Changing minds through examinations: examination critics in late imperial China.

• Author: De Weerdt, Hilde
• Position: Report

At a time when conferences and panels are commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the abolition of the imperial Chinese civil service examinations, we should be reminded that criticisms of the examinations are nearly as old as the examinations themselves. Critical evaluations of the examinations and their effects on society were expressed from the seventh century onwards. Critical voices were heard in memorials sent to the court, in stories, novels, plays, and in angry demonstrations of examination candidates. In each of these media (official documents, literary and artistic genres, and demonstrations) distinct traditions of publicly voiced discontent took shape. (1) The literate elite also voiced critiques of the examinations privately. In the private realm a distinct tradition of discontent with examination culture emerged after the circulation of the essay, "Private Opinion on Schools and Selection through Examinations" ("Xuexiao gongju siyi" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], ca. 1195; hereafter "Private Opinion") authored by Zhu Xi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (1130-1200). (2) This essay resulted in a tradition of "private opinions" and discussion on reform in education and inspired those interested in educational reform up to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Zhu Xi's decision to synthesize his critique of the current state of examinations and education in the format of a private opinion requires explanation. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries private discussions (siyi) referred to discussions about state affairs held outside of the court. In political discourse private discussions about state affairs connoted partisanship and factionalism. Zhu Xi's use of the private discussion carried political overtones. In written form, the private discussion assumed the tone and structure of the memorial, the official channel for the communication of reform proposals to the court. Zhu Xi's "Private Opinion" was not submitted to the court. He left his manifesto as a legacy to a future sovereign who might adopt his proposals.

Zhu Xi was well aware of the explosive potential of his pseudo-official manifesto on educational reform. "Private Opinion" was finished by 1195, but Zhu Xi did not publish the text. He let some friends and disciples read it, but he did not allow even his closest allies to copy the text. One of his disciples commented, "I wanted to borrow and copy [the piece titled "Private Opinion on the Examinations" that he had given me to read], but he did not allow it." (3) This was a curious move for someone who had sent in multiple memorials and who had made very skilful use of the press to promote the cause of the Neo-Confucian movement called the "Learning of the Way" (Daoxue [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) which he had come to lead by the 1190s. Why did Zhu Xi put his critique of the examinations in the form of a private opinion? Why did he refuse to circulate his manifesto?

These questions become more poignant in light of the fact that late imperial and twentieth-century scholars alike have interpreted Zhu Xi's "Private Opinion" as a call for a comprehensive liberal curriculum. (4) If so, why the secrecy? Through a careful re-examination of the entire text of "Private Opinion," we may unravel its original partisan pedagogical and political agenda. We may also trace how it turned into a paradigm of the critique of examinations that set the parameters for both the criticisms and the solutions proposed to overcome perceived problems. Analysis of this paradigm explains why "Private Opinion" later came to be read as a manifesto for a comprehensive liberal curriculum in the hands of Qing-dynasty critics.

ZHU XI'S "PRIVATE OPINION" IN ITS TWELFTH-CENTURY CONTEXT

In his decision to cast his proposals in a "Private Opinion" and not to circulate it, Zhu Xi tacitly admitted that these proposals for structural and curricular reform were intended to reform examination preparation and examination writing (5) along Neo-Confucian lines. Zhu Xi's "Private Opinion" listed nine items that were in his view the most urgent tasks in the reform of the examination and public school system:

1) adjustment of the quota of graduates allowed per prefecture--this in order to reduce the competition in economically and culturally more advanced prefectures where larger numbers of candidates took the examinations;

2) establishment of a separate examination track in moral conduct;

3) cancellation of the examination session testing poetic writing;

4) alternation of the content tested on the examinations according to a four-term cycle--readings from the classics, the philosophers, the histories, and government affairs were to be divided up into four parts; one of these four parts was designated as examination material for every examination, i.e., every three years;

5) selection of commentaries on the classics and the requirement that each examination candidate sign up for at least two commentaries from the list;

6) central government control over the questions designed by local examiners;

7) modification of the format of the essay on the meaning of the classics, requiring candidates to steer away from parallel arguments that were en vogue and instead cite the original text, to explain the commentaries they chose from the selected list, and to evaluate which of those commentaries best explains the intentions of the ancient sages and the relevance of the passage;

8) recruitment of moral men in teaching positions in government schools from the local level up to the Imperial College and the establishment of strict quotas for the admission of students particularly at the College where students were eligible to compete in the examinations;

9) changes in the procedures of the special examinations, emphasizing moral uprightness over writing skills.

Zhu Xi urged whoever was interested in this program to implement the nine items as a whole. In his view, the effect of these reforms could only be guaranteed if all were implemented simultaneously. Taken as a whole, the nine reforms underscore Zhu Xi's fundamental attitude towards the civil service examinations. Reform was necessary because the examinations had led to uncontrolled competition. Competition had encouraged teachers, students, and examiners to focus attention on writing skills and away from moral conduct. The key question for Zhu Xi and others in the Learning of the Way was how to make moral conduct the focus of education and the primary criterion in the selection of government officials. Despite his critique of examination preparation and examination writing, Zhu Xi believed that the examinations had to be part of the solution. These nine reforms illustrate his conviction that examination reform could promote the realization of moral education.

1. Structural Reforms

   As outlined in the nine items in the proposal, the promotion of moral education through the civil service examinations depended on a set of structural reforms (reforms in the layout and procedures of the examinations and the schools) and a set of curricular reforms (changes in the content and format of examination questions). Zhu Xi's structural reforms (items 1, 2, 3, 8, and 9 above) were intended to establish moral conduct as a significant criterion in the examinations; the implementation of this advice would have considerably reduced the impact of written examinations in education and government recruitment.

   The establishment of a track in moral conduct was the most radical step in this regard. Zhu Xi proposed that half of the quota of examination graduates at the prefectural level would go to candidates in the moral conduct track. As a transitional measure, he suggested that initially only twenty-five percent of the graduates should be moral conduct graduates; this to give candidates time to adjust to the new standards. County officials would be required to carry out local investigations and send a fixed number of candidates for the moral conduct track to the prefecture every year examinations were held. After further checks at the prefectural level, the magistrate would send the successful candidates to the Board of Rites--the trajectory followed by the moral conduct candidates was thus similar to that of the regular "presented scholar" (jinshi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) examination candidates. Once at the capital, however, moral conduct candidates were to receive special treatment.

   They would gain automatic entrance in the Imperial College and be exempt from the monthly and other examinations held at the College. College administrators should evaluate moral conduct candidates based on personal interactions. In their second year at the college, moral conduct candidates would be given internships in government offices. Those who performed well would be awarded government positions during their third year. Those who did not qualify for immediate appointment would be given the opportunity to sit for the next departmental examinations. In the regular jinshi examinations moral conduct candidates should also receive special...