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【Abstract】This journal mainly points out that the imperial Chinese civil service exams actually create a dialectic meritocracy. While many people focus on the fairness of this exam in selection of talented person； this article also considers the role of economic and social status as privilege which would be benefit commoners in the exam. In general， this journal points out that Chinese civil service exam create a meritocracy in the selection of talents but it is also dialectic when taking economy and social status into account.
【Key Words】History； China； civil service exam； meritocracy； economy； society
【作者簡介】刘经纬（1994.9-），女，山东济南人，丹佛大学，大学本科，研究方向：东亚研究，主攻人文社科类研究。
Imperial civil service exam is one of the most important social systems in the history of China. Even until today， the College Entrance Examination System in China still under its influence. Given the evidence that Elman， Hansen and Wu Jingzi have shown， the cultural and economic privilege of resources are very important for participating in the exam system； yet， on the other hand， there was a dialectic meritocracy which promoted talented people in the exam regardless of economic and cultural factors. In other words， although economy and culture are the key factors for meaningfully participating in the exams， the commoners who could participate in the exams were promoted through a meritocratic process.
The economic factor is necessary for meaningfully participating the exam. One of the most important reasons is about educational training and resources. As Elman pointed out， “The educational requirement to mast non-vernacular classical texts and ‘Way learning’ teachings created a linguistic barrier between those licensed to compete in examination compounds and those who were excluded because they were classically illiterate”. Indeed， the economic and cultural factors directly decided whether the person has ability to access to regular professional education training which could increase exam success. Just like what Elman introduces， the civil examination requires candidates “speak Mandarin…and to read and write classical Chinese”.Therefore， wealthy family have their advantage like “lineage schools and merchant-financed academics” to financially support male students in family. It does not mean the dominant lineages and riche merchant families would be guaranteed success in competing with other social classifications in the civil examination； however， their ability would be strengthened through school training. Moreover， merchant families could translate “social advantages” into “academic advantages” through “cultural resources”. On the one hand， merchant families utilize their wealth to support linguistic and cultural training to improve the chances of success in the exam. On the other hand， they also regard the exam as a way to approach greater wealth even political power. As for the social status， Elman also emphasizes its crucial role to the exam. Elman explains the advantage of official lineage family that “they came from a family with a strong tradition of classical scholarship； and they had Mandarin-speaking credentials…control of the spoken word in official life and the written word in classical documents had social and political advantages”. It is not hard to understand that the family which belongs to official classification must have more ability and access to formal training of the exam. At least， their classical tradition was best stepping stone for them compare to other social classifications.
However， although wealth and social status give advantages and privileges to merchant and office-holding families， it didn’t guarantee that the sons would be successful in the exam.
First of all， Elman pointed out even commoners from a poor family can also get “the proper linguistic training” through “charitable school” which was created for addressing the educational problem of unequal linguistic and cultural resources. At the same time， social status was not the only standard that could guarantee being successful in the exam. The story of “Fan Jin Passes the Juren Examination” is a good example. The Commissioner Zhou did not underestimate Fan Jin for his torn clothes. Instead， he read his paper carefully once again and again until he understood what Fan Jin wanted to express. Just like what he thought that “…now that I’m in office I mean to read all the papers carefully. I must not leave everything to my secretaries， and suppress real talent”. Based on the description of the author Wu Jingzi， Fan Jin was a man dressed in “threadbare” clothes with “a few more holes”. Fan Jin was neither from riche merchant family nor official lineage family， however， the Commissioner Zhou still chose to read his paper and try his best to figure out what Fan Jin wanted to express. In this story， there is no doubt that Fan Jin was not a member of rich or political family. He was inconsistent with any advantages of those two kinds of privilege families that Elman mentioned. On the contrary， Fan Jin got the first place on the list and encouraged by the Commissioner warmly. In this case， it is obvious that his low social status and economic states did not influence in exam result negatively. cs the social classification became weak and was canceled finally in the Qing dynasty， ly may be labled postion. . n Jin wanted
Moreover， the classification system of the Ming dynasty also limited the social mobility； it ignores the social needs of public who desire to move to higher social position. Based on the explanation of Hansen， “Each man was to register his occupation with the authorities， who fully expected his descendants to perform the identical task in perpetuity”. Elman also points out that “These classifications dividing households into commoners， military men， artisans， merchants， and so forth reflected the initial status of each family in local society…”. Yet， the founder did not foresee the social classification change in later time. Actually， these classifications greatly limited ordinary people’s social status， and ignored the possibility of commercial and academic social mobility. From my perspective， the civil service examination was a good chance for those who wanted to move to higher social position. One of those classifications， military men， was a good example. According to Elman， military were one of the lineage families that had “sufficient educational resources” for support their sons to “compete successfully in the examination market”. It is very interesting to read Elman use the term “compete”. It means the wealth was not the determining factor to decide who got the positions of official power. Some of them moved to higher official power like “central bureaucracy” and “several became Grand Secretaries”. It means， although the wealth and social status of military families were important factor， they still depended on examination to maintain social status and promote to a higher position. In this case， to some extent， the exam creates a kind of meritocracy. Furthermore， Elman indicates that the military family contributed to the provincial graduates as 20 percent， it is an important data which cannot be ignored when compare it to the percentage of literati and nouveau riche merchant families who were regarded as the superior group which had more educational sources provided by wealth.What’s more， there were “76-83 percent” palace graduates of Ming were from commoner families. In this case， military families and commoners， as two classifications in Ming system， took a large of portion in the exam. If the standard of imperial civil service examination is wealth or social status， I believe the literati and rich merchants would look much more achievable in competing for higher social status. In the meanwhile， the civil service examination also provided an opportunity for those who were excluded from the exam for wealth or social status factors. As the social classification became weak and was canceled finally in the Qing dynasty， commercial factor is not the only reason for social mobility， academic influence also contributed to the change of social classification.
Because of the civil service examination， lower social status was able to get a chance to move to higher social classification. Their participation is the best evidence of meritocracy. Actually， the weaken classification structure proves this point. Elman also indicates：
… late imperial society was much more fluid than the Ming classification of its labor sources pretended it was， and early Ming social classifications by the late Ming were anachronistic – so much so， the succeeding Qing dynasty stopped keeping track of family status in its registration documents for civil examinations.The effect of cancelling social classifications like commoners and merchant families is “the examination papers of candidates for provincial examinations from merchant families were placed together with those of commoners”. The increasing social mobility and weakening social classification indicate the standard of civil examination favors more personal ability instead of wealth or social status. The weaken social classification from Ming to Qing dynasty is the strongest example shows that wealth and social status became less important in the case of selecting talented people through the exam.
In one word， although economic and cultural factors have significant impact on being successful in the exam， the commoners who could meaningfully participate in also emphasized the meritocracy. Wealth and social connections are advantage of literati and merchant families， I like how Elman explained the benefit of wealth in regard of civil examination， it is a more like a “translation”.Merchant families could turn their money into resources for getting higher official positions through the exam. But wealth and social status are not the distinct factors for candidates competing in civil examination. To some extent， the imperial civil service exam creates a kind of dialectic meritocracy which allowed more poor people who belonged to lower social status to participate in the exam and got a chance to move to higher social position.
References：
[1]Cheng，Pei-kai and Michael Lestz[J].The Search for Modern China： A Documentary.
[2]Collection[J].New York：W.W.Norton，1999.
[3]Elman，Benjamin.Classical Literacy in Late Imperial China，in Civil Examinations and Meritocracy in Late Imperial China （Cambridge， MA[M].Harvard University Press，2013.
[4]Hansen，Valerie.The Open Empire：A History of China to 1800. Second edition[J].New York： Norton，2015.
【Key Words】History； China； civil service exam； meritocracy； economy； society
【作者簡介】刘经纬（1994.9-），女，山东济南人，丹佛大学，大学本科，研究方向：东亚研究，主攻人文社科类研究。
Imperial civil service exam is one of the most important social systems in the history of China. Even until today， the College Entrance Examination System in China still under its influence. Given the evidence that Elman， Hansen and Wu Jingzi have shown， the cultural and economic privilege of resources are very important for participating in the exam system； yet， on the other hand， there was a dialectic meritocracy which promoted talented people in the exam regardless of economic and cultural factors. In other words， although economy and culture are the key factors for meaningfully participating in the exams， the commoners who could participate in the exams were promoted through a meritocratic process.
The economic factor is necessary for meaningfully participating the exam. One of the most important reasons is about educational training and resources. As Elman pointed out， “The educational requirement to mast non-vernacular classical texts and ‘Way learning’ teachings created a linguistic barrier between those licensed to compete in examination compounds and those who were excluded because they were classically illiterate”. Indeed， the economic and cultural factors directly decided whether the person has ability to access to regular professional education training which could increase exam success. Just like what Elman introduces， the civil examination requires candidates “speak Mandarin…and to read and write classical Chinese”.Therefore， wealthy family have their advantage like “lineage schools and merchant-financed academics” to financially support male students in family. It does not mean the dominant lineages and riche merchant families would be guaranteed success in competing with other social classifications in the civil examination； however， their ability would be strengthened through school training. Moreover， merchant families could translate “social advantages” into “academic advantages” through “cultural resources”. On the one hand， merchant families utilize their wealth to support linguistic and cultural training to improve the chances of success in the exam. On the other hand， they also regard the exam as a way to approach greater wealth even political power. As for the social status， Elman also emphasizes its crucial role to the exam. Elman explains the advantage of official lineage family that “they came from a family with a strong tradition of classical scholarship； and they had Mandarin-speaking credentials…control of the spoken word in official life and the written word in classical documents had social and political advantages”. It is not hard to understand that the family which belongs to official classification must have more ability and access to formal training of the exam. At least， their classical tradition was best stepping stone for them compare to other social classifications.
However， although wealth and social status give advantages and privileges to merchant and office-holding families， it didn’t guarantee that the sons would be successful in the exam.
First of all， Elman pointed out even commoners from a poor family can also get “the proper linguistic training” through “charitable school” which was created for addressing the educational problem of unequal linguistic and cultural resources. At the same time， social status was not the only standard that could guarantee being successful in the exam. The story of “Fan Jin Passes the Juren Examination” is a good example. The Commissioner Zhou did not underestimate Fan Jin for his torn clothes. Instead， he read his paper carefully once again and again until he understood what Fan Jin wanted to express. Just like what he thought that “…now that I’m in office I mean to read all the papers carefully. I must not leave everything to my secretaries， and suppress real talent”. Based on the description of the author Wu Jingzi， Fan Jin was a man dressed in “threadbare” clothes with “a few more holes”. Fan Jin was neither from riche merchant family nor official lineage family， however， the Commissioner Zhou still chose to read his paper and try his best to figure out what Fan Jin wanted to express. In this story， there is no doubt that Fan Jin was not a member of rich or political family. He was inconsistent with any advantages of those two kinds of privilege families that Elman mentioned. On the contrary， Fan Jin got the first place on the list and encouraged by the Commissioner warmly. In this case， it is obvious that his low social status and economic states did not influence in exam result negatively. cs the social classification became weak and was canceled finally in the Qing dynasty， ly may be labled postion. . n Jin wanted
Moreover， the classification system of the Ming dynasty also limited the social mobility； it ignores the social needs of public who desire to move to higher social position. Based on the explanation of Hansen， “Each man was to register his occupation with the authorities， who fully expected his descendants to perform the identical task in perpetuity”. Elman also points out that “These classifications dividing households into commoners， military men， artisans， merchants， and so forth reflected the initial status of each family in local society…”. Yet， the founder did not foresee the social classification change in later time. Actually， these classifications greatly limited ordinary people’s social status， and ignored the possibility of commercial and academic social mobility. From my perspective， the civil service examination was a good chance for those who wanted to move to higher social position. One of those classifications， military men， was a good example. According to Elman， military were one of the lineage families that had “sufficient educational resources” for support their sons to “compete successfully in the examination market”. It is very interesting to read Elman use the term “compete”. It means the wealth was not the determining factor to decide who got the positions of official power. Some of them moved to higher official power like “central bureaucracy” and “several became Grand Secretaries”. It means， although the wealth and social status of military families were important factor， they still depended on examination to maintain social status and promote to a higher position. In this case， to some extent， the exam creates a kind of meritocracy. Furthermore， Elman indicates that the military family contributed to the provincial graduates as 20 percent， it is an important data which cannot be ignored when compare it to the percentage of literati and nouveau riche merchant families who were regarded as the superior group which had more educational sources provided by wealth.What’s more， there were “76-83 percent” palace graduates of Ming were from commoner families. In this case， military families and commoners， as two classifications in Ming system， took a large of portion in the exam. If the standard of imperial civil service examination is wealth or social status， I believe the literati and rich merchants would look much more achievable in competing for higher social status. In the meanwhile， the civil service examination also provided an opportunity for those who were excluded from the exam for wealth or social status factors. As the social classification became weak and was canceled finally in the Qing dynasty， commercial factor is not the only reason for social mobility， academic influence also contributed to the change of social classification.
Because of the civil service examination， lower social status was able to get a chance to move to higher social classification. Their participation is the best evidence of meritocracy. Actually， the weaken classification structure proves this point. Elman also indicates：
… late imperial society was much more fluid than the Ming classification of its labor sources pretended it was， and early Ming social classifications by the late Ming were anachronistic – so much so， the succeeding Qing dynasty stopped keeping track of family status in its registration documents for civil examinations.The effect of cancelling social classifications like commoners and merchant families is “the examination papers of candidates for provincial examinations from merchant families were placed together with those of commoners”. The increasing social mobility and weakening social classification indicate the standard of civil examination favors more personal ability instead of wealth or social status. The weaken social classification from Ming to Qing dynasty is the strongest example shows that wealth and social status became less important in the case of selecting talented people through the exam.
In one word， although economic and cultural factors have significant impact on being successful in the exam， the commoners who could meaningfully participate in also emphasized the meritocracy. Wealth and social connections are advantage of literati and merchant families， I like how Elman explained the benefit of wealth in regard of civil examination， it is a more like a “translation”.Merchant families could turn their money into resources for getting higher official positions through the exam. But wealth and social status are not the distinct factors for candidates competing in civil examination. To some extent， the imperial civil service exam creates a kind of dialectic meritocracy which allowed more poor people who belonged to lower social status to participate in the exam and got a chance to move to higher social position.
References：
[1]Cheng，Pei-kai and Michael Lestz[J].The Search for Modern China： A Documentary.
[2]Collection[J].New York：W.W.Norton，1999.
[3]Elman，Benjamin.Classical Literacy in Late Imperial China，in Civil Examinations and Meritocracy in Late Imperial China （Cambridge， MA[M].Harvard University Press，2013.
[4]Hansen，Valerie.The Open Empire：A History of China to 1800. Second edition[J].New York： Norton，2015.