tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post9108145116874074159..comments2024-01-13T18:57:18.243-05:00Comments on Information Processing: Imperial exams and human capitalSteve Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-31020309707115963172015-05-28T14:19:54.174-04:002015-05-28T14:19:54.174-04:00By saying that the most important aspect was merit...By saying that the most important aspect was meritocracy, I am not ignoring the content of these exams. Your point about the curriculum being wide reflects another issue--the content changed considerably over the centuries (indeed, one could say ages, since the exams were around for nearly 2000 years). The content was originally narrow, covering topics like Numbers, Calligraphy, Songs, Rites, butaseussnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-64939572812846557562015-05-22T22:56:09.994-04:002015-05-22T22:56:09.994-04:00More imperial exam questions http://www.reddit.com...More imperial exam questions http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2nrv12/what_was_the_actual_content_of_chinese_civil/<br /><br />This one strikes me as very up-to-date,<br /><br />"2、“泰西外交政策往往借保全土地之名而收利益之实。盍缕举近百年来历史以证明其事策”。<br /><br />Far western countries’(Europe) foreign policy often use the name of <br />“protection” but end up gaining a lot of benefits. Please use examples <brdxie48noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-60314207514781762602015-05-22T22:44:42.053-04:002015-05-22T22:44:42.053-04:00Theoretically the curriculum for the imperial exam...Theoretically the curriculum for the imperial exam was quite wide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination#Curriculum<br /><br />"The curriculum was then expanded to cover the "Five Studies": military <br />strategy, civil law, revenue and taxation, agriculture and geography, <br />and the Confucian classics."<br /><br />For example a question on astronomy http://dxie48noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-83009991549703995122015-05-22T14:22:55.577-04:002015-05-22T14:22:55.577-04:00"... better to examine candidates on useful k..."... better to examine candidates on useful knowledge ..." useful knowledge —> speed-up of technological progress —> ultimate outcome? obsolescence of human brain? useless better than useful?David Brownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-88963050135952478132015-05-21T21:28:51.384-04:002015-05-21T21:28:51.384-04:00It is clear in retrospect that the most important ...It is clear in retrospect that the most important aspect of these imperial examinations was not the content itself, but the fact that they enforced a system of government rooted in meritocracy. So, even if China was slower than other Asian nations (notably Japan) at adopting modern science, it held on to this cultural emphasis on meritocracy through decades of war and revolution in the 20th aseussnoreply@blogger.com