Imperial Civil Examination System

The Imperial Civil Examination System began in the Sui Dynasty (581-618) as a means of selecting officials through examinations. The system underwent constant adjustments, supplements, updates, and improvements over a span of 1,300 years. It became a defining characteristic of ancient China’s cultural and political landscape. The examinations mainly focused on the Confucian classics.

The system established a link between education, examinations, and ascendance to officialdom, making it possible for people in the middle and lower classes to move up the social ladder. It was the fairest form of talent selection that existed in the feudal period. It expanded the talent pool and provided a great boost to the development of ancient Chinese culture. There were also foreign scholars traveling to China to take the examinations. Some neighboring countries and Western coun- tries incorporated elements of China's system into their own screening processes for selecting civil servants, such as free and fair competition open to all, and merit-based selection.

科舉制

科舉制創立于隋朝，在1300多年的發展進程中不斷調整、補充、更新、完善，形成了一套通過考試選拔官員的制度體系，成為中國古代最具特色與文化象征意義的政治選官制度。科舉考試內容主要是儒家經典。

科舉制把讀書、考試和做官聯系起來，讓廣大中下層社會人士有了通過讀書考試改變命運的機會，是封建社會時期所可能采取的最公平的人才選拔形式，擴展了封建國家引進人才的社會層面，極大地促進了中國古代文化的發展。歷史上，不僅有外國學子來中國參加科舉考試，還有周邊國家和歐美國家學習效仿中國這套“自由競爭、公開考試、平等競爭、擇優取士”的選人制度，以建立本國的文官制度。