In ancient China, the selection system for talents was different from today, and the selection system that existed for the longest time in ancient times was the "examination system". This system is different from the recommendation system that appeared before the imperial examination, under which scholars can only become officials through recommendation, but the imperial examination system is to admit talents by means of graded examinations.
The embryonic system of the imperial examination system occurred during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, formally formed during the Sui Dynasty, and gradually perfected during the Tang Dynasty, and reached its peak when it developed to the Ming Dynasty. However, with the influx of Western doctrine and the development of the western affairs movement during the Qing Dynasty, it was gradually replaced by other systems. It can be said that from the perspective of the development of the talent selection system, the examination system is much superior to the previous system of selecting, raising soldiers, and examining and judging.
Its positive effects are:
(1) Political aspect: The examination system has improved the employment system, so that talented readers have the opportunity to enter governments at all levels.
(2) Education and social atmosphere: The examination system has promoted the development of education, and the atmosphere of scholars studying hard is prevalent.
(3) Literature and art: The examination system has also promoted the development of culture and art, and Jinshike attaches great importance to the examination of poetry, which is greatly conducive to the prosperity of poetry and words.
In the previous system, only people from superior families had the opportunity to become officials and have an "iron rice bowl". The imperial examination system breaks this limitation and allows ordinary people to participate in examinations and participate in the governance of national politics. However, with the passage of time, the shortcomings of the examination system gradually appeared, and eventually, the previous system of taking the rank of soldier was replaced due to the development of not suitable for society.
Here's its negative effect:
(1) The later imperial examination system made Confucianism a tool for rulers to enslave their subjects; the bureaucracy grew, which also led to a relatively weak talent force for scientific and technological research.
(2) Because the ruler changed the content of the examination, the imperial examination became a shackle that bound the minds of intellectuals.
(3) Because there is a single way to enter the military, only those who pass the imperial examination can become officials, and many people have the idea that they can get rich by being an official, so the pursuit of some scholars has produced deformed values.
(2) The examination system has led to very serious corruption in the official field.
In fact, the purpose of the ancient imperial examination system was to select officials from a large number of people who could govern the region, but this measure also caused some poor people to want to rise to higher ranks and get rich, and they reached a state of madness. As a result, "becoming an official" has become a matter of honoring the ancestors of the emperor and almost becoming a mainstream pursuit of life.
At the same time, the restrictions on the content of the examination make those who read books choose to study history books for life, so that they will not realize the importance of scientific and technological development. During the period of the Western Affairs Movement, although the Westerners opened the "TongwenGuan" for the New Deal, it was difficult to recruit suitable talents. Because, at that time, people still felt that these foreign cultures did not belong to China, and only traditional cultural knowledge was beneficial to them and helped them embark on the proud way of becoming an official.
Judging from this phenomenon, the "new schools" for learning new knowledge set up by the Qing court were still very difficult to operate, so it was not to mention other private "new schools".
On the vast land of our country, there should have been many talents. However, under the restrictions of the imperial examination system, many readers eventually went to the official field, and almost no one paid attention to the development of light industry, which also led to the slow progress of industrialization in modern society. However, the examination system is not only related to education, but also involves the selection of talents in the country, and the abolition of the examination is equivalent to the interests of millions of people, so it can be imagined that its reform is very difficult.
Among them, the most typical example is the Penghu Reform Law: the reformists proposed to abolish the eight shares, stop the martial arts and demand the opening of economics and other subjects and ultimately failed. After the failure of the change, everything went on as usual, and the martial arts examination even started a subject such as "sword and bow stone", which was already backward in the times. Later, the defeat of the foreign affairs movement, that is, the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, became a breakthrough in stopping martial arts. In August 1901, the imperial court issued an edict to permanently stop the wuke examination, and the township examination and the meeting examination no longer used the eight-strand formula proposition, and all were changed to policy.
The imperial court also added political, geographical, military and other subjects adapted to the new era to the examination. In January 1904, Zhang Zhidong, Zhang Baixi, and Rongqing joined forces to play a game: because the examination did not stop, the construction of the new school was hindered, making the new school unable to be popularized. Therefore, the imperial court should plan a transition period, so that the new school and the imperial examination will be handed over, so that the new school will become a new way of education. This recital was finally recognized by the imperial court.
Since then, the number of admission places in the imperial examination has gradually decreased, so as to achieve the purpose of transferring talents to the academy.
After a year, stimulated by the Russo-Japanese War, the voices of the Chinese people calling for the abolition of the examination system began to rise. At this time, Yuan Shikai, together with Zhang Zhidong and others, went to the imperial court: as long as the imperial examination system is still in place, there will still be people who still cling to the luck mentality, thinking that they still have the opportunity to become talented and accomplished people, while the common people are more thinking of waiting for the imperial examination to become the main way to select people again. Therefore, the imperial examination must be stopped immediately and the academy must be vigorously promoted.
Empress Dowager Cixi finally accepted the idea of stopping the imperial examination immediately under the circumstances of the Crisis in the Qing Dynasty. The Qing court then issued an edict announcing that from the 32nd year of Guangxu onwards, the examination of the imperial examination at all levels would be suspended. At this point, the imperial examination system, which has lasted for more than 1,500 years, has since launched the stage of history. It can be said that the abolition of the imperial examination system represents the progress of Chinese society, of course, it also means that the limit of the feudal dynasty is coming.
The imperial examination system, which has existed for more than 1,300 years, has improved the employment system that preceded it, completely broken the previous blood lineage and the monopoly of the clan, and enabled some capable people to exert their ability to govern all levels of regions. Although the examination system has improved the selection system, at the same time, due to the limitations of the examination content and the dream of promotion and wealth associated with the examination, the broad masses of the people have gradually formed a kind of thinking: participating in the high school of the examination is a kind of honor thinking, and even deriving jokes such as "Fan Jin Zhongju".
During this period, the view of most people on zhongju was that this is a good thing, and the ability must be pursued, even if it takes a lifetime. It is precisely this kind of thinking that leads to too few talents and fewer achievements in ancient China who are willing to delve into science and technology. Especially after the Yuan Dynasty, various factors led to the imperial examination system under the feudal society hindering the progress and development of society, and in the end, the imperial examination system was abolished.
Resources:
["The Development and Rise and Fall of the Imperial Examination System", "Analysis of the Origin of the Imperial Examination System: On the Initiation of the JinshiKe in the Tang Dynasty", "The Imperial Examination System and Chinese Culture"]