The Literature and Cultural Ecology of Imperial Examinations in the Ming Dynasty

The Literature and Cultural Ecology of Imperial Examinations in the Ming Dynasty
Author: Wenxin Chen
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 437
Release: 2023-10-03
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 981994709X

The book examines the relationship between imperial examinations and literature from the perspective of restoring the cultural ecology of imperial examinations in Ming China, breaking through the paradigm of pure literature research. This book presents an important practice in adjusting the pattern of literary research. The contents of this book include five mutually independent but supportive parts: 1) the living conditions and careers of the literary attendants; 2) the educational background and school’s consciousness of the Ming literati; 3) top candidates and Ming literature; 4) genres of imperial examination and the Ming society; 5) exam cheating cases from the perspective of politics and literature. This book will appeal to readers interested in Chinese literature and culture and the imperial examination system in ancient China.

A Cultural History of Civil Examinations in Late Imperial China

A Cultural History of Civil Examinations in Late Imperial China
Author: Benjamin A. Elman
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 900
Release: 2000-03-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780520921474

In this multidimensional analysis, Benjamin A. Elman uses over a thousand newly available examination records from the Yuan, Ming, and Ch'ing dynasties, 1315-1904, to explore the social, political, and cultural dimensions of the civil examination system, one of the most important institutions in Chinese history. For over five hundred years, the most important positions within the dynastic government were usually filled through these difficult examinations, and every other year some one to two million people from all levels of society attempted them. Covering the late imperial system from its inception to its demise, Elman revises our previous understanding of how the system actually worked, including its political and cultural machinery, the unforeseen consequences when it was unceremoniously scrapped by modernist reformers, and its long-term historical legacy. He argues that the Ming-Ch'ing civil examinations from 1370 to 1904 represented a substantial break with T'ang-Sung dynasty literary examinations from 650 to 1250. Late imperial examinations also made "Tao Learning," Neo-Confucian learning, the dynastic orthodoxy in official life and in literati culture. The intersections between elite social life, popular culture, and religion that are also considered reveal the full scope of the examination process throughout the late empire.

The Chinese Imperial Examination System

The Chinese Imperial Examination System
Author: Rui Wang
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2013
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0810887029

The Chinese imperial examination system is unique in traditional Chinese society with origins dating back 1,300 years, and has had a far-reaching impact not only on contemporary Chinese society, but also on government systems of other countries around the world. The system was originally created as a political institution to recruit officials to serve the Chinese imperial government. During the period of its use, from 605 through 1905, the imperial examination system played a central role in the Chinese imperial government. It served as a tool for the political and ideological control, functioned as a proxy for education, produced the elite social class, and became a dominant culture in the traditional Chinese society. During its 1,300 years, the system generated countless publications, including the imperial government publications and a variety of non-government works. After the abolition of the system in 1905, numerous publications produced by the international research community spawned the Chinese imperial examination studies. The interdisciplinary study involved a whole range of disciplines, including history, political science, sociology, education, psychology, culture, literature, linguistics, anthropology, philosophy, religion, mathematics, economics, and archive studies. It would be impossible for one to understand China without knowing the imperial examination system and the vast collection of the imperial examination studies. This book provides an annotated bibliography for 214 publications that are relevant to the imperial examination studies, and each entry includes a review to serve as a guide to readers for this collection. Of the 214 publications, 155 are written in Chinese, and 59 are English publications. Although the 214 publications only comprise a fraction of the imperial examination studies, with a variety of subjects and research quality, this bibliography represents in considerable depth the scope of the development of the imperial examination studies. Through selecting, presenting, and reviewing a variety of significant publications, this book provides quick access to the essential literature of the imperial examination studies. College students, faculty, or any other readers who are interested in learning, teaching, or researching the Chinese imperial examination system, Chinese history, the Chinese government systems, culture, ideology, education, literature, and current social issues will find The Chinese Imperial Examination System: An Annotated Bibliography to be an important addition to their research.

A Brief History of the Relationship Between Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism

A Brief History of the Relationship Between Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism
Author: Zhongjian Mou
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 622
Release: 2023-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9811972060

Chinese traditions of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism have a profoundly philosophical dimension. The three traditions are frequently referred to as three paths of moral teachings. In this book, Mou provides a clear account of the textual corpus that emerges to define each of these traditions and how this canonical axis was augmented by a continuing commentarial tradition as each generation reauthorized the written core for their own time and place. In his careful exegesis, Mou lays out the differences between the more religious reading of these traditions with their defining practices that punctuate the human journey through life, and the more intellectual and philosophical treatment of the texts that has and continues to produce a first-order culture of annotation that become integral to the traditions themselves. At the center of the alternative religious experience reflected throughout the teachings of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism is the project of personal cultivation as it comes to be expressed as robust growth in family and communal relations. For Mou, these three highly distinctive and yet complementary ways of thinking and living constitute a kind of moral ecology, wherein each of them complements the others as they stand in service to a different dimension of the human need for an educated spirituality.

The History of Chinese Ceramics

The History of Chinese Ceramics
Author: Lili Fang
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 1184
Release: 2023-05-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9811990948

Adopting the perspective of anthropology of art and combining it with global academic insights, this book helps the readers to recognize that “history is, in great measure, the record of human activity which spreads from the local to the regional, from the regional to the global, and from the global to the universal.” Readers will learn that China was not only the first country to create porcelain, but also the first to export it to the world, both the products and its techniques. Therefore, the history of Chinese ceramics reflects the history of Chinese foreign trade on the one hand and depicts the expansion of Chinese ceramic techniques and cultures on the other. In addition to ceramics types, molds, decoration, and techniques, the book analyzes the spiritual impacts and aesthetic conceptions embodied in the utensils of daily use by the Chinese literati. Therefore, it reaches the conclusion that ideological systems and not technological systems are what bring about social revolutions. In addition, the book is richly illustrated with pictures of earthenware and finely glazed pieces from later periods.

Ancient Chinese Academy, Confucianism, and Society II

Ancient Chinese Academy, Confucianism, and Society II
Author: Xiao Yongming
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2022-11-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000772217

As the second volume of a two-volume set that studies the ancient Chinese academy from a socio-cultural perspective, this title investigates the multifaceted roles and political and cultural significance of the academy. Inaugurated in the Tang dynasty and eventually abolished in the late Qing dynasty, the academy, as a unique cultural and educational organization in the Chinese history, exerted extensive and profound influence on the ancient Chinese culture, politics, and social life. This title first discusses the state control of the academy and how it functions in social governance, then examines the sacrificial ritual of the academy and its influence on education, enculturation, Confucian orthodoxy, and intellectual ethos, and finally elaborates on the academy's role in enriching the regional cultures in terms of local cultural undertakings and talent cultivation. The title will be a useful reference for scholars, students, and general readers interested in cultural history, intellectual history, and educational history of ancient China and especially the Chinese academy culture.

International Conference on Humanity and Social Science, (ICHSS2014)

International Conference on Humanity and Social Science, (ICHSS2014)
Author:
Publisher: DEStech Publications, Inc
Total Pages: 435
Release: 2014-07-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1605951951

The conference will be held in Guangzhou, China during June 29-30, 2014. The aim objective of ichss2014 is to present the latest research and results of scientists related to Humanity and Social Science topics. This conference provides opportunities for the different areas delegates to exchange new ideas and application experiences face to face, to establish business or research relations and to find global partners for future collaboration. We hope that the conference results constituted significant contribution to the knowledge in these up to date scientific field. ichss2014 is supposed to be the largest technical event on Humanity and Social Science in Guangzhou in 2014. The focus of the conference is to establish an effective platform for institutions and industries to share ideas and to present the works of scientists, engineers, educators and students from all over the world. The organizing committee of conference is pleased to invite prospective authors to submit their original manuscripts to ichss2014. As preparation for ICSS2014, hundreds of contributions were received and reviewed. Most of these contributions have brought us a new possible solution to our problems; some of them can even be called as a breakthrough. All these researches have been included in this book. I believe it will be of great value to your future study.