A Review of Classicism, the Imperial Civil Examination System, and Cultural History: Selected Works of Benjamin A. Elman

Abstract

Abstract In his personal collection of writings titled Classicism, the Imperial Civil Examination System, and Cultural History: Selected Works of Benjamin A. Elman, Elman reveals the cultural-historical orientation of his research on classicism and imperial examinations. Through his own “contextualization” research, Elman re-examines the changing of the academic paradigmatic shift of Chinese classicism and the shift in the themes and content of the Imperial Civil Examination System. He discovers that the popularity of textology dispelled the ideology shaped by Neo Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties, which contributed to the ideological liberation and scientific consciousness of scholars in the Qing Dynasty. The Imperial Civil Examination System, as an institution that shaped the value identity of the cultural elite, also showed the gradual dismantling of the dominant discourse in the Qing Dynasty. The thematic changes also indicated the gradual deconstruction of the dominant discourse of the Qing, and the abolition of the Imperial Civil Examination System signified the collapse of imperial ideology. Ultimately, Elman reflects on the role of Confucianism, concluding that it was involved in the complex transformation of China from ancient times to the present, and that its own vicissitudes played a crucial role in the turn of China’s modernization.