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In Chinese history, the imperial examination system is widely believed to have been created by Emperor Wen of Sui. However, few people know that as early as the Western Han Dynasty, the central government began to adopt the system of selecting officials by examination, which is a little-known historical fact. Therefore, the imperial examination system was not the first of Emperor Wen of Sui, but had already taken shape before that. Why, then, did the monarchs before Emperor Wen of Sui not adopt the imperial examination system to break the monopoly of the Shi family?
In fact, the Shi clan were among the most powerful groups in society at the time, controlling large amounts of land and population, having political elective power, and monopolizing education. Especially in education, they have implemented the so-called "heirloom" system. Since printing had not yet been invented and paper was not popular, most books were under the control of the Shi Clan gate. In this era of educational monopoly, people who receive a good education are either descendants of the Shi family gate valve, or they are from a cold family but attached to the Shi family gate valve, and only a few officials, such as some officials from the cold family but with a low level of education, are not controlled by the Shi family gate valve. However, these officials often struggled to meet the emperor's needs to govern the country. Because the emperor needed the support of well-educated officials to govern the country, and these officials were either the children of the Shi clan gate or had been educated in the Shi clan gatekeeper. Therefore, even if the emperor used the method of selecting officials by examination, most of the officials selected were descendants of the Shi clan.
It is precisely because of the existence of educational monopolies that the clan gate controls the cultural field, leading to the control of land and population. This phenomenon continued until the Southern and Northern Dynasties, when papermaking began to spread and printing began to appear. The popularization of these new technologies broke the monopoly of Shi Clan gate valves in the field of education. Those from humble backgrounds also had access to education, and the imperial examination system, which selected officials through examinations, weakened the control of the clan clan over political elections. Losing their monopoly on education and political election, the control of land and population by the clan was gradually weakened.
Therefore, the emergence of the imperial examination system was the product of specific social conditions, including the popularization of papermaking and the rise of printing. It was precisely because of these changes in social conditions that Emperor Wen of Sui was able to create the imperial examination system in order to break the monopoly of the Shi family. Monarchs before Emperor Wen of Sui, such as Cao Cao, also took some measures, such as "meritocracy", but because the social conditions were not available, it was difficult to effectively break the monopoly of the Shi family.
In short, the rise of the imperial examination system was an important turning point in Chinese history, changing the political and social landscape and giving more people the opportunity to participate in politics, not just the descendants of the Shi clan gatekeepers. The emergence of this system was a product of social conditions and historical background, and had a profound impact on China's ancient political system.
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