Additional information
by John W. Chaffee (Author)
List of illustrations
List of tables
List of abbreviations
Geographical note
Preface to the Second Edition
Acknowledgments
Part I
1. Introduction: the examination of life
Two protests
The examination of life
The examination of literature
The historical context
2. The structure of recruitment
The Sung bureaucracy
Recruitment of clerks and the military
Recruitment of the civil service
Patterns of recruitment
Students and chu-jen
The growth of the literati
Recruitment and the social order
Part II
3. For the utmost governance: examinations in the early Sung
Sung examinations and the Confucian tradition
Examinations under the early emperors
Institutional innovations
Qualifying for candidacy
Occupational prohibitions
Residency requirements
Character qualifications
The role of K'ai-feng
4. To be rooted in schools: examinations in the late Northern Sung
The Ch'ing-li reforms
Curriculum changes
Schools and the reformers
The Three Hall system
The legacy of reform
Government schools in the Southern Sung
The spread of academics
5. The failure of fairness: examinations in the Southern Sung
The examinations at mid-course
The special preliminary examinations
The higher examinations
The extent of privilege
The examinations in decline
Part III
6. The geography of success
The rise of the south
Geographical biases
The problem of regional units
The distribution of chin-shih
The unsuccessful regions
Patterns of success
7. Through the thorny gates: the culture of examinations
The terminology of testing
The spread of ceremony
The support of chu-jen
The signs of selection
The beginnings of an examination culture
Examination stories
The problems of youth
The problem of age
With help from the spirits
8. Conclusion
The attempt at meritocracy
Learning and authority
Examinations and society
Appendix 1: Methods of Entry into the Civil Service
Appendix 2: Table 25. Departmental Graduates and Degrees Conferred by Year
Appendix 3: Table 26. Sung Chin-shih Totals by Prefecture Based Upon Lists in Local Histories
Appendix 4: An Evaluation of Local Histories as Sources for Sung Chin-shih Data
Notes
List of characters
Bibliography
Local Histories
Other Works in Chinese and Japanese
Works in Western Languages
Recent Works in Western Languages
Index
Author Biography
John W. Chaffee is Chairperson and Associate Professor in the Department of History at State University of New York, Binghamton. He is coeditor of NeoConfucian Education: The Formative Stage, and former editor of the Bulletin of Sung Yuan Studies.
