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(chuàng)立于隋朝，在1300多年的發(fā)展進(jìn)程中不斷調(diào)整、補(bǔ)充、更新、完善，形成了一套通過(guò)考試選拔官員的制度體系，成為中國(guó)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(nèi)容主要是儒家經(jīng)典。

科舉制把讀書(shū)、考試和做官聯(lián)系起來(lái)，讓廣大中下層社會(huì)人士有了通過(guò)讀書(shū)考試改變命運(yùn)的機(jī)會(huì)，是封建社會(huì)時(shí)期所可能采取的最公平的人才選拔形式，擴(kuò)展了封建國(guó)家引進(jìn)人才的社會(huì)層面，極大地促進(jìn)了中國(guó)古代文化的發(fā)展。歷史上，不僅有外國(guó)學(xué)子來(lái)中國(guó)參加科舉考試，還有周邊國(guó)家和歐美國(guó)家學(xué)習(xí)效仿中國(guó)這套“自由競(jìng)爭(zhēng)、公開(kāi)考試、平等競(jìng)爭(zhēng)、擇優(yōu)取士”的選人制度，以建立本國(guó)的文官制度。