Yesterday was Gaokao day, when teenagers from across China finally get to empty their skulls of everything that has been shoehorned into them the past dozen years in the hope of finding their way to a university that has books (read: not mine). Assuming you’re not in recovery from such test, be sure to read two excellent posts on the subject:

From Jeremiah in the Granite Studio

As hard as the gaokao is, it’s nothing compared to the ordeal of the imperial civil service examination. For three days exam candidates were locked in a cell and forced to write formulaic essays that required instant recall of the entire canon. But as Sam points out, despite their “Confucian” content, these kinds of examinations are not to be found in the original Confucian classics. In fact, given Confucius’ emphasis on moral rectification and reflection, he probably would have seen the cramming and rote memorization of form that became the imperial examination system as somewhat antithetical to his goals of becoming a “man of humanity.”

And the exams were tough. Scandals were common. As were mental breakdowns. Throughout the imperial period there was all manner of cheating–bribery, ringers, crib sheets, prep books, even full suits of underwear with the entire text for the Confucian classics written out in tiny characters. I remind my students of this every year: There really was no form of academic shadiness unfamiliar in the examination hell (I mean, “halls”) of Imperial China.

And from Sam at the Useless Tree

A casual observer might think that this is just a modern expression of the traditional “Confucian” veneration of education. You know: the Chinese have long emphasized education, going back to the old examination system that recruited bright young me into the imperial bureaucracy. It’s a Confucian thing.

But those who actually read Confucian classics - like the Analects and Mencius - know that the hyper-competitiveness of the gaokao has little to do with what Confucius understood as education. The college entrance exam is all about getting ahead materially: get into college, get a good paying job, live a more comfortable material life, perhaps even become rich. Now, I have nothing against those folks who are trying to gain a higher salary and a better place to live and the like. Those, however, are not the goals Confucius had in mind.

These are just snippets. Both posts are well worth a full read.

And speaking of exams, back to grading…

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