By analyzing textbooks, examination questions and essays, and official and private commentary, Hilde De Weerdt examines how occupational, political, and intellectual groups shaped curricular standards and examination criteria and how examination standards in turn shaped political and intellectual agendas. These questions reframe the debate about the civil service examinations and their place in the imperial order.

Chronology

Abbreviations

Introduction

Part I: Prolegomena

1 Intellectual Traditions and Teachers

2 Examination Expositions and Policy Response Essays

Part II: The "Yongjia" Teachers

3 The "Yongjia" Teachers Standards for Examination Success

4 Preparing for the Examinations

Part III: The Court in the Examination Field

5 Court Politics and Examination Standards

Part IV: The Learning of the Way Movement in the Examination Field

6 Preparing for the Examinations

7 The Learning of the Way Transformation of Examination Standards

Conclusion

Appendixes

A Notes on Primary Sources

Tables

Reference Matter

Works Consulted

Index