SocietyEast Asia
The imperial examinations
State office by examination instead of birth
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In practice preparation demanded years without income, so only prosperous families managed it — but the principle of merit over inheritance was radical even so. European observers in the eighteenth century were fascinated, and the system directly inspired the entrance examinations of the British and later the American civil service. It was abolished in 1905, seven years before the empire fell.
For children
In China one could become an official by passing an examination in the classics, whoever one's parents were. The test lasted several days in sealed cubicles. The system endured for thirteen hundred years.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org