The
Imperial Examination in dynastic
China was a way to go into a civil service, which had promoted
upward mobility[?] among the people for centuries.
It also made a gap between intellectuals educated in classical Confucianism and ordinary people. Official posts became also being sold, increasing corruptions and reducing morales.
In exams, candidates were identified by their number instead of names and their paper were entirely copied manually.
It was abandoned for a time in the Yuan Empire and the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping, and compeletely after the fall of the Qing Empire.
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