Changes

The number of people who sat for the lowest level exams was always massive, and the pass rate quite small; in some periods as few as 0.1% of candidates passed the county exams and became ''shēngyuán''. Even so, ''shēngyuán'' came to represent a rather significant proportion of society by the mid-Qing, though by that time, the ''jìnshì'' rank was all but required for someone to be considered a member of the elite. To illustrate this shift in demographics, there are estimated to have been roughly one ''shēngyuán'' per 2200 people in 1500, in contrast to a figure of one ''shēngyuán'' per 300 people two hundred years later.

The number of people who sat for the lowest level exams was always massive, and the pass rate quite small; in some periods as few as 0.1% of candidates passed the county exams and became ''shēngyuán''. Even so, ''shēngyuán'' came to represent a rather significant proportion of society by the mid-Qing, though by that time, the ''jìnshì'' rank was all but required for someone to be considered a member of the elite. To illustrate this shift in demographics, there are estimated to have been roughly one ''shēngyuán'' per 2200 people in 1500, in contrast to a figure of one ''shēngyuán'' per 300 people two hundred years later.

The [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] administered a similar system of examinations, directly based upon that of Ming Dynasty China, though reportedly easier to pass, in selecting members of its own scholar-aristocracy for positions in the kingdom's bureaucracy. [[Korea]], too, in various periods, beginning under [[King Gwangjong]] (r. [[925]]-[[975]]) of the [[Koryo Dynasty]] ([[918]]-[[1392]]),<ref>"The Arts of Korea," pamphlet, Pacific Asia Museum.</ref> used a Chinese-style examination system to select its court bureaucrats.

The [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] administered a similar system of examinations, directly based upon that of Ming Dynasty China, though reportedly easier to pass, in selecting members of its own scholar-aristocracy for positions in the kingdom's bureaucracy. The exam system was adopted in Korea, too, where it became in some respects even more extensive than in China. It may have been introduced to Korea by Korean scholar Ch'oe Ch'i-won, who spent 17 years in Tang Dynasty China, and passed the exams in [[Chang'an]] in [[874]].<ref name=kang>Kang, David C. “Hierarchy and Legitimacy in International Systems: The Tribute System in Early Modern East Asia.” ''Security Studies'' 19, no. 4 (2010): 609.</ref> Some sources say the exams were not implemented in Korea until the following century, under under [[King Gwangjong]] (r. [[925]]-[[975]]) of the [[Koryo Dynasty]] ([[918]]-[[1392]]),<ref>"The Arts of Korea," pamphlet, Pacific Asia Museum.</ref>. However, in any case, the Songgyungwan Confucian Academy was founded in Korea in [[992]], and by the [[Joseon Dynasty]] ([[1392]]-[[1897]]), there were almost ten times as many Confucian academies in Korea, per capita, as in China.<ref name=kang/>

==History==

==History==