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167-570: Feng was a first degree holder of the imperial examination and graduated from the Tianjin Military School . He served in northeastern China before and during the First Sino-Japanese War and afterward was China's military attaché to Japan in 1895. His reports on Japanese military reforms, especially on training, were given to Yuan Shikai , who found them useful, and he made Feng a member his Newly Created Army, which later became

334-544: A luan-ming (illegitimate order) and withheld knowledge of it from the public in the south. Yuan Shikai used his own forces to suppress Boxers in Shandong, and Zhang entered into negotiations with the foreigners in Shanghai to keep his army out of the conflict. The neutrality of these provincial and regional governors left the majority of Chinese military forces out of the conflict. The republican revolutionary Sun Yat-sen even took

501-471: A "Blood Royal"), who was anti-foreigner and pro-Boxer. He soon ordered the Imperial army to attack the foreign forces. Confused by conflicting orders from Beijing, General Nie Shicheng let Seymour's army pass by in their trains. After leaving Tianjin, the force quickly reached Langfang , but the railway was destroyed there. Seymour's engineers tried to repair the line, but the force found itself surrounded, as

668-731: A "scramble for concessions " by which Britain, France, Russia and Japan also secured their own sphere of influence in China. Germany gained exclusive control of developmental loans, mining, and railway ownership in Shandong province. Russia gained influence of all territory north of the Great Wall , plus the previous tax exemption for trade in Mongolia and Xinjiang , economic powers similar to Germany's over Fengtian , Jilin and Heilongjiang . France gained influence of Yunnan , most of Guangxi and Guangdong , Japan over Fujian . Britain gained influence of

835-714: A Boxer boy and inexplicably executed him. In response, thousands of Boxers burst into the walled city of Beijing that afternoon and burned many of the Christian churches and cathedrals in the city, burning some victims alive. American and British missionaries took refuge in the Methodist Mission, and an attack there was repulsed by US Marines. The soldiers at the British Embassy and German legations shot and killed several Boxers. The Kansu Braves and Boxers, along with other Chinese, then attacked and killed Chinese Christians around

1002-558: A battalion commander in Li Hongzhang 's Huai Army . His relative recommended him as a good student to Li's Tianjin Military Academy , and he did well there during his first year. The academy was part of Li Hongzhang's effort to create a modernized army in China, teaching subjects such as military drill, engineering, surveying, and mathematics, as opposed to traditional Chinese literary examinations or physical tests. In 1888 Feng took

1169-605: A break from his studies there to take and pass the shengyuan or basic degree exam, but later he failed the juren or provincial exam, at which point he decided to return to the military academy. He graduated from the Tianjin academy in 1890. Feng Guozhang was briefly an instructor at the military academy in Tianjin until 1891, when he was assigned to Nie Shicheng 's unit in Port Arthur , northeast China. During that time he traveled extensively across Manchuria and became familiar with

1336-511: 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

1503-624: A group of Boxers attacked the Christian community of Liyuantun village where a temple to the Jade Emperor had been converted into a Catholic church. Disputes had surrounded the church since 1869, when the temple had been granted to the Christian residents of the village. This incident marked the first time the Boxers used the slogan "Support the Qing, destroy the foreigners" ( 扶清滅洋 ; fu Qing mie yang ) that later characterised them. The Boxers called themselves

1670-582: A head in June 1900, when Boxer fighters, convinced they were invulnerable to foreign weapons, converged on Beijing with the slogan "Support the Qing government and exterminate the foreigners". Diplomats, missionaries, soldiers, and some Chinese Christians took refuge in the Legation Quarter , which the Boxers besieged. The Eight-Nation Alliance—comprising American, Austro-Hungarian, British, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Russian troops—moved into China to lift

1837-515: A hidden Qing munitions cache of which the Eight Powers had had no knowledge until then. There they dug in and awaited rescue. A Chinese servant slipped through the Boxer and Imperial lines, reached Tianjin, and informed the Eight Powers of Seymour's predicament. His force was surrounded by Imperial troops and Boxers, attacked nearly around the clock, and at the point of being overrun. The Eight Powers sent

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2004-457: 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

2171-530: A mass movement. The previous year, the Hundred Days' Reform , in which progressive Chinese reformers persuaded the Guangxu Emperor to engage in modernizing efforts, was suppressed by Empress Dowager Cixi and Yuan Shikai . The Qing political elite struggled with the question of how to retain its power. The Qing government came to view the Boxers as a means to help oppose foreign powers. The national crisis

2338-514: 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

2505-498: 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

2672-516: 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

2839-503: 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

3006-460: 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

3173-411: 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 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

3340-510: A relief column from Tianjin of 1,800 men (900 Russian troops from Port Arthur, 500 British seamen, and other assorted troops). On 25 June the relief column reached Seymour. The Seymour force destroyed the Arsenal: they spiked the captured field guns and set fire to any munitions that they could not take (an estimated £3 million worth). The Seymour force and the relief column marched back to Tientsin, unopposed, on 26 June. Seymour's casualties during

3507-521: A result of diplomatic pressure in the capital, Yuxian executed several Big Sword leaders but did not punish anyone else. More martial secret societies started emerging after this. The early years saw a variety of village activities, not a broad movement with a united purpose. Martial folk-religious societies such as the Baguadao ('Eight Trigrams') prepared the way for the Boxers. Like the Red Boxing school or

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3674-598: A rival government in Guangzhou during September 1917 and also declared war later that month in a failed attempt to get international recognition. Feng wanted to peacefully resolve the north-south conflict , which led to Duan resigning in protest. Due to pressure from the Anhui clique , he brought Duan back into the premiership. Feng finished the five-year term started by Yuan in 1913 on October 10, 1918, and died in Beijing of illness. He

3841-667: A subordinate position to them as a military specialist. In October 1911, after the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising , he was ordered by the Qing Court to suppress the revolution in Wuhan. He held back the Beiyang Army until Yuan Shikai was restored to power and then proceeded to capture Hankou and Hanyang from the revolutionaries in the Battle of Yangxia . On October 14 he was appointed to command

4008-612: A tool of selection started in earnest during 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

4175-480: 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

4342-496: 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 the Tang. From the Song dynasty onward, the examinations played the primary role in selecting scholar-officials, who formed

4509-547: The Beiyang Army . Feng Guozhang rose through the ranks during the last decade of the Qing dynasty, serving as a division commander, the director of the military school for Manchu princes and nobles, and as the superintendent of the General Staff Council. He led Imperial Beiyang Army troops during the Wuchang Uprising , and under Feng's command retook large parts of the tri-cities of Hankou , Hanyang and Wuchang from

4676-924: The Big Swords Society , whose original purpose was to fight bandits. The German Catholic missionaries of the Society of the Divine Word had built up their presence in the area, partially by taking in a significant portion of converts who were "in need of protection from the law". On one occasion in 1895, a large bandit gang defeated by the Big Swords Society claimed to be Catholics to avoid prosecution. "The line between Christians and bandits became increasingly indistinct", remarks historian Paul Cohen . Some missionaries such as Georg Maria Stenz also used their privileges to intervene in lawsuits. The Big Swords responded by attacking Catholic properties and burning them. As

4843-439: The First Sino-Japanese War and this had prompted military reform that was still in its early stages when the Boxer rebellion occurred and they were expected to fight. The bulk of the fighting was conducted by the forces already around Zhili with troops from other provinces only arriving after the main fighting had ended. War/Revenue (field troops only) Staff (field troops only) (Zhili alone) (Zhili alone) The failure of

5010-477: 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

5177-455: The Plum Flower tradition , the Boxers of Shandong were more concerned with traditional social and moral values, such as filial piety, than with foreign influences. One leader, Zhu Hongdeng (Red Lantern Zhu), started as a wandering healer, specialising in skin ulcers, and gained wide respect by refusing payment for his treatments. Zhu claimed descent from Ming dynasty emperors, since his surname

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5344-621: The "Militia United in Righteousness" for the first time in October 1899, at the Battle of Senluo Temple , a clash between Boxers and Qing government troops. By using the word "Militia" rather than "Boxers", they distanced themselves from forbidden martial arts sects and tried to give their movement the legitimacy of a group that defended orthodoxy. Violence toward missionaries and Christians drew sharp responses from diplomats protecting their nationals, including Western seizure of harbors and forts and

5511-460: 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

5678-543: The 55-day Siege of the International Legations . Plunder and looting of the capital and the surrounding countryside ensued, along with summary execution of those suspected of being Boxers in retribution. The Boxer Protocol of 7 September 1901 provided for the execution of government officials who had supported the Boxers, for foreign troops to be stationed in Beijing, and for 450 million taels of silver—more than

5845-575: The Allies also made no formal declaration of war. Regional governors in the south, who commanded substantial modernised armies, such as Li Hongzhang at Guangzhou, Yuan Shikai in Shandong, Zhang Zhidong at Wuhan, and Liu Kunyi at Nanjing, formed the Mutual Defense Pact of the Southeastern Provinces . They refused to recognise the imperial court's declaration of war, which they declared

6012-475: The Boxer movement spread rapidly north from Shandong into the countryside near Beijing. Boxers burned Christian churches, killed Chinese Christians and intimidated Chinese officials who stood in their way. American Minister Edwin H. Conger cabled Washington, "the whole country is swarming with hungry, discontented, hopeless idlers". On 30 May the diplomats, led by British Minister Claude Maxwell MacDonald , requested that foreign soldiers come to Beijing to defend

6179-552: The Boxers in the countryside was almost universal and that suppression would be both difficult and unpopular, especially when foreign troops were on the march. On 15 June, Qing imperial forces deployed electric naval mines in the Beihe River to prevent the Eight-Nation Alliance from sending ships to attack. With a difficult military situation in Tianjin and a total breakdown of communications between Tianjin and Beijing,

6346-681: The Chinese exploded in tunnels dug beneath the compound. The number of Chinese soldiers and Boxers besieging the Legation Quarter and the Beitang is unknown. Zaiyi's bannermen in the Tiger and Divine Corps led attacks against the Catholic cathedral church. On 22 and 23 June, Chinese soldiers and Boxers set fire to areas north and west of the British Legation, using it as a "frightening tactic" to attack

6513-516: The Chinese government, but the railway had been severed between Tianjin and Beijing. Seymour resolved to continue forward by rail to the break and repair the railway, or progress on foot from there, if necessary, as it was only 120 km from Tianjin to Beijing. The court then replaced Prince Qing at the Zongli Yamen with Manchu Prince Duan, a member of the imperial Aisin Gioro clan (foreigners called him

6680-597: 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

6847-478: 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

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7014-644: The General Staff Council in July 1907. This made him the director of the main administrative agency of the new Ministry of the Army , and in that position Feng advised the New Army divisions being formed across China on matters of training and organization. In addition, he was also the director of the Military School for Princes and Nobles from January 1906, and in that role was given the rank of acting deputy lieutenant general of

7181-624: The General Staff Council. In July 1909 it was reformed as the General Staff Office, separate from the Ministry of the Army and answering directly to the emperor, to follow the Prussian model rather than the French model. Two Manchu princes, Zaitao and Yulang, were placed in charge of it by the prince regent , Zaifeng, Prince Chun . But they were inexperienced in military affairs and Feng was kept in

7348-689: The German Catholic Priest Georg Stenz, who had allegedly serially raped Chinese women in Juye County, Shandong. In an attack known as the Juye Incident , Chinese rebels attempted to kill Stenz in his missionary quarters, but failed to find him and killed two other missionaries. The German Navy's East Asia Squadron dispatched to occupy Jiaozhou Bay on the southern coast of the Shandong peninsula. In December 1897, Wilhelm declared his intent to seize territory in China , which triggered

7515-518: The German government took over Shandong, many Chinese feared that the foreign missionaries and possibly all Christian activities were imperialist attempts at "carving the melon", i.e., to colonise China piece by piece. A Chinese official expressed the animosity towards foreigners succinctly, "Take away your missionaries and your opium and you will be welcome." In 1899, the Boxer Rebellion developed into

7682-456: 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

7849-541: 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

8016-458: 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 a concept have their origins in the year 605 during the short-lived Sui dynasty . Its successor, the Tang dynasty , implemented imperial examinations on

8183-432: 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

8350-574: 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. Boxer Rebellion Boxer Protocol The Boxer Rebellion , also known as the Boxer Uprising , was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist , and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards

8517-606: The Legation Quarter and advanced, brick by brick, on the foreign lines, forcing the foreign legation guards to retreat a few feet at a time. This tactic was especially used in the Fu, defended by Japanese and Italian sailors and soldiers, and inhabited by most of the Chinese Christians. Fusillades of bullets, artillery and firecrackers were directed against the Legations almost every night—but did little damage. Sniper fire took its toll among

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8684-465: The Legation Quarter from 20 June to 14 August 1900. A total of 473 foreign civilians, 409 soldiers, marines and sailors from eight countries, and about 3,000 Chinese Christians took refuge there. Under the command of the British minister to China, Claude Maxwell MacDonald , the legation staff and military guards defended the compound with small arms, three machine guns, and one old muzzle-loaded cannon, which

8851-420: The Legation Quarter in Beijing, and decided to continue advancing, this time along the Beihe River , toward Tongzhou , 25 km (16 mi) from Beijing. By 19 June, the force was halted by progressively stiffening resistance and started to retreat southward along the river with over 200 wounded. The force was now very low on food, ammunition, and medical supplies. They happened upon The Great Hsi-Ku Arsenal ,

9018-522: The Legation Quarter, but impressed Chinese Christians to do most of the physical labour of building defences. The Germans and the Americans occupied perhaps the most crucial of all defensive positions: the Tartar Wall . Holding the top of the 45 ft (14 m) tall and 40 ft (12 m) wide wall was vital. The German barricades faced east on top of the wall and 400 yd (370 m) west were

9185-579: The Manchu general Ronglu , later claimed he acted to protect the foreigners. Officials in the southern provinces ignored the imperial order to fight against foreigners. The Eight-Nation Alliance, after initially being turned back by the Imperial Chinese military and Boxer militia, brought 20,000 armed troops to China. They defeated the Imperial Army in Tianjin and arrived in Beijing on 14 August, relieving

9352-532: The Mongol Plain Yellow Banner . It was a military middle school that mostly accepted sons of Manchu hereditary princes, imperial clan members, and military or civil officials. Feng Guozhang had good relations with the Manchu imperial court as well as with Yuan, and was also an acquaintance of the Manchu nobleman Tieliang , having gone with him on his trip to Japan in 1903. When Yuan Shikai was removed as Beiyang Army commander in 1907 and then dismissed from all posts in 1908, Feng continued at his influential position on

9519-445: 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 the late Qing reforms in the last years of the Qing dynasty. The modern examination system for selecting civil servants also indirectly evolved from

9686-407: The Qing forces to withstand the Allied forces was not surprising given the limited time for reform and the fact that the best troops of China were not committed to the fight, remaining instead in Huguang and Shandong. The officer corps was particularly deficient; many lacked basic knowledge of strategy and tactics, and even those with training had not actively commanded troops in the field. In addition,

9853-503: The Roman Catholic establishment totaled by 1894 some 750 European missionaries, 400 native priests, and over half a million communicants. By 1894 the newer Protestant mission effort supported over 1300 missionaries, mainly British and American, and maintained some 500 stations-each with a church, residences, street chapels, and usually a small school and possibly a hospital or dispensary-in about 350 different cities and towns. Yet they had made fewer than 60,000 Chinese Christian converts. There

10020-430: The Ryukyu Kingdom, and Vietnam. In addition to Asia, reports by European missionaries and diplomats introduced 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

10187-399: The Second Army (consisting of two divisions) by the imperial court. In the battle he ordered the razing of Hankou. Then, following orders from Yuan Shikai, he halted the Qing military's advance on Wuchang. Yuan then negotiated the abdication of the Last Emperor and became the provisional president of the newly founded Republic of China in 1912. Feng followed Yuan into the new government and

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10354-411: 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

10521-418: 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

10688-424: 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

10855-446: 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 the Taixue were immediately admitted as Court gentlemen, while

11022-436: 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

11189-433: 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

11356-474: The West. The Boxers, armed with rifles and swords, claimed supernatural invulnerability against cannons, rifle shots, and knife attacks. The Boxer groups popularly claimed that millions of soldiers would descend out of heaven to assist them in purifying China of foreign oppression. In 1895, despite ambivalence toward their heterodox practices, Yuxian , a Manchu who was the then prefect of Cao Prefecture and would later become provincial governor, cooperated with

11523-448: The allied nations took steps to reinforce their military presence significantly. On 17 June, Allied forces under Russian Admiral Yevgeni Alekseyev took the Dagu Forts commanding the approaches to Tianjin, and from there brought increasing numbers of troops on shore. When Cixi received an ultimatum that same day demanding that China surrender total control over all its military and financial affairs to foreigners, she defiantly stated before

11690-458: 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

11857-411: The baron's death back to the diplomatic compound. At this news, the other diplomats feared they also would be murdered if they left the legation quarter and they chose to continue to defy the Chinese order to depart Beijing. The legations were hurriedly fortified. Most of the foreign civilians, which included a large number of missionaries and businessmen, took refuge in the British legation, the largest of

12024-585: 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 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

12191-502: 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

12358-603: 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

12525-509: 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

12692-420: The civil service of both China and Taiwan . The exams served to ensure 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

12859-502: 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 the Confucian classics , from which Emperor Wu would select officials to serve by his side. Gongsun intended for

13026-474: The defenders. The nearby Hanlin Academy , a complex of courtyards and buildings that housed "the quintessence of Chinese scholarship ... the oldest and richest library in the world", caught fire. Each side blamed the other for the destruction of the invaluable books it contained. After the failure to burn out the foreigners, the Chinese army adopted an anaconda-like strategy. The Chinese built barricades surrounding

13193-405: The diplomatic compounds. Chinese Christians were primarily housed in the adjacent palace (Fu) of Prince Su , who was forced to abandon his property by the foreign soldiers. On 21 June, Cixi issued an imperial decree stating that hostilities had begun and ordering the regular Chinese army to join the Boxers in their attacks on the invading troops. This was a de facto declaration of war, but

13360-424: 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 ",

13527-478: 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

13694-600: The end of the Qing dynasty , by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists , known as the "Boxers" in English due to many of its members having practised Chinese martial arts , which at the time were referred to as "Chinese boxing". It was defeated by the Eight-Nation Alliance of foreign powers. Following the First Sino-Japanese War , villagers in North China feared the expansion of foreign spheres of influence and resented

13861-558: The entire Grand Council , "Now they [the Powers] have started the aggression, and the extinction of our nation is imminent. If we just fold our arms and yield to them, I would have no face to see our ancestors after death. If we must perish, why don't we fight to the death?" It was at this point that Cixi began to blockade the legations with the armies of the Peking Field Force , which began the siege. Cixi stated that "I have always been of

14028-459: 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

14195-424: 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,

14362-406: 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

14529-578: 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

14696-413: 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; the annual average figures are a necessary artifact of quantitative analysis. The operations of the examination system were part of

14863-473: 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

15030-415: 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

15197-576: 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

15364-447: The expedition were 62 killed and 228 wounded. Meanwhile, in Beijing, on 16 June, Empress Dowager Cixi summoned the imperial court for a mass audience and addressed the choice between using the Boxers to evict the foreigners from the city, and seeking a diplomatic solution. In response to a high official who doubted the efficacy of the Boxers, Cixi replied that both sides of the debate at the imperial court realised that popular support for

15531-606: The extension of privileges to Christian missionaries , who used them to shield their followers. In 1898, North China experienced several natural disasters, including the Yellow River flooding and droughts, which Boxers blamed on foreign and Christian influence. Beginning in 1899, the movement spread across Shandong and the North China Plain , destroying foreign property such as railroads, and attacking or murdering Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians . The events came to

15698-578: 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

15865-432: The foreign defenders. Despite their numerical advantage, the Chinese did not attempt a direct assault on the Legation Quarter although in the words of one of the besieged, "it would have been easy by a strong, swift movement on the part of the numerous Chinese troops to have annihilated the whole body of foreigners ... in an hour". American missionary Francis Dunlap Gamewell and his crew of "fighting parsons" fortified

16032-477: The freedom to preach anywhere in China and to buy land on which to build churches. There was strong public indignation over the dispossession of Chinese temples that were replaced by Catholic churches which were viewed as deliberately anti- feng shui . A further cause of discontent among Chinese people were the destruction of Chinese burial sites to make way for German railroads and telegraph lines. In response to Chinese protests against German railroads, Germans shot

16199-480: The government's annual tax revenue—to be paid as indemnity over the course of the next 39 years to the eight invading nations. The Qing dynasty's handling of the Boxer Rebellion further weakened their control over China, and led to the Late Qing reforms . According to John King Fairbank : The opening of the country in the 1860s facilitated the great effort to Christianize China. Building on old [French] foundations,

16366-500: 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

16533-464: The head of training on his staff. From 1896 Feng Guozhang was part of the officer corps of this brigade -size force, which became the nucleus of the Beiyang Army and also included other prominent future leaders. When the Boxer Rebellion broke out in 1899 and Yuan Shikai was appointed as governor of Shandong to maintain order in that province, Feng was also there and was tasked with taking part in

16700-501: The highest offices. On the other hand, holders of the basic degree, 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

16867-580: 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 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

17034-482: 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 the examinations occurred at the beginning of the Yuan dynasty in the 13th century, but was later brought back with regional quotas which favored

17201-415: The inland sections of the northern coastal province of Shandong , a region which had long been plagued by social unrest, religious sects, and martial societies. American Christian missionaries were probably the first people who referred to the well-trained, athletic young men as the "Boxers", because of the martial arts which they practised and the weapons training which they underwent. Their primary practice

17368-505: 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

17535-419: 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

17702-654: The last decade of the Qing dynasty his career took off, and he became one of Yuan Shikai's closest allies. Feng Guozhang served on the Military Training Bureau of the Army Reorganization Commission that was created in December 1903. After the Beiyang Army was expanded in 1904–05, Feng became the commander of the Beiyang 3rd Division in 1905, the commander of the 6th Division in 1906, and the superintendent of

17869-409: The legations in revenge for foreign attacks on Chinese. As the situation grew more violent, the Eight Powers authorities at Dagu dispatched a second multinational force to Beijing on 10 June 1900. This force of 2,000 sailors and marines was under the command of Vice Admiral Edward Hobart Seymour , the largest contingent being British. The force moved by train from Dagu to Tianjin with the agreement of

18036-471: The legations that the diplomats and other foreigners depart Beijing under escort of the Chinese army within 24 hours. The next morning, diplomats from the besieged legations met to discuss the Empress's offer. The majority quickly agreed that they could not trust the Chinese army. Fearing that they would be killed, they agreed to refuse the Empress's demand. The German Imperial Envoy, Baron Clemens von Ketteler ,

18203-721: The legations. Wilhelm was so alarmed by the Chinese Muslim troops that he requested Ottoman caliph Abdul Hamid II to find a way to stop the Muslim troops from fighting. Abdul Hamid agreed to the Kaiser's request and sent Enver Pasha (not to be confused with the later Young Turk leader ) to China in 1901, but the rebellion was over by that time. On 11 June, the first Boxer was seen in the Peking Legation Quarter . The German Minister Clemens von Ketteler and German soldiers captured

18370-480: The legations. The Chinese government reluctantly acquiesced, and the next day a multinational force of 435 navy troops from eight countries debarked from warships and travelled by train from the Taku Forts to Beijing. They set up defensive perimeters around their respective missions. On 5 June 1900, the railway line to Tianjin was cut by Boxers in the countryside, and Beijing was isolated. On 11 June, at Yongdingmen ,

18537-438: 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 was decreed in 1067 to be three years but this triennial cycle only existed in nominal terms. In practice both before and after this,

18704-515: 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

18871-459: 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

19038-586: The movement. A drought followed by floods in Shandong province in 1897–98 forced farmers to flee to cities and seek food. A major source of discontent in northern China was missionary activity. The Boxers opposed German missionaries in Shandong and in the German concession in Qingdao . The Treaty of Tientsin and the Convention of Peking , signed in 1860 after the Second Opium War , had granted foreign missionaries

19205-476: The moving in of troops in preparation for all-out war, as well as taking control of more land by force or by coerced long-term leases from the Qing. In 1899, the French minister in Beijing helped the missionaries to obtain an edict granting official status to every order in the Roman Catholic hierarchy, enabling local priests to support their people in legal or family disputes and bypass the local officials. After

19372-483: 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

19539-574: The opinion, that the allied armies had been permitted to escape too easily in 1860. Only a united effort was then necessary to have given China the victory. Today, at last, the opportunity for revenge has come", and said that millions of Chinese would join the cause of fighting the foreigners since the Manchus had provided "great benefits" on China. On receipt of the news of the attack on the Dagu Forts on 19 June, Empress Dowager Cixi immediately sent an order to

19706-647: The opportunity to submit a proposal to Li Hongzhang to declare an independent democratic republic, although nothing came of the suggestion. The legations of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, Russia and Japan were located in the Beijing Legation Quarter south of the Forbidden City . The Chinese army and Boxer irregulars besieged

19873-537: 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

20040-605: 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

20207-399: 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

20374-502: 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

20541-452: The protestors. Economic conditions in Shandong also contributed to rebellion. Northern Shandong's economy focused significantly on cotton production and was hampered by the importation of foreign cotton. Traffic along the Grand Canal was also decreasing, further eroding the economy. The area had also experienced periods of drought and flood. A major precipitating incident was anger at

20708-409: 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

20875-624: The railway in both behind directions was destroyed. They were attacked from all sides by Chinese irregulars and imperial troops. Five thousand of Dong Fuxiang's Gansu Braves and an unknown number of Boxers won a costly but major victory over Seymour's troops at the Battle of Langfang on 18 June. The Seymour force could not locate the Chinese artillery, which was raining shells upon their positions. Chinese troops employed mining, engineering, flooding, and simultaneous attacks. The Chinese also employed pincer movements , ambushes, and sniping with some success. On 18 June, Seymour learned of attacks on

21042-475: The rebels. By that time Yuan Shikai, the prime minister, started negotiating with the revolutionaries and later arranged the Qing emperor's abdication. Under the early Republic of China , Feng Guozhang became the governor of Zhili from 1912 to 1913 and then governor of Jiangsu from 1913 to 1917. Feng Guozhang was born to a peasant family in Hejian , Zhili on 7 January 1859. His family had fallen on hard times and

21209-418: The region destroying their reputation and leading to Britain temporarily vacating their civilian workers from the front lines. In January 1900, with a majority of conservatives in the imperial court, Cixi changed her position on the Boxers and issued edicts in their defence, causing protests from foreign powers. Cixi urged provincial authorities to support the Boxers, although few did so. In the spring of 1900,

21376-589: The region's geography, which became useful when he was serving under the command of Nie Shicheng in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95. After the war, Feng was recommended by Nie Shicheng to serve as military attaché to Japan when Yukeng was sent there by the Qing dynasty as the Chinese minister in Tokyo. While he was in Japan in 1895, Feng became acquainted with notable Japanese army officers, such as Fukushima Yasumasa , who

21543-493: The regular soldiers were noted for their poor marksmanship and inaccuracy, while cavalry was ill-organised and was not used to its full extent. Tactically, the Chinese still retained their belief in the superiority of defence, often withdrawing as soon as they were flanked, a tendency attributable to their lack of combat experience and training as well as a lack of initiative from commanders who would rather retreat than counterattack. However, accusations of cowardice were minimal; this

21710-445: 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

21877-463: The rise of a gentry class of scholar-bureaucrats . Starting with 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

22044-475: The secretary of the Japanese legation, Sugiyama Akira, was attacked and killed by the forces of General Dong Fuxiang , who were guarding the southern part of the Beijing walled city. Armed with Mauser rifles but wearing traditional uniforms, Dong's troops had threatened the foreign legations in the fall of 1898 soon after arriving in Beijing, so much that United States Marines had been called to Beijing to guard

22211-683: 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,

22378-464: The siege and on 17 June stormed the Dagu Fort at Tianjin . Empress Dowager Cixi , who had initially been hesitant, supported the Boxers and on 21 June issued an imperial decree that was a de facto declaration of war on the invading powers. Chinese officialdom was split between those supporting the Boxers and those favouring conciliation, led by Prince Qing . The supreme commander of the Chinese forces,

22545-530: 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

22712-486: 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

22879-627: The suppression of Boxer rebels near the province's border with Zhili. After the Eight Nation Alliance suppressed the rebellion and Yuan Shikai was appointed Viceroy of Zhili in 1901, he started establishing military schools at Baoding , which became known as the Baoding Military Academy . Feng Guozhang had a major role in founding the academy as the director of training and instruction at the Zhili provincial military department. During

23046-492: 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,

23213-505: 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

23380-399: 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

23547-425: The time, China had about one civil licentiate per 1000 people. Due to 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,

23714-606: 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

23881-627: The west-facing American positions. The Chinese advanced toward both positions by building barricades even closer. "The men all feel they are in a trap", said the US commander Capt. John Twiggs Myers , "and simply await the hour of execution". On 30 June, the Chinese forced the Germans off the Wall, leaving the American Marines alone in its defence. In June 1900, one American described the scene of 20,000 Boxers storming

24048-638: The whole Yangtze valley (defined as all provinces adjoining the Yangtze, as well as Henan and Zhejiang ), parts of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces and part of Tibet. Only Italy's request for Zhejiang was declined by the Chinese government. These do not include the lease and concession territories where the foreign powers had full authority. The Russian government militarily occupied their zone, imposed their law and schools, seized mining and logging privileges, settled their citizens, and even established their municipal administration on several cities. In October 1898,

24215-404: 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,

24382-411: 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

24549-673: Was a marked improvement from the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, as Chinese troops did not flee en masse as before. If led by courageous officers, the troops would often fight to the death as occurred under Nie Shicheng and Ma Yukun. On the other hand, Chinese artillery was well-regarded, and caused far more casualties than the infantry at Tientsin, and proving themselves superior to Allied artillery in counter-battery fire. The infantry, for their part, were commended for their good usage of cover and concealment in addition to their tenacity in resistance. The Boxers also targeted Jewish groups in

24716-413: Was a type of spiritual possession which involved the whirling of swords, violent prostrations, and incantations to deities. The opportunities to fight against Western encroachment were especially attractive to unemployed village men, many of whom were teenagers. The tradition of possession and invulnerability went back several hundred years but took on special meaning against the powerful new weapons of

24883-400: 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

25050-480: Was an anti-imperialist movement which sought to expel foreigners from China and end the system of foreign concessions and treaty ports . The rebellion had multiple causes. Escalating tensions caused Chinese to turn against "foreign devils" who engaged in the Scramble for China in the late 19th century. The Western success at controlling China, growing anti-imperialist sentiment, and extreme weather conditions sparked

25217-453: 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

25384-497: 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

25551-687: 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

25718-481: Was forced to sell its properties to educate its sons; however being the fourth son, Feng was unable to complete his education due to costs. Despite this, he had been able to some education in the Confucian Chinese classics in preparation for the imperial examination . He reportedly had to survive part of his early life by playing the violin in theatres, before in 1886 becoming an orderly to one of his great-uncles,

25885-628: Was given a state funeral and buried in his native Hejian county of Cangzhou , Hebei . Half a century later his tomb was desecrated during the Cultural Revolution . 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

26052-472: 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,

26219-550: Was honored for his contribution to the Xinhai Revolution , even though he actually took an active part in suppressing it. Feng broke with Yuan Shikai when he later attempted to make himself emperor . Yuan Shikai made Feng a duke, but Feng declined. Yuan then sent an admiral to assassinate Feng but the admiral was himself murdered. Feng then moved to Nanjing , where he joined the National Protection War . His name

26386-413: Was infuriated with the actions of the Chinese army troops and determined to take his complaints to the royal court. Against the advice of the fellow foreigners, the baron left the legations with a single aide and a team of porters to carry his sedan chair. On his way to the palace, von Ketteler was killed on the streets of Beijing by a Manchu captain. His aide managed to escape the attack and carried word of

26553-504: Was later the director of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy . He spent several months observing the Japanese military modernization program, especially their training methods, and recorded this information in a notebook that he later gave to Nie Shicheng, who sent it to Yuan Shikai . Yuan, who was at that time organizing his Newly Created Army (the future Beiyang Army ), was impressed with Feng's work and appointed him to be

26720-400: Was limited success in terms of converts and establishing schools in a nation of about 400 million people. The missions faced escalating anger directed at the threat of cultural imperialism. The main result was the Boxer Rebellion, in which missions were attacked and thousands of Chinese Christians were massacred to destroy Western influences. The Righteous and Harmonious Fists arose in

26887-726: Was nicknamed the International Gun because the barrel was British, the carriage Italian, the shells Russian and the crew American. Chinese Christians in the legations led the foreigners to the cannon and it proved important in the defence. Also under siege in Beijing was the Northern Cathedral ( Beitang ) of the Catholic Church. The cathedral was defended by 43 French and Italian soldiers, 33 Catholic foreign priests and nuns, and about 3,200 Chinese Catholics. The defenders suffered heavy casualties from lack of food and from mines which

27054-673: Was not reconvened to recognize it. On August 14 China entered World War I on the side of the Allies after growing evidence of the German Empire 's support for Zhang's coup was uncovered, as well as intense lobbying by Premier Duan Qirui . He sent about 135,000 men in labor battalions to the Western Front , Mesopotamia and German East Africa . Troops were sent into Russia to assist the Allied intervention in Russia's civil war. Sun Yat-sen set up

27221-567: Was prominently missing from the list of proposed successors in Yuan's will. Feng then served as vice president under Li Yuanhong . During the occupation of Beijing by Zhang Xun , Feng served as acting president, a position he kept when Li formally resigned. He was sworn in as president of the Republic of China on August 1, 1917, but his constitutionality was challenged as the National Assembly

27388-522: 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

27555-420: Was the surname of the Ming imperial family. He announced that his goal was to "Revive the Qing and destroy the foreigners" ( 扶清滅洋 fu Qing mie yang ). The enemy was seen as foreign influence. They decided the "primary devils" were the Christian missionaries while the "secondary devils" were the Chinese converts to Christianity, which both had either to repent, be driven out or killed. The Boxer Rebellion

27722-438: 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

27889-404: Was widely perceived as caused by "foreign aggression" inside, even though afterwards a majority of Chinese were grateful for the actions of the alliance. The Qing government was corrupt, common people often faced extortions from government officials and the government offered no protection from the violent actions of the Boxers. The military of the Qing dynasty had been dealt a severe blow by

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