Education in China

Imperial support of education was contingent on the examinations to supply talented and loyal men for the bureaucracy to employ. Political legitimacy was an assumed by-product of preparation for the civil and military service. In a convoluted ideological canvas of loyalties encompassing state and society, even emperors became educated in the orthodox rationale for their imperial legitimacy—by special tutors selected from the civil examinations.

Imperial support of literati-inspired cultural symbols, which were defined in terms of classical learning, painting, literature, and calligraphy, enabled the dynasty in concert with its elites to maintain the institutional conditions necessary for its own survival. The examination hierarchy stabilized existing social hierarchies by redirecting wealth and power derived from commerce or military success into education to prepare for civil and military service. A by-product was the creation of a large number of classically literate elites who produced essays, poetry, stories, novels, medical treatises, and scholarly works.