Fascination of China
The civil servant exams
Chinese imperial examinations
Historical background
The history of education in China began with the uprising of Chinese civilization. Education was regarded as a symbol of power. The Tang rulers promoted the amalgamation of property, education and official which characterized the Chinese imperial state till the end.
After the unification of the empire by the Tang dynasty, the aristocracy in China was gradually, if not completely, supplanted by the civil servants in terms of power politics. Emperor Gaozu used administrative measures to secure his territory. This also changed the position of the ruler, who was increasingly controlled by the civil service. The importance of the imperial court changed and the elites reoriented themselves.
The imperial examinations of the Tang period
The establishment of the imperial examinations was thus significantly involved in the transition from an aristocratic to a meritocratic government. This also led to the change of the state's principle "The kingdom belongs to one family" (tianxia wei jia
天下为家) to "The kingdom belongs to everyone" (tianxia weigong
天下为公).
Most important was the equality of all people. The basis for professional administration and bureaucracy was created. Office and rank became a public instrument (gong qi) and the new elite was composed of different ethnic groups. A new class of officials emerged. Education became the preferred key to participation in government and administration. During the reign of Empress Wu, representatives of the aristocracy were for the first time ousted from important positions in the imperial administration.
The most important government positions in domestic politics were occupied by a legitimized and educated civil service. However, only a few thousand of the candidates succeeded in becoming civil servants of high authority. Most of them ended up being responsible for the local administration.
Status of the scholars
Civil servants represented the emperor and were responsible for maintaining the status quo. The officials were connected to one another through their knowledge of language, as the common people were largely illiterate or only spoke regional and local dialects. The civil servants were also dependent on the gentry, which consisted of merchants, traders and landowners with good education. The gentry had better access to the lower strata of the population.