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In this paper, we first determine the coupled linkage analysis model of the Ming dynasty imperial examination system and novel literary prosperity, extract the links between potential themes from a large-scale corpus, and mine the probability distribution of lexical items. Then the method of calculating the similarity of thematic coupling is investigated, using the co-occurrence information of lexical items to calculate the association weights, inline, outline and coupling relationships among lexical items, semantic information and relevance of lexical items. Then the historical evolution of the imperial examination system and its position in history are explored. Finally, based on the model mining algorithm, the relationship between the imperial examination system and the prosperity of literary novels is analyzed in terms of the drawbacks of the imperial examination system in the Ming Dynasty, the impact of the imperial examination on the richness of novels and the number of novels. Regarding the influence of novel richness, the criticism of the imperial examination system reached 44% in the early Ming Dynasty, 52% in the middle, and 60% in the late Ming Dynasty. Novels on themes such as magic, immortality, and the grotesque reached 50% in the early Ming Dynasty, 55% in the middle, and 59% in the late. In terms of the number of literary novels, the number of novels written during the Jianwen period was 504, and the number of novels written by those who failed the imperial examinations was 322, with a large number of literati who failed the imperial examinations devoting themselves to literary creation. The system of taking scholars from the eight examinations in the Ming Dynasty promoted the prosperity of literary novel creation.

In this paper, we set out to explore the world’s first major standardised examination system. In the field of language testing and assessment, works such as measured words (Spolsky, 1995), measured constructs (Weir, Vidakovic & Galaczi, 2013), and Cambridge English exams — the first hundred years (Hawkey & Milanovic, 2013) all point to the fact that contemporary tests reflect many years of accumulated knowledge and practice. Perhaps more importantly, they also remind us of the social and educational impact of the tests we develop. With this in mind, we explore the very first example of a standardised examination system — the Chinese imperial examination system (the Kējǔ — in Chinese Hanyu Pinyin 科举).

Background/Purpose. While Neo-Confucianism has been widely studied as a philosophical and political tradition, its educational implications in Vietnamese history remain underexplored. This study examines the pedagogical legacy of Lê Quý Đôn, an 18th-century Vietnamese scholar, with a focus on how his writings and institutional roles reflect Confucian educational principles. The research aims to bridge the gap between historical scholarship and educational theory by analyzing the transmission of moral and civic values through Confucian pedagogy. Materials/methods. The study adopts a qualitative and interpretive approach using document analysis. Primary sources include Lê Quý Đôn’s philosophical texts and historical records from the Quốc Tử Giám. The data were analyzed thematically through the lens of moral development theory, citizenship education, and Confucian pedagogy. Coding procedures and interpretive synthesis were employed to identify educational patterns and implicit curricular values. Results. The findings reveal that Lê Quý Đôn promoted a model of education centered on ethical self-cultivation, scholarly discipline, and meritocratic advancement. His writings emphasize the role of education in shaping moral character and civic responsibility. The study identifies key pedagogical elements such as hierarchical learning, values-based instruction, and curriculum leadership embedded in his work and practice. Conclusion. Lê Quý Đôn’s educational philosophy offers a localized framework for understanding Confucian pedagogy in Vietnamese history. His integration of moral education and institutional reform provides valuable insights for contemporary discussions on character education and educational leadership. Future research may explore comparative studies with other East Asian educators or apply his principles to modern citizenship curricula.

Established in 221 BCE, the Chinese empire lasted for 2,132 years before being replaced by the Republic of China in 1912. During its two millennia, the empire endured internal wars, foreign incursions, alien occupations, and devastating rebellions--yet fundamental institutional, sociopolitical, and cultural features of the empire remained intact.The Everlasting Empiretraces the roots of the Chinese empire's exceptional longevity and unparalleled political durability, and shows how lessons from the imperial past are relevant for China today. Yuri Pines demonstrates that the empire survived and adjusted to a variety of domestic and external challenges through a peculiar combination of rigid ideological premises and their flexible implementation. The empire's major political actors and neighbors shared its fundamental ideological principles, such as unity under a single monarch--hence, even the empire's strongest domestic and foreign foes adopted the system of imperial rule. Yet details of this rule were constantly negotiated and adjusted. Pines shows how deep tensions between political actors including the emperor, the literati, local elites, and rebellious commoners actually enabled the empire's basic institutional framework to remain critically vital and adaptable to ever-changing sociopolitical circumstances. As contemporary China moves toward a new period of prosperity and power in the twenty-first century, Pines argues that the legacy of the empire may become an increasingly important force in shaping the nation's future trajectory.

By connecting seemingly scattered reforms and debates over the 1900s and 1910s, this paper outlines a longer process that eroded the institutional and ideological foundations of the imperial examination system (keju) that did not vanish immediately after the 1905 abolition. Under the title incentive program introduced in 1904, keju titles had been awarded to graduates of modern schools until the very end of the Qing dynasty. As the number of modern schools surged over the 1900s, the program led to an overexpansion of title holders, and ironically enhanced the scholar-official identity that was at odds with the discipline at the modern schools. To lobby for the abolition of the program, non-official reformers of education formulated a moralized critique against the keju titles, but no substantial reform had been undertaken before the 1911 Revolution ended the Qing dynasty. In the 1910s the same network of late Qing reformers launched an ideological war against traditional values that they saw as the ideological foundation of the keju. They constructed new concepts of education and vocation that spread through a powerful network connecting education, industry, and media. This “longer abolition” of the keju produced a prolonged effect on the visions of social order in twentieth century China.

Learners of East-Asian descent frequently outperform students from other developed nations on standardized tests. They are often well prepared, and generally demonstrate high proficiency in math, science, and language. Despite recent hype among Western policymakers and educators regarding the performance of East-Asian students on standardized exams, this phenomenon is primarily attributable to the unique history of imperial examinations, which began in China. The imperial examinations were firmly established in most East-Asian nations (excluding Japan owing to its geographic isolation), and were the product of cultures that valued routine work and strong central governments. Although some Western politicians and education administrators advocate adopting a form of education wherein standardized test scores are a focal point, such views potentially ignore centuries-old criticisms in East-Asian nations concerning national examinations. The imperial examination system was a seemingly efficient and convenient approach to selecting government elites that produced diligent students and punctual educators; nonetheless, it also had significant drawbacks with respect to innovation and societal progress. Thus, the author examines this educational approach from a historical perspective, and compares it to the methods adopted by Europe and Japan.

This article investigates the practice of returning marked papers to rejected candidates in late imperial Chinese examinations. The practice—common from the sixteenth century to the abolition of imperial examinations in 1905—established a sense of personal communication between examiners and examinees and was an opportunity for rejected candidates to benefit from the examination system. The failed papers returned to their authors enabled them to make sense of their performance by interpreting, when not misconstruing, examiners' comments. The examiners sometimes praised the papers and blamed the decision to fail on other examiners. As a result, most rejected candidates tended not to challenge the examiners through official channels or take collective action against the examination system. Thus, in the late imperial examination system, the ways in which rejecting decisions could be negotiated and construed were no less important than the awarding of degrees to an extremely small proportion of participants. Cet article s'intéresse à la pratique, particulière à la période impériale tardive, consistant à rendre leurs copies aux candidats ayant échoué aux examens. Courante depuis le XVIe siècle et jusqu'à l'abolition des examens mandarinaux en 1905, cette pratique créait l'impression d'une relation personnelle entre les examinateurs et les candidats et était un moyen pour ceux qui avaient échoué de tirer profit du système. Les copies rejetées retournées à leurs auteurs permettaient à ces derniers de donner un sens à leur performance en interprétant, voire en dévoyant, les commentaires des examinateurs. Il arrivait que les examinateurs fassent l'éloge des copies et attribuent à autrui la décision de les rejeter. De ce fait, la plupart des candidats malheureux évitaient de contester les examinateurs par la voie réglementaire ou de manifester collectivement contre le système. Ainsi, dans le système des examens à la fin de la période impériale, la manière dont les décisions négatives pouvaient être négociées ou interprétées n'était pas moins importante que l'attribution de rangs académiques à une toute petite proportion de ceux qui concouraient.

One of the most obvious examples of modernity being brought to Asia through trade, infrastructure development and cultural penetration occurred in Shanghai from the middle of the nineteenth century until the end of World War II. While Britain was the dominant economic force in the city, France played a significant role in intellectual and cultural development. During the concession era, Shanghai became known as the Paris of the East. While partly due to the appearance of the French Concession of the metropolis and the “city of lights” entertainment and vice available, somewhat reminiscent of Paris, the modernising French influence came variously from the economic presence, political administration and the civilising mission, which was integral to French imperialism. The establishment of the Université l’Aurore by the French Jesuits in 1903 was an important part of the modernisation of the Chinese population of Shanghai through cultural contact. Within its first decade, the university had established a medical school to teach “modern western techniques” and a law school charged with teaching “modern legal systems and philosophy”. What was the impact of the training provided by this institution for the growth of modern Shanghai? How did the religious orientation of the university help or hinder the development of modernity in Shanghai? Within the multinational context of Concession era Shanghai, was a French influence discernable in its modernisation process? Sources from the university, Jesuit journals, such as Études, and articles by those implicated in the development of Shanghai will reveal the impact of this institution in the development of modernity in China’s most modern city.

In Tang China, aristocratic families went to great lengths in order to preserve prestige and prosperity in spite of challenges and restrictions imposed upon them. This article attempts to study the ways in which this privileged class incessantly responded to the dynasty's political and social changes, demonstrated through two outstanding endeavors: adjusting traditional burial practices and conceding to assuming roles in the bureaucracy. By comparison, this article also studies ways in which humble families acted in these two aspects. The prevailing pattern of migration, namely, the “center-orientedness” (qianxi zhongyanghua 遷徙中央化), was not unique to aristocratic families; humble families were also eager to catch up with the trend. This article argues that while gradually losing physical connection and sentimental affinity for one's native place, a substantial number of aristocratic families originating in North China had actually lived in the South before ultimately serving in the bureaucracy; this historical inclination manifested itself in a deviation between families' burial locations and living areas. The choice of burial sites not only embodied the popularity of a “center-oriented” migration pattern, but also strengthened the trend of relinquishing one's sentimental attachment to the native place. This article also discusses the interactions between aristocratic families and upstarts; aristocratic families' differing approaches signified how they assessed their own situations, and in what ways connections with upstarts could aid in perpetuating their societal privilege and prestige.

This volume presents an analysis of Japan's powerful upper bureaucracy in the post-war period. The author's aim is to provide an empirical foundation for the many impressionistic accounts of Japanese bureaucracy and a systematic basis for comparative studies of bureaucracies in other countries. The study ranges from the family and geographic backgrounds of higher civil servants through their educational training and career patterns to their retirement and post-retirement activities. Throughout, the emphasis is on assembling and analyzing the kind of systematic data that provide a solid basis for understanding how the Japanese bureaucracy actually works. Originally published in 1969. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.