China's Examination Hell: The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China

by Ichisada Miyazaki, Conrad Schirokauer (Translation)

Written by one of the foremost historians of Chinese institutions, this book focuses on China’s civil service examination system in its final and most elaborate phase during the Ch’ing dynasty. All aspects of this labyrinthine system are explored: the types of questions, the style and form in which they were to be answered, the problem of cheating, and the psychological and financial burdens of the candidates, the rewards of the successful and the plight of those who failed. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including Chinese novels, short stories, and plays, this thought provoking and entertaining book brings to vivid life the testing structure that supplied China’s government bureaucracy for almost fourteen hundred years.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, Education

146 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1976

Reviews

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A description of one of the most important (and toughest) examination systems in world history – the examinations for the Chinese imperial civil service. These examinations were in place for about 1400 years, and molded and selected the men who ran what was often the most powerful though isolated nation on earth. (Women could not take the exams.)

For most of this time, the only way an ambitious man could have a successful career was to pass the civil service exam, join the government, and be appointed a high mandarin where he could let his fingernails grow long. There was almost no other way to hit the really big time. Only about one out of each 3000 men reached the top of the exam system, so the competition, as the title of the book implies, was hellish.

The exams were based on the teachings of Confucius, and required a thorough knowledge of Confucian literature, the ability to write graceful essays on topics of Confucian teaching, and the ability to write good poetry, all the while exhibiting beautiful calligraphy. (Nothing about practical knowledge such as agriculture, business, engineering, or military matters.)

The first step in making it through the exam system was to be born in a well-to-do family. The exams were open to most men, but the years of study, tutors, and various incidental expenses made it impossible for the average man to take the exams.

Boys between the ages of eight and fifteen who were preparing for the exams spent most of their time studying – no time for playing. On top of learning the Chinese writing system in and out, required of course, they needed to pretty well memorize about 400,000 words that were in the Confucian classics. (The Bible has about 800,000 words.)

After this colossal amount of study you would take a first exam with a pass rate of about 50% to qualify you for the real exams. If you made it through the qualifying exam, even if you didn’t get any farther, you got a modest prize: a title and some prestige that could help you along somewhat in life. (It was, after all, quite an achievement to just qualify.)

The next exam was the provincial exam, which was a lot more serious, with a pass rate of about one in a hundred. This exam was given once every three years. Men could take it over and over again, and some men continued until they were 60 or 70 years old, when they might get an honorary pass, but no job.

The provincial examination was quite an ordeal. It was given to 10,000 to 20,000 men at once in a dilapidated compound – “a prison without bars”. The candidates were locked in for three days and two nights. Each candidate schlepped in his writing materials, bedding, food, a curtain for his cell, and a cooking pot.

Because of the intense pressure and the strange surroundings some of the men came unhinged and began to hallucinate. Or, as the people of that time knew, the candidates’ past misdeeds caught up with them. The book has some good ghost stories. In a typical story, in the past a candidate seduced a girl who had to commit suicide. The King of the Dead sent the girl’s ghost to haunt the candidate during the exam – right at the most crucial period in his life. He definitely would be thrown off his game, and might even hang himself.

The King of Heaven, however, might make sure that a man who had good deeds in the bank would get a high pass.

Men who passed a provincial exam could then go on to a similar exam in the capital, with a pass rate of about one in 30. It was an enormous honor to pass this exam – the Emperor would congratulate you in person, and quite likely give you a job.

The candidates had a tough time, but the examiners were also put through the wringer. How do you grade 20,000 exam papers with essays and poems fairly? And what about catching cheaters? After years of training in Confucian ethics you would think the candidates would all be honest, but this wasn’t true. There were clever ways to cheat, and the examiners had to go to great (and expensive) lengths to prevent it.

The author of “China’s Examination Hell” also considers the question of what good the examination system was. He points out that for most of China’s history there was a stable government, and civilians ruled the country, avoiding the problems that come with military dictatorships.

In the author’s opinion the examination system was ahead of its time when it started, but by the 19th century it was behind the time, with disastrous results. The mandarins chosen by the exams were stodgy and out of touch – untrained in anything practical – and were unable to modernize and protect the country against the sea devils from the West. The system had a good run, but in 1904 it was finally junked, and it was high time.

[Chase Parsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars for the book, but 5/5 stars for the topic of study.

China was the most advanced civilization on the planet up until at least the 1400s. But by the 1800s they fell behind as a result of shunning trade, Enlightenment ideas, and the Industrial Revolution. How much did its Civil Service examination play a role? It is hard to say, but Miyazaki seems to think that it hurt more than helped the situation.

For well over 1,000 years, all the way up to the early 1900s, China was obsessed with standardized test taking. Passing these Civil Service Exams ensured membership into the mandarin class (provided there were enough jobs which was a problem at times) and a prestigious government-worker life. The mandarin class' influence replaced the influence of the aristocracy, and on paper, it seemed like China was far more of a meritocracy than its counterparts (i.e. feudalism in Medieval Europe). The best test scores get the best jobs. But it didn't work out that way exactly.

There were elaborate ways to prevent cheating, but nevertheless corruption played a large role. Another question that is important is, "what were they studying?" The book could have explained this better; instead it focuses on the endless rituals that accompanied these multi-level exams, and also provides lots of side stories about individual test takers (one section that was interesting was how it was thought that karma (based on some Daoist beliefs) impacted your score, and this could include ghosts interfering with the outcome).

Surprisingly, there is very little about Confucius (the tests were about many of his teachings, poetry, and classical literature), the word mandarin is never used, and the history of China is lighter than I wish it was. I once heard that when you go to China you leave with more questions than answers. That is how I feel after reading this book. However, at least I now know new things I have questions about!

In the end, I think that testing should have a place in society. At its best, it fairly evaluates people for different things and encourages merit. But at its worst, it is corrupt, not graded fairly, or focused on the wrong things. What would China be like today if their Civil Service exams emphasized a Humanities or STEM curriculum? I question how much the rote memorization of Confucius' teachings, classical literature, and poetry advanced China. This book was informative and interesting but it could have explained the big picture more.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both concise and comprehensive. I was interested in reading about these after Chinese civil servants seemed to appear in every book I read about China: Platt's Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, Lovell's Opium War, Kuhn's Soulstealers, and even in The Penguin History of the World. The exams are described in detail, which naturally drew me to compare them to American standardized tests and citizenship tests. Most entertaining are the ghost stories; apparently, the examination centers were a common setting for China's ghost stories (including those by Lu Xun), many of which contained a moral fable. For more ghost stories set in bureaucracies, see David Foster Wallace's The Pale King.

[Matt Ely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that does exactly what it sets out to do. If you want to understand the logistics and structure of the civil service examination sequence during the Qing Dynasty (and who doesn't?), this is a strong survey. It's very focused on the mechanics of how these tests were administered, why administrators made the choices they did, and what we can learn from literary representations of them.

One element I hadn't really considered before is how this demonstrates the effects of examination without education. While the tests were funded by the government, there was no public education. So while anyone could sign up for the exam, it was only really possibly to succeed if you had the cultural access to understand the norms and the financial backing to prepare. It balances a surface meritocracy while still reinforcing existing power structures.

It's very easy to point at that and say "Ah, how regressive." But how many examples of this do we have that we ignore? Do high-stakes examinations ever reward merit or do they only perform meritocracy?

[Christopher Porzenheim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a truly fascinating (if often pettifogging) read about the 1,400 year history of an institution, with a profound influence upon Chinese history and society.

One thing I found intriguing is the way in which the civil service examinations helped establish the prestige of civilian rather than military rule, which Ichisada argues is responsible for the relative rarity of military coups in Chinese history.

Another is the degree to which the civil service examinations succeeded at accomplishing their original goal -limiting the influence and power of the aristocratic families- even if it suffered from corruption. All in all, this is a fantastic source of information on China's civil service examinations.

It could be so much better organized and cited, and that would make it even more useful, but as it is, it's worth reading for anyone interested in the subject, there's no doubt about that.

[brunella]

wait til they hear about the american college application process

i would actually read a meta-monograph about the place of this book in the longer history of Japanese studies on Chinese culture/history. or critiques of the approaches here. one question that was never solved, personally: how many people actually took part in this process?

[Alper Günay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book to understand the Civil Servant (Confucian) Examinations in China which took place for thirteen centuries and was abolished in 1904. It is also good to have an idea about the old Vietnamese Confucian examinations since there aren't enough contemporary sources about them.

[Dengqing Tong · Rating 4 out of 5]

宫崎市定《科举：中国的考试地狱》书摘&简评

科举作为高考的前身，从两者的对比可以看出社会形态的变与不变。从半封建半社会主义到半封建半资本主义，历史在这里开了倒车，也有人逆练马克思说这是补课。即使享受了之前遗留的人口和冷战的双重机遇，也由于资本主义的两极分化和封建专制的任意妄为而外强中干。此地社会进步的第一要务还是民众联合对抗封建专制，封建即家长制（父权制），专制即中央集权。昔人对五四新文化运动有“救亡压倒启蒙”之论，今天来看，不但启蒙还没完成，救亡也没完成。

https://book.douban.com/review/15530485/

[jdyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

청 말기를 중심으로 중국의 과거제도를 있는 그��로 담담하게 서술한 작품. 원시, 향시, 회시 등을 통과하기 위해 글공부를 했던 수험자들은 현대 한국 학생들을 연상시키기도 하고, 과거만 붙들고 평생을 바쳐야 했던 그들의 인생이 안타깝기도 하다.

[Christin's_Bookshelf]

Read for Chinese History class

[Nicola Balestri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo sapevate che in principio il mondo occidentale e, soprattutto, l'Europa non prevedevano esami per l'assegnazione delle cariche di stato? No?
Allora leggendo questo libro potrete identificare il colpevole delle nostre sofferenze.
Nella Cina imperiale, in seguito a complotti per il potere, dove concubine, eunuchi e funzionari facevano di tutto per spodestare l'imperatore o usarlo come burattino per i propri interessi (George R.R. Martin, ne sai qualcosa vero?), venne ideato un sistema di esami di stato aperto a tutti, ricchi poveri, belli e brutti, per far modo che a corte ci fossero persone realmente meritevoli del loro incarico.
Il problema di questo sistema era che gli esami erano di una difficoltà tale per cui i pochi eletti che riuscivano ad arrivare a quello decisivo, che consisteva in una clausura di un giorno ed una notte (per ogni prova, sia chiaro!) spesso avevano delle visioni, dove fantasmi di persone relative alla loro vita gli facevano rivelazioni.
Verità o leggenda che sia si può capire il livello di stress a cui erano sottoposti i candidati.
In caso di fallimento, molti esaminati non tornavano neanche a casa per il disonore.
Erano esami dove bisognava portare vari libri a memoria, e forse è un po' da questa storia che nasce lo stereotipo dell'asiatico che prende sempre il massimo dei voti!
Il resto viene spiegato dettagliatamente, forse anche un po' troppo, in questo libro.

[Helmut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hochinteressante, informative Einführung

Wer sich näher mit chinesischer Literatur und Geschichte auseinandersetzt, stößt schnell auf das Thema der Prüfungskultur. Wer etwas werden wollte in China, sei es in der Tang- oder der Qing-Dynastie, musste sich durch die teilweise unglaublichen Strapazen dieses Prüfungswesens arbeiten, teilweise lebenslang. Die gesamte chinesische Kultur ist zu einem nicht unbeträchtlichen Teil von dieser Art, die Positionen in der Regierung zu besetzen, beeinflusst worden; zum Guten wie zum Schlechten.

Dieses Fachbuch beschreibt en detail wie eine solche Prüfung ablief, wie die Kandidaten sich vorbereiteten und was im Erfolgs- wie im Misserfolgsfall mit ihnen geschah. Dabei wird sowohl auf historische wie auch literarische Quellen zurückgegriffen, und es sind immer wieder Anekdoten im Text zu finden, die dabei helfen, das echte Leben plastisch zu beschreiben. Dieses Buch ist an keiner Stelle trocken; es ist eine sehr unterhaltsame, in einem flotten Stil geschriebene Lektüre.

Sehr empfehlenswert, informativ und gleichzeitig spannend.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clear, concise Chinese history.

[Elizabeth Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely interesting read about how the Chinese gained office through the testing services.