Civil service examinations are examinations implemented in various countries for recruitment and admission to the civil service . They are intended as a method to achieve an effective, rational public administration on a merit system for recruiting prospective politicians and public sector employees.
142-440: The most ancient example of such exams were the imperial examinations of ancient China . Competitive examinations are tests where candidates are ranked according to their grades and/or percentile and then top rankers are selected. If the examination is open for n positions, then the first n candidates in ranks pass, the others are rejected. They are used as entrance examinations for university and college admissions such as
284-1018: A Christian influence in the region. Marignolli, although not mentioned by name in the History of Yuan , is noted in that historical text as the " Frank " ( Fulang ) who provided the Yuan imperial court with an impressive war horse as a tributary gift. On 15 March 1314 the killings of Francis de Petriolo, Monaldo of Ancona, and Anthony of Milan occurred in China. This was followed by the Killing of James, Quanzhou's bishop, in 1362. His predecessors were Andrew, Peregrinus, and Gerard. The Franciscan friar Odoric of Pordenone visited China. Friars in Hangzhou and Zhangzhou were visited by Odorico. His total travels took place from 1304 to 1330, although he first returned to Europe in 1330. China's Franciscans were mentioned in his writings,
426-589: A city that Marco returned to from China via the Strait of Hormuz in 1293–1294. John Mandeville , a mid-14th-century author and alleged Englishman from St Albans , claimed to have lived in China and even served at the Mongol khan's court. However, certain parts of his accounts are considered dubious by modern scholars, with some conjecturing that he simply concocted his stories by using written accounts of China penned by other authors such as Odoric of Pordenone . In Zaytun ,
568-624: A cohort of Italians who served as translators, with Europeans communicating to him in Persian. Bar Sauma is the first known person from China to reach Europe, where he convened with the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos , Philip IV of France , Edward I of England , and Pope Nicholas IV (shortly after the death of Pope Honorius IV) to form an alliance against the Mamluk Sultanate . Edward N. Luttwak depicts
710-414: A common knowledge of writing, Chinese classics , and literary style among state officials. This common culture helped to unify the empire, and the ideal of achievement by merit gave legitimacy to imperial rule. The examination system played a significant role in tempering the power of hereditary aristocracy and military authority, and in the rise of a gentry class of scholar-bureaucrats . Starting with
852-454: A concept have their origins in the year 605 during the short-lived Sui dynasty . Its successor, the Tang dynasty , implemented imperial examinations on a relatively small scale until the examination system was extensively expanded during the reign of Wu Zetian , ruler of Wu Zhou . Included in the expanded examination system was a military exam, but the military exam never had a significant impact on
994-685: A diplomatic letter to the Byzantine Empire , through a European in China named Nieh-ku-lun. John V Palaiologos was the Byzantine Emperor at the time the message was sent by Hongwu, with the proclamatory letter informing him about the establishment of the new Ming dynasty. The message was sent to the Byzantine ruler in September 1371 when Hongwu met with the merchant Nieh-ku-lun (捏古倫) from Fu lin (Byzantium). The Khanbaliq bishop Nicolaus de Bentra
1136-511: A few days after issuing the edict, he personally commanded the Guozijian and county-level schools to practice it diligently. As a result of the new focus on practical learning, from 1384 to 1756/57, all provincial and metropolitan examinations incorporated material on legal knowledge and the palace examinations included policy questions on current affairs. The first palace examination of the Ming dynasty
1278-457: A hundred palace examinations were held during the dynasty, resulting in a greater number of jinshi degrees rewarded. The examinations were opened to adult Chinese males, with some restrictions, including even individuals from the occupied northern territories of the Liao and Jin dynasties. Figures given for the number of examinees record 70–80,000 in 1088 and 79,000 at the turn of the 12th century. In
1420-545: A journey starting in 1291, setting out from Tabriz to Ormus , sailing from there to China while accompanied by the Italian merchant Pietro de Lucalongo. While Montecorvino became a bishop in Khanbaliq (Beijing), his friend Lucalongo continued to serve as a merchant there and donated a large amount of money to maintain the local Catholic Church . Marco Polo mentioned the heavy presence of Genoese Italians at Tabriz (modern Iran ),
1562-603: A letter to the West from John of Montecorvino in 1305. In 1339 a Venetian named Giovanni Loredano is recorded to have returned to Venice from China. A tombstone was also discovered in Yangzhou, commemorating the death of Caterina Vilioni , daughter of Domenico, in 1342. This is an important object, which offers tangible evidence to the presence of non-elite European Christian women in Yuan China. In about 1340, Francesco Balducci Pegolotti ,
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#17328445145411704-514: A memorial recommending the restoration of the examination system: however, this was not done. Kublai ended the imperial examination system, as he believed that Confucian learning was not needed for government jobs. Also, Kublai was opposed to such a commitment to the Chinese language and to the ethnic Han scholars who were so adept at it, as well as its accompanying ideology: he wished to appoint his own people without relying on an apparatus inherited from
1846-511: A merchant from Florence , compiled a guide about trade in China based on records from travellers who visited China (Pegolotti himself never went to China). The guide notes the size of Khanbaliq (modern Beijing ) and how merchants could exchange silver for Chinese paper money that could be used to buy luxury items such as silk. The History of Yuan (chapter 134) records that a certain Ai-sie (transliteration of either Joshua or Joseph) from
1988-498: A more decisive role in the Court. At the same time, a quota system was established which could enhance the equitable representation, geographically, of successful candidates. From 702 onward, the names of examinees were hidden to prevent examiners from knowing who was tested. Prior to this, it was even a custom for candidates to present their examiner with their own literary works in order to impress him. Sometime between 730 and 740, after
2130-682: A new archbishop. The pope answered by sending legates and ecclesiastical leaders to Khanbaliq in 1342, which included Giovanni de Marignolli. In 1370, following the ousting of the Mongols from China and the establishment of the Chinese Ming dynasty , the Pope sent a new mission to China, comprising the Parisian theologian Guillaume du Pré as the new archbishop and 50 Franciscans. However, this mission disappeared, apparently eliminated. The Ming Hongwu Emperor sent
2272-516: A new category of examinations for the "presented scholar" ( jinshike 进士科 ). These three categories of examination were the origins of the imperial examination system that would last until 1905. Consequently, the year 607 is also considered by many to be the real beginning of the imperial examination system. The Sui dynasty was itself short lived however and the system was not developed further until much later. The imperial examinations did not significantly shift recruitment selection in practice during
2414-503: A newly conquered and sometimes rebellious country. The discontinuation of the exams had the effect of reducing the prestige of traditional learning, reducing the motivation for doing so, as well as encouraging new literary directions not motivated by the old means of literary development and success. The examination system was revived in 1315, with significant changes, during the reign of Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan . The new examination system organized its examinees into regional categories in
2556-716: A pilgrimage to Jerusalem , passing through Gansu and Khotan in Northwest China , yet spent time in Armenia and Baghdad instead to avoid getting caught up in nearby armed conflicts. He had been accompanied by Rabban Markos , another Uyghur Nestorian Christian from China who was elected as the Patriarch of the Eastern Church and advised Arghun Khan to have Bar Sauma lead the diplomatic mission to Europe. Bar Sauma, who spoke Chinese , Persian , and Old Uyghur , traveled with
2698-604: A place " west of the seas " (i.e. Roman Egypt , which the Book of Later Han related to the "Daqin" empire), were presented by a king of Burma to Emperor An of Han in 120 AD. It is known that in both the Parthian Empire and Kushan Empire of Asia, ethnic Greeks continued to be employed as entertainers such as musicians and athletes who engaged in athletic competitions. Byzantine Greek historian Procopius stated that two Nestorian Christian monks eventually uncovered how silk
2840-460: A recommendation from the local official to undergo the final civil service examinations. As a result, the Han system of official selection combined education, administrative exposure, recommendation and examinations in their procedure. In AD 132, examinations were instituted to test all Xiaolian candidates recommended to the court. The system relied heavily on families who had access to education; before
2982-430: A way which favored Mongols and severely disadvantaged Southern Chinese. A quota system both for number of candidates and degrees awarded was instituted based on the classification of the four groups, those being the Mongols, their non-Han allies ( Semu-ren ), Northern Chinese, and Southern Chinese, with further restrictions by province favoring the northeast of the empire (Mongolia) and its vicinities. A quota of 300 persons
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#17328445145413124-599: A woman from the French city of Metz , who had both been captured in Hungary during the Mongol invasions of Europe . He also mentions Hungarians and Russians . William of Rubruck , a Flemish missionary who visited the Mongol court of Mongke Khan at Karakorum and returned to Europe in 1257, was a friend of the English philosopher and scientific thinker Roger Bacon . The latter recorded
3266-497: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy . The concept of choosing bureaucrats by merit rather than by birth started early in Chinese history , but using written examinations as a tool of selection started in earnest during
3408-556: Is known that Alexander the Great , who married a Sogdian woman from Bactria named Roxana , encouraged his soldiers and generals to marry local women; consequentially, the later kings of the Seleucid Empire and Greco-Bactrian Kingdom had a mixed Persian - Greek ethnic background. Beginning in the age of Augustus (r. 27 BC – 14 AD), the Romans , including authors such as Pliny
3550-466: Is speculated to be the same person as Nieh-ku-lun, for instance, by Emil Bretschneider in 1888. More recently, Edward N. Luttwak (2009) also mused that Nicolaus de Bentra and this alleged Byzantine merchant Nieh-ku-lin were one and the same. Friar William of Parto, Cosmas, and John de' Marignolli were among the Catholic clerics in China. The Oriens Christianus by Michel Le Quien (1661–1733) recorded
3692-446: The Book of Later Han records that Romans reached China from the maritime south and presented gifts to the court of Emperor Huan of Han (r. 146–168 AD), claiming they represented Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( Andun 安敦, r. 161–180 AD). There is speculation that they were Roman merchants instead of official diplomats. At the very least, archaeological evidence supports
3834-536: The Itinerarium . In 1333, John de Montecorvino was officially replaced by Nicolaus de Bentra, who was chosen by Pope John XXII . There were complaints of the absence of the archbishop in 1338. Toghon Temür (the last Mongol ruler of the Yuan dynasty in China before their retreat to Mongolia to form the Northern Yuan dynasty ) sent an embassy including Genoese Italians to Pope Benedict XII in 1336, requesting
3976-503: The shengyuan became vastly oversupplied, resulting in holders who could not hope for office. During the 19th century, the wealthy could opt into the system by educating their sons or by purchasing an office. In the late 19th century, some critics within Qing China blamed the examination system for stifling scientific and technical knowledge, and urged for some reforms. At the time, China had about one civil licentiate per 1000 people. Due to
4118-567: The Byzantine Empire centered in Greece and Anatolia maintained rare incidences of correspondence with the Tang , Song and Ming dynasties of China, the Holy See sent several missionaries and embassies to the early Mongol Empire as well as to Khanbaliq (modern Beijing ), the capital of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. These contacts with the West were preceded by rare interactions between
4260-654: The Confucian classics , from which Emperor Wu would select officials to serve by his side. Gongsun intended for the Taixue's graduates to become imperial officials but they usually only started off as clerks and attendants, and mastery of only one canonical text was required upon its founding, changing to all five in the Eastern Han . Starting with only 50 students, Emperor Zhao expanded it to 100, Emperor Xuan to 200, and Emperor Yuan to 1,000. The top graduates (Grade A, 甲科) of
4402-854: The Crown of Aragon , while being hosted by Charles Martel of Anjou , whose father Charles II of Naples was imprisoned in Aragon (in modern Spain) at the time. Aside from his desire to see Christian sites, churches, and relics, Bar Sauma also showed a keen interest in the university life and curricula of Paris , which Morris Rossabi contends was rooted in how exotic it must have seemed from his perspective and educational background in Muslim Persia and Chinese Confucian teaching . Although he managed to secure an audience with these leaders of Christendom and exchanged letters from them to Arghun Khan, none of these Christian monarchs were fully committed to an alliance with
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4544-477: The Four Classics became the orthodox Neo-Confucianism which dominated later dynasties. Two other prominent successful entries into politics through the examination system were Su Shi (1037–1101) and his brother Su Zhe (1039–1112): both of whom became political opponents of Wang Anshi. The process of studying for the examination tended to be time-consuming and costly, requiring time to spare and tutors. Most of
4686-523: The Golden Chersonese ( Malay Peninsula ) was a port city called Kattigara discovered by a Greek sailor named Alexander, a site Ferdinand von Richthofen assumed was Chinese-controlled Hanoi , but given the archaeological evidence could have been Oc Eo. Roman coins have been found in China, but far fewer than in India . It is possible that a group of Greek acrobatic performers, who claimed to be from
4828-462: The Han dynasty and Hellenistic Greeks and Romans . Mainly located in places such as the Yuan capital of Karakorum , European missionaries and merchants traveled around various parts of the Yuan dynasty and other Mongol-ruled khanates during a period of time referred to by historians as the " Pax Mongolica ". Perhaps the most important political consequence of this movement of peoples and intensified trade
4970-588: The History of Yuan lists his children by their Chinese names , which are similar to the Christian names Elias ( Ye-li-ah ), Luke ( Lu-ko ), and Antony ( An-tun ), with a daughter named A-na-si-sz . Europeans of the 13th and 14th century called Northern China by place-names similar to " Cathay ", while Southern China was called " Mangi " or " Manzi ". The Italian explorer and archbishop Giovanni da Pian del Carpine and Polish friar and traveler Benedykt Polak were
5112-572: The Joint Entrance Examination or to secondary schools . Types are civil service examinations, required for positions in the public sector ; the U.S. Foreign Service Exam , and the United Nations Competitive Examination. Competitive examinations are considered an egalitarian way to select worthy applicants without risking influence peddling , bias or other concerns. This government -related article
5254-509: The Jurchen -led Jin dynasty ), China, was sent to Europe in 1287 as an ambassador for Arghun , ruler of the Ilkhanate and grandnephew of Kublai Khan . He was preceded by Isa Kelemechi , an Assyrian Nestorian Christian who worked as a court astronomer for Kublai Khan in Khanbaliq, and was sent by Arghun to Pope Honorius IV in 1285. A decade earlier, Bar Sauma had originally set out on
5396-590: The Kingdom of Funan bordering Jiaozhi. Suggestive of even earlier activity is a Republican -era Roman glass bowl unearthed from a Western Han tomb of Guangzhou (on the shores of the South China Sea ) dated to the early 1st century BC, in addition to ancient Mediterranean goods found in Thailand , Indonesia , and Malaysia . The Greco-Roman geographer Ptolemy wrote in his Antonine -era Geography that beyond
5538-638: The Roman Empire ). Gan was dissuaded by Parthian authorities from venturing further than the "west coast" (possibly the Eastern Mediterranean ) although he wrote a detailed report about the Roman Empire, its cities , postal network and consular system of government , and presented this to the Han court. Subsequently, there was a series of Roman embassies in China lasting from the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD, as recorded in Chinese sources. In 166 AD
5680-597: The Sui dynasty (581–618), then into the Tang dynasty (618–907). The system became dominant during the Song dynasty (960–1279) and lasted for almost a millennium until its abolition during the late Qing dynasty reforms in 1905. The key sponsors for abolition were Yuan Shikai , Yin Chang and Zhang Zhidong . Aspects of the imperial examination still exist for entry into the civil service of both China and Taiwan . The exams served to ensure
5822-582: The Zhou dynasty (or, more mythologically, Yao ). The Confucian characteristic of the later imperial exams was largely due to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han during the Han dynasty . Although some examinations did exist from the Han to the Sui dynasty, they did not offer an official avenue to government appointment, the majority of which were filled through recommendations based on qualities such as social status, morals, and ability. The bureaucratic imperial examinations as
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5964-571: The civil service through examinations . Previously, potential officials never sat for any sort of academic examinations . However, these examinations did not heavily emphasize Confucian material. Emperor Wu of Han 's early reign saw the creation of a series of posts for academicians in 136 BC. Ardently promoted by Dong Zhongshu , the Taixue and Imperial examination came into existence by recommendation of Gongsun Hong , chancellor under Wu. Officials would select candidates to take part in an examination of
6106-581: The first governor of the Portuguese trade colony at Macau , China, in the Luso-Chinese treaty of 1554 . The writings of Gaspar da Cruz , Juan Gonzáles de Mendoza , and Antonio de Morga all impacted the Western view and understanding of China at the time, offering intricate details about its society and items of trade. The Italian Jesuit missionary Michele Ruggieri would be the first European invited into
6248-540: The late Qing reforms in the last years of the Qing dynasty. The modern examination system for selecting civil servants also indirectly evolved from the imperial one. In the early Han dynasty , the paths to officialdom were initially monopolised by the higher aristocrats. For instance, officials of ranks 2,000- dan and above were permitted to recommend their sons and relatives into the court as attendants/Court gentlemen. In 165 BC, Emperor Wen of Han introduced recruitment to
6390-634: The " Daxia " of Bactria , in what is now Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Later the Han captured Dayuan in the Han-Dayuan war . It has also been suggested that the Terracotta Army (sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang , first Emperor of China; dated to ~210 BCE), in the Xi'an region of Shaanxi Province , might be inspired by Hellenistic sculptural art, a hypothesis that has caused some controversy. At
6532-460: The 13th century when only one percent of candidates were allowed to pass the prefectural examination. Even graduates of the lowest tier of examinations represented an elite class. In 1071, Emperor Shenzong of Song (r. 1067–1085) abolished the classicist as well as various other examinations on law and arithmetics. The jinshi examination became the primary gateway to officialdom. Judicial and classicist examinations were revived shortly after. However
6674-570: The 1510s , during the Age of Discovery . The Italian merchant Marco Polo , preceded by his father and uncle Niccolò and Maffeo Polo , traveled to China during the Yuan dynasty. Marco Polo wrote a famous account of his travels there, as did the Franciscan friar Odoric of Pordenone and the merchant Francesco Balducci Pegolotti . The author John Mandeville also wrote about his travels to China, but he may have based these on preexisting accounts. In Khanbaliq,
6816-547: The Chinese burned paper effigies shaped as male and female servants, camels , horses, suits of clothing and armor while cremating the dead during funerary rites . When visiting Zhenjiang in Jiangsu , China, Marco Polo noted that Christian churches had been built there. His claim is confirmed by a Chinese text of the 14th century explaining how a Sogdian named Mar-Sargis from Samarkand founded six Nestorian Christian churches there in addition to one in Hangzhou during
6958-742: The Chinese examination system to the Western world and encouraged France, Germany and the British East India Company (EIC) to use similar methods to select prospective employees. Seeing its initial success within the EIC, the British government adopted a similar testing system for screening civil servants across the board throughout the United Kingdom in 1855. The United States would also establish such programs for certain government jobs after 1883. Tests of skill such as archery contests have existed since
7100-436: The Chinese officer corps and military degrees were seen as inferior to their civil counterpart. The exact nature of Wu's influence on the examination system is still a matter of scholarly debate. During the Song dynasty the emperors expanded both examinations and the government school system, in part to counter the influence of military aristocrats, increasing the number of degree holders to more than four to five times that of
7242-644: The Classics or sentences of similar meaning to certain passages. This reflected the stress the Song placed on creative understanding of the Classics. It would eventually develop into the so-called 'eight-legged essays' (bagu wen) that gave the defining character to the Ming and Qing examinations. Various reforms or attempts to reform the examination system were made during the Song dynasty by individuals such as Fan Zhongyan , Zhu Xi , and by Wang Anshi. Wang and Zhu successfully argued that poems and rhapsodies should be excluded from
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#17328445145417384-478: The Department of State Affairs in the capital and were subjected to annual merit rating evaluations. Regional Inspectors and District Magistrates had to be transferred every three years and their subordinates every four years. They were not allowed to bring their parents or adult children with them upon reassignment of territorial administration. The Sui did not establish any hereditary kingdoms or marquisates ( hóu ) of
7526-661: The Elder , mentioned contacts with the Seres , whom they identified as the producers of silk from distant East Asia and could have been the Chinese or even any number of middlemen of various ethnic backgrounds along the Silk Road of Central Asia and Northwest China . The Eastern-Han era Chinese general Ban Chao , Protector General of the Western Regions , explored Central Asia and in 97 AD dispatched his envoys Gan Ying to Daqin (i.e.
7668-416: The French diplomats André de Longjumeau, Guy de Longjumeau, and Jean de Carcassonne arrived at her court located along the Emil River (on the Kazakh-Chinese border ), bearing gifts and representing their sovereign Louis IX of France , who desired a military alliance . Empress Qaimish viewed the gifts as tributary offerings and, in addition to gifts given in return, entrusted to Louis' diplomats, she sent
7810-418: The French monarch a letter demanding his submission as a vassal . The Franciscan missionary John of Montecorvino (Giovanni da Montecorvino ) was ordered to China by Pope Nicholas III in 1279. Montecorvino arrived in China at the end of 1293, where he later translated the New Testament into the Mongol tongue, and converted 6,000 people (probably mostly Alans, Turks, and Mongols rather than Chinese). He
7952-424: The Grand Canal . His detailed and accurate descriptions of salt production confirm that he had actually been in China. Marco described salt wells and hills where salt could be mined, probably in Yunnan , and reported that in the mountains "these rascals ... have none of the Great Khan's paper money, but use salt instead ... They have salt which they boil and set in a mold ..." Polo also remarked how
8094-494: The Han sort. To compensate, nobles were given substantial stipends and staff. Aristocratic officials were ranked based on their pedigree with distinctions such as "high expectations", "pure", and "impure" so that they could be awarded offices appropriately. The Tang dynasty and the Zhou interregnum of Empress Wu (Wu Zetian) expanded examinations beyond the basic process of qualifying candidates based on questions of policy matters followed by an interview. Oral interviews as part of
8236-432: The Han. Successful candidates were awarded one of three ranks. All graduates were eligible for official appointment. The Yuan decision to use Zhu Xi’s classical scholarship as the examination standard was critical in enhancing the integration of the examination system with Confucian educational experience. Both Chinese and non-Chinese candidates were recruited separately, to guarantee that non-Chinese officials could control
8378-421: The Hanlin Academy allowed them insight into a wide range of central government agencies. Ninety percent of Grand Chancellors during the Ming dynasty were jinshi degree holders. Europeans in Medieval China Given textual and archaeological evidence, it is thought that thousands of Europeans lived in Imperial China during the Yuan dynasty . These were people from countries traditionally belonging to
8520-430: The Ming-era Forbidden City in Beijing (during the reign of the Wanli Emperor ); Matteo Ricci , in 1602 he would publish his map of the world in Chinese that introduced the existence of the American continents to Chinese geographers . He arrived in Macau in 1582, when he began to learn the Chinese language and information about China's ancient culture, yet was unaware of the events that had transpired there since
8662-422: The Mongol princess Kököchin in her intended marriage to Arghun , ruler of the Mongol Ilkhanate , but she instead married his son Ghazan following the former's sudden death. Although Marco Polo's presence is omitted entirely, his story is confirmed by the 14th-century Persian historian Rashid-al-Din Hamadani in his Jami' al-tawarikh . Marco Polo accurately described geographical features of China such as
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#17328445145418804-462: The Roman archdiocese was established by John of Montecorvino , who was later succeeded by Giovanni de Marignolli . Other Europeans such as André de Longjumeau managed to reach the eastern borderlands of China in their diplomatic travels to the Yuan imperial court, while others such as Giovanni da Pian del Carpine , Benedykt Polak , and William of Rubruck traveled instead to Outer Mongolia . The Turkic Chinese Nestorian Christian Rabban Bar Sauma
8946-415: The Song dynasty, the imperial examination system became a more formal system and developed into a roughly three-tiered ladder from local to provincial to court exams. During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), authorities narrowed the content down to mostly texts on Neo-Confucian orthodoxy; the highest degree, the jinshi became essential for the highest offices. On the other hand, holders of the basic degree,
9088-411: The Song imperial government degree-awards eventually more than doubled the highest annual averages of those awarded during the Tang dynasty, with 200 or more per year on average being common, and at times reaching a per annum figure of almost 240. The examination hierarchy was formally divided into prefectural, metropolitan, and palace examinations. The prefectural examination was held on the 15th day of
9230-400: The Song period showed interest in countries to the west, such as the early 13th-century Quanzhou customs inspector Zhao Rugua , who described the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria in his Zhu fan zhi . According to the 9th-century Book of Roads and Kingdoms by ibn Khordadbeh , China was a destination for Radhanite Jews buying boys, female slaves and eunuchs from Europe. During
9372-418: The Sui dynasty, examinations for "classicists" ( mingjing ke ) and "cultivated talents" ( xiucai ke ) were introduced. Classicists were tested on the Confucian canon, which was considered an easy task at the time, so those who passed were awarded posts in the lower rungs of officialdom. Cultivated talents were tested on matters of statecraft as well as the Confucian canon. In 607, Emperor Yang of Sui established
9514-424: The Sui dynasty. Schools at the capital still produced students for appointment. Inheritance of official status was also still practiced. Men of the merchant and artisan classes were still barred from officialdom. However the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui did see much greater expansion of government authority over officials. Under Emperor Wen (r. 581–604), all officials down to the district level had to be appointed by
9656-471: The Taixue were immediately admitted as Court gentlemen, while the Grade B (乙科) graduates were sent to serve probationary positions in their local commanderies. The Taixue thereby began to dilute the aristocratic backgrounds of the Court gentlemen, increasing the access of commoner scholars to official appointments. After the reign of Emperor Wu, the numbers of Court gentlemen swelled by over two hundred every year; of this number, more than half were graduates from
9798-436: The Taixue, increasing the proportion of non-aristocratic scholars in government. Emperor Wu introduced a regularised system of recommendations known as Xiaolian (Filially Pious and Incorrupt) in which each local magistrate or governor had to recommend at least one candidate to the court every year. Later, the recommendation quota would be set at one candidate for each 200,000 households. Candidates for offices recommended by
9940-433: The Tang restoration, a section requiring the composition of original poetry (including both shi and fu ) was added to the tests, with rather specific set requirements: this was for the jinshi degree, as well as certain other tests. The less-esteemed examinations tested for skills such as mathematics, law, and calligraphy. The success rate on these tests of knowledge on the classics was between 10 and 20 percent, but for
10082-428: The Tang. From the Song dynasty onward, the examinations played the primary role in selecting scholar-officials, who formed the literati elite of society. However the examinations co-existed with other forms of recruitment such as direct appointments for the ruling family, nominations, quotas, clerical promotions, sale of official titles, and special procedures for eunuchs . The regular higher level degree examination cycle
10224-568: The Tarim Basin at this time also seems to be confirmed by the discovery of the Sampul tapestry , a woolen wall hanging with the painting of a blue-eyed soldier, possibly a Greek, and a prancing centaur , a common Hellenistic motif from Greek mythology . However, it is known that other Indo-European peoples such as the Yuezhi , Saka , and Tocharians inhabited the Tarim Basin before and after it
10366-638: The Yuan period. Following the Mongol invasions of Japan (1274–1281), a Japanese scroll painting depicted explosive bombs used by Yuan-dynasty forces against their samurai . By 1326 the earliest artistic depiction of a gun was made in Europe by Walter de Milemete . Petrarch wrote in 1350 that cannons were then a common sight on the European battlefield. Rabban Bar Sauma , a Nestorian Christian Turkic Chinese born in Zhongdu (later Khanbaliq, Beijing, capital of
10508-422: The annual average figures are a necessary artifact of quantitative analysis. The operations of the examination system were part of the imperial record keeping system, and the date of receiving the jinshi degree is often a key biographical datum: sometimes the date of achieving jinshi is the only firm date known for even some of the most historically prominent persons in Chinese history. A brief interruption to
10650-458: The annual average of exam takers graduated with a jinshi degree was greater than 58 persons per year. Wu lavished favors on the newly graduated jinshi degree-holders, increasing the prestige associated with this path of attaining a government career, and clearly began a process of opening up opportunities to success for a wider population pool, including inhabitants of China's less prestigious southeast area. Wu Zetian's government further expanded
10792-608: The arrival of these Nestorian envoys to the court of the Byzantine ruler Andronikos II as something akin to "receiving mail from his in-law in Beijing," since Kublai Khan was a grandson of Genghis Khan and Andronikos had two half-sisters who were married to great-grandsons of Genghis. Moving further west, Bar Sauma witnessed a naval battle at the Bay of Naples , Italy in June, 1287 between the Angevins and
10934-502: The candidates came from the numerically small but relatively wealthy land-owning scholar-official class. Since 937, by the decision of the Emperor Taizu of Song , the palace examination was supervised by the emperor himself. In 992, the practice of anonymous submission of papers during the palace examination was introduced; it was spread to the departmental examinations in 1007, and to the prefectural level in 1032. Starting in 1037, it
11076-660: The careers of examination graduates during the Ming dynasty. Graduates of the metropolitan exam with honors were directly appointed senior compilers in the Hanlin Academy. Regular metropolitan exam graduates were appointed junior compilers or examining editors. In 1458, appointment in the Hanlin Academy and the Grand Secretariat was restricted to jinshi graduates. Posts such as minister or vice minister of rites or right vice minister of personnel were also restricted to jinshi graduates. The training jinshi graduates underwent in
11218-703: The cemetery in Sampul (Shanpula; 山普拉), ~14 km from Khotan (now in Lop County , Hotan Prefecture , Xinjiang), where the aforementioned Sampul tapestry was found, the local inhabitants buried their dead there from roughly 217 BC to 283 AD. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the human remains has revealed genetic affinities to peoples from the Caucasus , specifically a maternal lineage linked to Ossetians and Iranians , as well as an Eastern-Mediterranean paternal lineage. Seeming to confirm this link, from historical accounts it
11360-509: The civil service examination system by allowing certain commoners and gentry previously disqualified by their non-elite backgrounds to take the tests. Most of the Li family supporters were located to the northwest, particularly around the capital city of Chang'an. Wu's progressive accumulation of political power through enhancement of the examination system involved attaining the allegiance of previously under-represented regions, alleviating frustrations of
11502-626: The claim in the Weilüe and Book of Liang that Roman merchants were active in Southeast Asia , if not the claim of their embassies arriving in China through Jiaozhi , the Chinese-controlled province of northern Vietnam . Roman golden medallions from the reigns of Antoninus Pius and his adopted son Marcus Aurelius have been found in Oc Eo (near Ho Chi Minh City ), a territory that belonged to
11644-414: The country of Fu lin (i.e. the Byzantine Empire ), initially in the service of Güyük Khan , was well-versed in Western languages and had expertise in the fields of medicine and astronomy that convinced Kublai Khan to offer him a position as the director of medical and astronomical boards. Kublai Khan eventually honored him with the title of Prince of Fu lin (Chinese: 拂菻王; Fú lǐn wáng ). His biography in
11786-452: The court of Mongol ruler Kublai Khan , along with the preceding journeys made by Niccolò and Maffeo Polo , his father and uncle, respectively, in his Travels of Marco Polo . Polo related this account to Rustichello da Pisa around 1298 while they shared a Genoese prison cell following their capture in battle . In his return trip to Persia from China (setting out from the port at Quanzhou in 1291), Marco Polo said that he accompanied
11928-486: The development of trade and intellectual avocation . The 18th-century English historian Edward Gibbon commented on the Mongols' religious tolerance and went as far as to compare the "religious laws" of Genghis Khan to equivalent ideas propounded by the Enlightenment English philosopher John Locke . Oghul Qaimish , the widow of Güyük Khan , ruled as regent over the Mongol realm from 1249 to 1251. In 1250
12070-462: The earliest known European recipe for gunpowder in his Opus Majus of 1267. This came more than two centuries after the first known Chinese description of the formula for gunpowder in 1044, during the Song dynasty . The earliest use of Chinese prototype firearms occurred at an 1132 siege during the Jin-Song Wars , whereas the oldest surviving bronze hand cannon dates to 1288 during
12212-471: The early years of the Tang restoration, the following emperors expanded on Wu's policies since they found them politically useful, and the annual averages of degrees conferred continued to rise. This led to the formation of new court factions consisting of examiners and their graduates. With the upheavals which later developed and the disintegration of the Tang empire into the " Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period ",
12354-478: The eighth lunar month. Graduates of the prefectural examination were then sent to the capital for metropolitan examination, which took place in Spring, but had no fixed date. Graduates of the metropolitan examination were then sent to the palace examination. Many individuals of low social status were able to rise to political prominence through success in the imperial examination. According to studies of degree-holders in
12496-407: The essay ranged between 550 and 700 characters. Gu Yanwu considered the eight-legged essay to be worse than the book burning of Qin Shi Huang and his burying alive of 460 Confucian scholars. The content of the examinations in the Ming and Qing times remained very much the same as that in the Song, except that literary composition was now widened to include government documents. The most important
12638-475: The exam were not automatically granted office. They still had to pass a quality evaluation by the Ministry of Rites, after which they were allowed to wear official robes. Wu Zetian's reign was a pivotal moment for the imperial examination system. The reason for this was because up until that point, the Tang rulers had all been male members of the Li family. Wu Zetian, who officially took the title of emperor in 690,
12780-406: The examination system gave ground to other traditional routes to government positions and favoritism in grading reduced the opportunities of examinees who lacked political patronage. Ironically this period of fragmentation resulted in the utter destruction of old networks established by elite families that had ruled China throughout its various dynasties since its conception. With the disappearance of
12922-578: The examinations because they were of no use to administration or cultivation of virtue. The poetry section of the examination was removed in the 1060s. Fan's memorial to the throne initiated a process which lead to major educational reform through the establishment of a comprehensive public school system. The Khitans who ruled the Liao dynasty only held imperial examinations for regions with large Han populations. The Liao examinations focused on lyric-meter poetry and rhapsodies . The Khitans themselves did not take
13064-534: The examinations occurred at the beginning of the Yuan dynasty in the 13th century, but was later brought back with regional quotas which favored the Mongols and disadvantaged Southern Chinese. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the system contributed to the narrow and focused nature of intellectual life and enhanced the autocratic power of the emperor. The system continued with some modifications until its abolition in 1905 during
13206-473: The examinations were revived again, however in addition to the Neo-Confucian canon, Hongwu added another portion to the exams to be taken by successful candidates five days after the first exam. These new exams emphasized shixue (practical learning), including subjects such as law, mathematics, calligraphy, horse riding , and archery. The emperor was particularly adamant about the inclusion of archery, and for
13348-465: The examiners could use for questions. More often than not, the questions could be a combination of two or more totally unrelated passages. Candidates could be at a complete loss as to how to make out their meaning, let alone writing a logically coherent essay. This aroused strong criticism, but the use of the style remained until the end of the examination system. The Hanlin Academy played a central role in
13490-576: The exams until 1115 when it became an acceptable avenue for advancing their careers. The Jurchens of the Jin dynasty held two separate examinations to accommodate their former Liao and Song subjects. In the north examinations focused on lyric-meter poetry and rhapsodies while in the south, Confucian Classics were tested. During the reign of Emperor Xizong of Jin (r. 1135–1150), the contents of both examinations were unified and examinees were tested on both genres. Emperor Zhangzong of Jin (r. 1189–1208) abolished
13632-529: The favour by recommending their other relatives. The kin of higher officials therefore had better chances of gaining positions. The first standardized method of recruitment in Chinese history was introduced during the Three Kingdoms period in the Kingdom of Wei . It was called the nine-rank system . In the nine-rank system, each office was given a rank from highest to lowest in descending order from one to nine. Imperial officials were responsible for assessing
13774-525: The first harbour of China, there was a small Genoese colony, mentioned in 1326 by André de Pérouse. The most famous Italian resident of the city was Andolo de Savignone , who was sent to the West by the Khan in 1336 to obtain "100 horses and other treasures." Following Savignone's visit, an ambassador was dispatched to China with one superb horse, which was later the object of Chinese poems and paintings . Other Venetians lived in China, including one who brought
13916-435: The first papal envoys to reach Karakorum after being sent there by Pope Innocent IV in 1245. The " Historia Mongalorum " was later written by Pian del Carpini, documenting his travels and a cursory history of the Mongols. Catholic missionaries soon established a considerable presence in China, due to the religious tolerance of the Mongols, due in no small part to the Khan's own great tolerance and open encouragement of
14058-500: The government, but this also furthered Confucianisation of the conquerors. Under the revised system, the yearly averages for examination degrees awarded was about 21. The way in which the four regional racial categories were divided tended to favor the Mongols, Semu-ren, and North Chinese, despite the South Chinese being by far the largest portion of the population. The 1290 census figures record some 12,000,000 households (about 48% of
14200-505: The jinshi examination not only tested the Confucian classics, but also history, proficiency in compiling official documents, inscriptions, discursive treatises, memorials, and poems and rhapsodies. Because the number of jinshi graduates were so low they acquired great social standing in society. The judicial, arithmetic, and clerical examinations were also held but these graduates only qualified for their specific agencies. Candidates who passed
14342-419: The judicial examination was classified as a special examination and not many people took the classicist examination. The oral version of the classicist exam was abolished. Other special examinations for household and family member of officials, Minister of Personnel, and subjects such as history as applied to current affairs ( shiwu ce , Policy Questions), translation, and judicial matters were also administered by
14484-524: The lands of Christendom during the High to Late Middle Ages who visited, traded, performed Christian missionary work, or lived in China. This occurred primarily during the second half of the 13th century and the first half of the 14th century, coinciding with the rule of the Mongol Empire , which ruled over a large part of Eurasia and connected Europe with their Chinese dominion of the Yuan dynasty. Whereas
14626-551: The latter. In 1368 the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty collapsed amid widespread internal revolt during the Red Turban Rebellion , whose ethnic Han leader would become the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty . A formal resumption of direct trade and contact with Europeans would not be seen until the 16th century, initiated by the Portuguese during the Age of Discovery . The first Portuguese explorer to land in southern China
14768-515: The literati, and encouraging education in various locales so even people in the remote corners of the empire would study to pass the imperial exams. These degree holders would then become a new nucleus of elite bureaucrats around which the government could center itself. In 681, a fill in the blank test based on knowledge of the Confucian classics was introduced. Examples of officials whom she recruited through her reformed examination system include Zhang Yue , Li Jiao , and Shen Quanqi . Despite
14910-459: The mid-11th century, between 5,000 and 10,000 took the metropolitan examinations in a given year. By the mid-12th century, 100,000 candidates registered for the prefectural examinations each year, and by the mid-13th century, more than 400,000. The number of active jinshi degree holders ranged from 5,000 to 10,000 between the 11th and 13th centuries, representing 7,085 of 18,700 posts in 1046 and 8,260 of 38,870 posts in 1213. Statistics indicate that
15052-498: The names of Khanbaliq's previous bishops and archbishops. For his travels from 1253 to 1255, the Franciscan friar William of Rubruck reported numerous Europeans in Central Asia. He described German prisoners who had been enslaved and forced to mine gold and manufacture iron weapons in the Mongol town of Bolat, near Talas, Kyrgyzstan . In Karakorum , the Mongol capital, he met a Parisian named Guillaume Boucher , and Pâquette,
15194-436: The old aristocracy, Wu's system of bureaucrat recruitment once more became the dominant model in China, and eventually coalesced into the class of nonhereditary elites who would become known to the West as "mandarins", in reference to Mandarin , the dialect of Chinese employed in the imperial court. In the Song dynasty (960–1279), the imperial examinations became the primary method of recruitment for official posts. More than
15336-488: The prefect of a prefecture were examined by the Ministry of Rites and then presented to the emperor. Some candidates for clerical positions would be given a test to determine whether they could memorize nine thousand Chinese characters. The "proper path" (正途) to official positions, which rapidly crowded out all other forms of entry, was to graduate from the Taixue, serve a probationary post in one's local commandery, and then gain
15478-556: The prefectural examinations. Emperor Shizong of Jin (r. 1161–1189) created the first examination conducted in the Jurchen language , with a focus on political writings and poetry. Graduates of the Jurchen examination were called "treatise graduates" ( celun jinshi ) to distinguish them from the regular Chinese jinshi. Imperial examinations were ceased for a time with the defeat of the Song in 1279 by Kublai Khan and his Yuan dynasty . One of Kublai's main advisers, Liu Bingzhong , submitted
15620-399: The presented scholar jinshi degree, became more prominent over time until it superseded all other examinations. By the late Tang the jinshi degree became a prerequisite for appointment into higher offices. Appointments by recommendation were also required to take examinations. The examinations were carried out in the first lunar month. After the results were completed, the list of results
15762-502: The proliferation of paper and printing, books were made of expensive or unwieldy bamboo and silk. The costs of literacy meant that relatively few could afford to become sufficiently educated for government service. Furthermore, the system of recommendations allowed high level (2,000- dan ) officials to induct their family members into the government, and whenever they served as a Commandery governor they could also recommend new candidates who would be beholden to them, and were expected to repay
15904-409: The quality of the talents recommended by local elites. The criteria for recruitment included qualities such as morals and social status, which in practice meant that influential families monopolized all high ranking posts while men of poorer means filled the lower ranks. The local zhongzheng (lit. central and impartial) officials assessed the status of households or families in nine categories; only
16046-414: The reign of Heraclius (r. 610–641), relayed information about China's geography , its capital city Khubdan ( Old Turkic : Khumdan , i.e. Chang'an ), its current ruler Taisson whose name meant " Son of Heaven " (Chinese: 天子 Tianzi , although this could be derived from the name of Emperor Taizong of Tang ), and correctly pointed to its reunification by the Sui dynasty (581–618) as occurring during
16188-636: The reign of Maurice , noting that China had previously been divided politically along the Yangzi River by two warring nations . The Chinese Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang mention several embassies made by Fu lin (拂菻; i.e. Byzantium ), which they equated with Daqin (i.e. the Roman Empire ), beginning in 643 with an embassy sent by the king Boduoli (波多力, i.e. Constans II Pogonatos ) to Emperor Taizong of Tang , bearing gifts such as red glass . These histories also provided cursory descriptions of Constantinople , its walls , and how it
16330-445: The rise in importance of the examination system, the Tang society was still heavily influenced by aristocratic ideals, and it was only after the ninth century that the situation changed. As a result, it was common for candidates to visit examiners before the examinations in order to win approval. The aristocratic influence declined after the ninth century, when the examination degree holders also increased in numbers. They now began to play
16472-463: The second half of the 13th century. Nestorian Christianity had existed in China earlier during the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD) when a Persian monk named Alopen (Chinese: Āluósī ; 阿羅本; 阿羅斯 ) came to the capital Chang'an in 653 to proselytize , as described in a dual Chinese and Syriac language inscription from Chang'an (modern Xi'an ) dated to the year 781. Others were soon to follow. The Italian Franciscan friar John of Montecorvino took
16614-683: The selection process were theoretically supposed to be an unbiased process, but in practice favored candidates from elite clans based in the capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang (speakers of solely non-elite dialects could not succeed). Under the Tang, six categories of regular civil service examinations were organized by the Department of State Affairs and held by the Ministry of Rites : cultivated talents, classicists, presented scholars, legal experts, writing experts, and arithmetic experts. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang also added categories for Daoism and apprentices. The hardest of these examination categories,
16756-530: The sons of the fifth categories and above were entitled to offices. The method obviously contradicted the ideal of meritocracy. It was, however, convenient in a time of constant wars among the various contending states, all of them relying on an aristocratic political and social structure. For nearly three hundred years, noble young men were afforded government higher education in the Imperial Academy and carefully prepared for public service. The Jiupin guanren fa
16898-486: The state. Policy Questions became an essential part of following examinations. An exam called the cewen which focused on contemporary matters such as politics, economics, and military affairs was introduced. The Song also saw the introduction of a new examination essay, that of jing yi ; (exposition on the meaning of the Classics). This required candidates to compose a logically coherent essay by juxtaposing quotations from
17040-573: The stringent requirements, there was only a 1% passing rate among the two or three million annual applicants who took the exams. The Chinese examination system has had a profound influence in the development of modern civil service administrative functions in other countries. These include analogous structures that have existed in Japan, Korea, the Ryukyu Kingdom, and Vietnam. In addition to Asia, reports by European missionaries and diplomats introduced
17182-471: The subsequent Song period there was also a community of Kaifeng Jews in China. The Spaniard, Benjamin of Tudela (from Navarre ) was a 12th-century Jewish traveler whose Travels of Benjamin recorded vivid descriptions of Europe, Asia, and Africa, preceding those of Marco Polo by a hundred years. Polo, a 13th-century merchant from the Republic of Venice , describes his travels to Yuan-dynasty China and
17324-492: The system it inherited. The Hongwu Emperor was initially reluctant to restart the examinations, considering their curriculum to be lacking in practical knowledge. In 1370 he declared that the exams would follow the Neo-Confucian canon put forth by Zhu Xi in the Song dynasty: the Four Books , discourses, and political analysis. Then he abolished the examinations two years later because he preferred appointment by referral. In 1384,
17466-505: The third session was held, consisting of five essays on the Classics, historiography, and contemporary affairs. The palace exam was just one session, consisting of questions on critical matters in the Classics or current affairs. Written answers were expected to follow a predefined structure called the eight-legged essay , which consisted of eight parts: opening, amplification, preliminary exposition, initial argument, central argument, latter argument, final argument, and conclusion. The length of
17608-399: The thousand or more candidates going for a jinshi degree each year in which it was offered, the success rate for the examinees was only between 1 and 2 percent: a total of 6504 jinshi were created during course of the Tang dynasty (an average of only about 23 jinshi awarded per year). After 755, up to 15 percent of civil service officials were recruited through the examinations. During
17750-606: The total Yuan population) for South China, versus 2,000,000 North Chinese households, and the populations of Mongols and Semu-ren were both less. While South China was technically allotted 75 candidates for each provincial exam, only 28 Han Chinese from South China were included among the 300 candidates, the rest of the South China slots (47) being occupied by resident Mongols or Semu-ren, although 47 "racial South Chinese" who were not residents of South China were approved as candidates. The Ming dynasty (1368–1644) retained and expanded
17892-404: The whole paragraph to complete the phrase. If the examinee was able to correctly answer five of ten questions, they passed. This was considered such an easy task that a 30-year-old candidate was said to be old for a classicist examinee, but young to be a jinshi. An oral version of the classicist examination known as moyi also existed but consisted of 100 questions rather than just ten. In contrast,
18034-411: The years 1148 and 1256, approximately 57 percent originated from families without a father, grandfather, or great-grandfather who had held official rank. However most did have some sort of relative in the bureaucracy. Prominent officials who went through the imperial examinations include Wang Anshi , who proposed reforms to make the exams more practical, and Zhu Xi (1130–1200), whose interpretations of
18176-617: Was Jorge Álvares , who in May 1513 arrived at Lintin Island in the Pearl River Delta to engage in trade. This was followed by Rafael Perestrello , a cousin of the wife of Christopher Columbus , who landed at Guangzhou in 1516 after a voyage from newly conquered Portuguese Malacca . Although the 1517 mission by Fernão Pires de Andrade ended in disaster and his imprisonment by Ming authorities, relations would be smoothed over by Leonel de Sousa,
18318-400: Was a woman outside the Li family who needed an alternative base of power. Reform of the imperial examinations featured prominently in her plan to create a new class of elite bureaucrats derived from humbler origins. Both the palace and military examinations were created under Wu Zetian. In 655, Wu Zetian graduated 44 candidates with the jìnshì degree ( 進士 ), and during one seven-year period
18460-561: Was besieged by Da shi (大食; the Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate ) and their commander "Mo-yi" (摩拽; i.e. Muawiyah I , governor of Syria before becoming caliph ), who forced them to pay tribute. From Chinese records it is known that Michael VII Doukas (Mie li sha ling kai sa 滅力沙靈改撒) of Fu lin dispatched a diplomatic mission to China's Song dynasty that arrived in 1081, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song . Some Chinese during
18602-520: Was brought under Han Chinese influence during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BC). Emperor Wu's diplomat Zhang Qian (d. 113 BC) was sent to forge an alliance with the Yuezhi, a mission that was unsuccessful, but he brought back eyewitness reports of legacies of Hellenistic Greek civilization with his travels to " Dayuan " in the Fergana Valley , with Alexandria Eschate as its capital, and
18744-453: Was closely related to this kind of educational practice and only began to decline after the second half of the sixth century. The Sui dynasty continued the tradition of recruitment through recommendation but modified it in 587 with the requirement for every prefecture ( fu ) to supply three scholars a year. In 599, all capital officials of rank five and above were required to make nominations for consideration in several categories. During
18886-413: Was decreed in 1067 to be three years but this triennial cycle only existed in nominal terms. In practice both before and after this, the examinations were irregularly implemented for significant periods of time: thus, the calculated statistical averages for the number of degrees conferred annually should be understood in this context. The jinshi exams were not a yearly event and should not be considered so;
19028-497: Was fixed for provincial examinations with 75 persons from each group. The metropolitan exam had a quota of 100 persons with 25 persons from each group. Candidates were enrolled on two lists with the Mongols and Semu-ren located on the left and the Northern and Southern Chinese on the right. Examinations were written in Chinese and based on Confucian and Neo-Confucian texts but the Mongols and Semu-ren received easier questions to answer than
19170-687: Was forbidden for examiners to supervise examinations in their home prefecture. Examiners and high officials were also forbidden from contacting each other prior to the exams. The practice of recopying papers in order to prevent revealing the candidate's calligraphy was introduced at the capital and departmental level in 1015, and in the prefectures in 1037. In 1009, Emperor Zhenzong of Song (r. 997–1022) introduced quotas on degrees awarded. In 1090, only 40 degrees were awarded to 3,000 candidates in Fuzhou , which meant only one degree would be awarded for every 75 candidates. The quota system became even more stringent in
19312-472: Was held in 1385. Provincial and metropolitan exams were organized in three sessions. The first session consisted of three questions on the examinee's interpretation of the Four Books, and four on the Classics corpus. The second session took place three days later, and consisted of a discursive essay, five critical judgments, and one in the style of an edict, an announcement and a memorial. Three days after that,
19454-452: Was joined by three bishops (Andre de Perouse, Gerard Albuini and Peregrino de Castello) and ordained archbishop of Beijing by Pope Clement V in 1307. A community of Armenians in China sprang up during this period. They were converted to Catholicism by John of Montecorvino. Following the death of John of Montecorvino, Giovanni de Marignolli was dispatched to Beijing to become the new archbishop from 1342 to 1346 in an effort to maintain
19596-732: Was made. From this revelation, monks were sent by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (ruled 527–565) as spies on the Silk Road from Constantinople to China and back to steal the silkworm eggs . This resulted in silk production in the Mediterranean, particularly in Thrace , in northern Greece, and gave the Byzantine Empire a monopoly on silk production in medieval Europe until the loss of its territories in Southern Italy . The Byzantine historian Theophylact Simocatta , writing during
19738-522: Was submitted to the Grand Chancellor , who had the right to alter the results. Sometimes the list was also submitted to the Secretariat-Chancellery for additional inspection. The emperor could also announce a repeat of the exam. The list of results was then published in the second lunar month. Classicists were tested by being presented phrases from the classic texts. Then they had to write
19880-502: Was the Franco-Mongol alliance , although the latter never fully materialized, at least not in a consistent manner. The establishment of the Ming dynasty in 1368 and reestablishment of ethnic Han rule led to the cessation of European merchants and Roman Catholic missionaries living in China. Direct contact with Europeans was not renewed until Portuguese explorers and Jesuit missionaries arrived on Ming China's southern shores in
20022-617: Was the first diplomat from China to reach the royal courts of Christendom in the West. Before the 13th century AD, instances of Europeans going to China or of Chinese going to Europe were very rare. Euthydemus I , Hellenistic ruler of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom in Central Asia during the 3rd century BC, led an expedition into the Tarim Basin (modern Xinjiang , China) in search of precious metals. Greek influence as far east as
20164-438: Was the weight given to eight-legged essays. As a literary style, they are constructed on logical reasoning for coherent exposition. However, as the format evolved, they became excessively rigid, to ensure fair grading. Candidates often only memorised ready essays in the hope that the ones they memorised might be the examination questions. Since all questions were taken from the Classics, there were just so many possible passages that
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