as the requisites for entrance into officialdom.” (Hansen 127) But this single piece of rhetoric on impartiality and egalitarian Confucian ideals actually betrays a lack of commitment towards meritocracy and even hidden political agenda. For is “scholastic achievement” even an egalitarian measure of the right to officialdom? Might there not be a paradox in the concept of an “exam-based meritocracy,” given the inherent advantages that wealth and family background can confer on a candidate? The examinations were clearly targeted against those of “noble birth.”
Table of Contents
- Introduction.
- The civil service examinations in the Tang Dynasty.
- The 12th century introduction of examinee anonymity during grading.
- The time-consuming and expensive examination lifestyle.
- A threat to the talent renewal.
- Who the Confucian educational agenda served.
- The civil service examination - not an instrument to social mobility.
- Conclusion.
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