KU YEN -WU'S VIEWS ON THE MING EXAMINATION SYSTEM

Abstract

Ku Yen-wu (1613–82) has long been regarded as a “beacon of Ch'ing scholarship,” and, along with Huang Tsung-hsi and Wang Fu-chih, as being an influential exponent of a new way of political thinking. A prolific scholar with a wide range of intellectual interests, Ku is also known as an insightful and well-informed critic of Chinese social and political institutions. The focus of this paper will be on his analysis of the civil service examination system that evolved in China between the T'ang dynasty and the late Ming period. As might be expected, Ku paid particular attention to the Ming examination system of which he had personal knowledge. His analysis may be grouped under two headings: 1) the “contents” of the examinations, especially the curriculum that evolved for chin-shih candidates; and 2) the technical aspects of the system including the rules and regulations that helped to determine the form of the examinations. In order to clarify some of Ku's views on these subjects, I will also draw on the writings of Huang Tsung-hsi and Wang Fu-chih.