Research on Sociological Issues in Examinations

Author: Yang Xueli, Liao Pingsheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-01
Features: According to records in Chinese and foreign classics, conscious and organized examination activities emerged around the time humanity transitioned from the primitive era to ancient civilized society. Their historical origins can be traced back to the selection of tribal leaders and the verification of tribal member qualifications in the late primitive society. Even if the first "countermeasure" (a form of examination) implemented by Emperor Wen of Han in the 15th year of his reign (165 BC) is considered the beginning of the state's official selection exams, it has a history of nearly 2,200 years to this day. Even if the establishment of the imperial examination system, hailed as the "fifth great invention of China," is taken as the starting point, it has been nearly 1,400 years since its inception. The historical trajectory of its evolution and development spans the entire process of ancient, modern, and contemporary civilized development in human society, truly a long-standing and profound history. The reasons for its emergence and development can ultimately be attributed to the objective needs of human social development. Its birth and growth are constrained by the laws of social development, as well as the laws of human development; it serves both social production and social life; it is both a process of development and a process of cognition, and it has continuously advanced along the interactive dynamics between social development and the advancement of human understanding.