A Cultural History of Civil Examinations in Late Imperial China (review)
Elman argues that China’s national civil-service examination system, as administered from 1384 to 1905, was a joint product of the ruling monarchy and the nation’s af uent classes. It perpetuated both a mandarin predominance in the higher levels of government and a scholar–gentry hegemony in local society. Elman characterizes his colossal, almost encyclopedic work, as “cultural” history, emphasizing exactly how the exams were run, what questions were put to candidates, and what grading standards were applied. The author  nds both strong continuity (Ch’eng-Chu Neo-Confucian orthodoxy) as well as surprising change (for example, the Qing dynasty’s dropping of “natural studies” in favor of questions about history and the new “evidential” studies that were developed in the eighteenth century). Too hastily, the Qing scuttled the whole system in 1905, creating serious, unforeseen cultural consequences. Elman acknowledges the in uence of Bourdieu and Passeron, with special reference to their ideas about cultural reproduction, although he modi es their ahistoricism and edits out their hostility to institutions and intellectual authority. In this context, it is possible to discern the in uence on his own thinking of the history-minded “evidential research” (k’ao-cheng) that was developed in Qing China, and to which he devoted a well-received book in 1984. No other society on the globe offers anything resembling to China’s exam system. In the United States, comparable tests for entry into any level of government would require (1) a rote knowledge of sacred texts, such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, with special emphasis on the founding fathers’ original intent; (2) a thorough grounding in the lessons of American political history; and (3) an ability to discuss the pros and cons of such past and current issues as the annexation of Hawaii, the rise of af rmative action, or the problems of illegal immigration. These exams would be written in Latin, or some other language different from English. Every male child whose parents could afford the expense would take the threetiered exams—at county, state, and national levels—but only a fraction short of 1 percent would make it all the way to the  nal level and of cial appointment. Dealing with the 99 percent failure rate would pose problems of major “cultural” dimensions. How that problem was handled in China throughout the 500 years of the examination REVIEWS | 673