The impacts of the end of civil service examinations in modern Chinese history

According to Douglass C. North’s theory of institutional change, institutions are “the rules of the game in a society” or “the humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction,” and institutional change “shapes the way society evolve through time and hence is the key to understanding historical change.” Similarly, Qian Mu points out that the key to promote social transformation and development relies not just on destroying old traditions but establishing new institutions. Moreover, the longer the tradition, the firmer it stands, so there also needs to be proper boundaries for institutional changes. In imperial China, the civil service examination (keju) system existed for more than 1,300 years and became an essential part of the overall structure of Chinese politics, society, and culture. It significantly shaped the history of China. No wonder some scholars view the abolition of keju as the most revolutionary change in modern China or even the entire Chinese history. In September 1905, the Qing court announced to cease all levels of civil service examinations, which in fact signaled the end of the keju system. This event did not ignite many discussions at that time. However, after more than one hundred years, its impact has become a topic of heated debate even beyond the academia. This article offers a review of the abundant recent scholarship on this issue. In the past, assuming the value of reform and revolution, the literature almost praised the abolition of keju without any criticism for a long time based on a progressivist view that the keju system was responsible for the stagnation and weakness of late imperial China. In recent thirty years, more scholars have started to reflect on the negative impacts of abolishing the examinations on the process of modern Chinese history.