who created the civil service system in china
Imperial examination Although, in a general way, the formative ideas behind the imperial exams can be traced back at least to Zhou dynasty times (or, more mythologically, Yao),[1] such as imperial promotion for displaying skill in archery contests, the imperial examination system in its classical manifestation is historically attested to have been established in 605, during the Sui dynasty; which in the quickly succeeding Tang dynasty was used only on a relatively small scale, especially in its early phase. However, the structure of the examination system was extensively expanded during the reign of Wu Zetian:[2] the impact of Wu's use of the testing system is still a matter for scholarly debate. During the Song dynasty the emperors expanded both examinations and the government school system, in part to counter the influence of military aristocrats, increasing the number of those who passed the exams to more than four to five times that of the Tang. Thus the system played a key role in the selection of the scholar-officials, who formed the elite members of society. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the system contributed to the narrowness of intellectual life and the autocratic power of the emperor. The system continued with some modifications until its 1905 abolition under the Qing dynasty. Other brief interruptions to the system occurred, such as at the beginning of the Yuan dynasty in the 13th century. The modern examination system for selecting civil servants also indirectly evolved from the imperial one.[3]