The Role of Education in Society

Few people doubt the importance of education. The more difficult question is exactly what role it should play in building a thriving society.

The role of education in the US has evolved over the years. More recently seen as a pathway to better careers and networks, it has also burdened millions of students with debt. Entrepreneurs such as Peter Thiel encourage smart and ambitious young adults to skip college to pursue start-ups, and President Trump is seeking to dramatically revamp or even eliminate the Department of Education.

As the US debates the proper role of education, one relevant historical example is the education system in Imperial China. At a time when Charlemagne in Europe was barely literate, China boasted the world’s most advanced society, underpinned by a remarkable education system.

It is worth understanding this system and its relevancy for today.

Education System in Imperial China

The Tang dynasty (618 - 907 CE) was a golden age in China’s history. Coming on the heels of the Sui dynasty (581 - 618 CE) which reunited China after nearly four hundred years of fragmentation, it was marked by economic growth driven by trade along the Silk Route, territorial expansion, and a cosmopolitan culture.¹

One of the more intriguing — and enduring — aspects of the Tang dynasty was its expansion of a new educational system initiated during the prior era.

Education has a long legacy in China. The earliest records of schools in China date to the Xia dynasty (2070 BCE - 1600 BCE), and the earliest ones verified by archaeological evidence date to the Shang dynasty (1600 BCE - 1046 BCE).²

The Tang dynasty formalized and expanded a rigorous education system based on empire-wide testing, called the Imperial Examination System, or Keju. This system would remarkably persist until it was eventually ended in 1905.³

The tests were an entry ticket to elite society in Imperial China, including to the most prestigious government jobs. Passing them required extensive knowledge of Confucian classics, law, calligraphy, poetry, government, and oratory, among other subjects.⁴

During the Tang dynasty, around 2,000 students took the tests annually. Under the subsequent Song dynasty this would increase to around 400,000 students annually; under the Ming and Qing dynasties, it would rise further to a million students.⁵

The tests were rigorous. Passing rates were 1% under the Tang dynasty. As multiple rounds were later introduced, passing rates for the first tier were around ~4%, with only 400 students making it to the final round.⁶

The exams would be administered over three days. Students who passed the initial tests would be invited to take further rounds of examinations, with the final round taking place at the Imperial Palace and overseen by the emperor.⁷

Impact of Imperial Examination System

The Keju system had a profound impact on Chinese society.

First, the elite in Chinese society were scholars, and the elite career path was the “scholar-official,” called mandarin. Within that society, passing the Keju was a marker of joining that elite club.⁸ In addition to getting top government jobs, successful students were awarded with other status symbols: distinct robes that distinguished them in society, tax benefits, and exemptions from certain corporal punishments.⁹

Second, the tests were remarkable at the time for creating a new, meritocratic path for upward mobility. Eligibility for top government jobs was no longer solely based on being born into an elite family. Upwards of 95% of all men were eligible to participate. While practically-speaking access was limited to those families who could afford years of tutoring and scholarly texts — i.e., wealthy landowners — it provided a theoretical possibility to the populace at large.¹⁰

Third, the exams provided a method to ensuring that the society’s elite — and top government officials — were well-educated and steeped in common Confucian values. Because the exam attracted people from across social classes, it facilitated Chinese values permeating throughout society. The exams therefore enabled greater societal cohesion.¹¹ One recent study argued that the reason the Keju system was used for so long was precisely because it maintained social stability.¹²

Takeaways for Today

There is much to like about Imperial China’s focus on education.

The intense societal focus on learning, knowledge, values, and history — across social classes — is enviable.

At a time in the US when our ability to successfully execute large, complex public projects seems to be waning — and when geopolitical competition against other great nations (such as China) are intensifying — the idea of our government being staffed by the smartest and most capable among us also seems enviable.

As the public discourse in the US questions the Western liberal values, myths, and heroes upon which our country was founded, the idea of a national system to educate our citizens on these also seems desirable.

This newsletter has previously argued that the decline in teaching Western values has been detrimental to our society.¹³

And yet in these advantages also lie the Keju system’s ultimate shortcomings and incompatibility with American society.

Directing the most talented citizens to years of testing, with government service as the ultimate reward, imposes an enormous opportunity cost on society.

The top Keju performers could otherwise have become inventors, scientists, or entrepreneurs. It is doubtful that a society where testing excellence and government service as the ultimate aim maximizes long term economic growth.

One study examined the impact of the Keju system on China’s focus on technology. It found an initial positive correlation between number of Keju graduates and number of people in technology-related professions. But this trend reversed during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The authors concluded that as the exams became more rigid and difficult, they crowded-out focus on technology.¹⁴

The Keju system was finally abolished in 1905 as part of a broader system of reforms during the decline of the last Qing dynasty. By this time, China was aghast at its relative weakness versus European states and even against Japan, once its tributary. The Keju system received much blame, for being too rigid and lacking relevant modern topics such as science and mathematics.¹⁵

But more broadly, the Keju system — as operated in Imperial China — is contrary to America’s founding identity. It was controlled by the state, to support a strong central state. It created a singular pathway for social mobility that went directly through the state. It promoted conformity in thinking.

America’s founding principles were quite the opposite — limited government designed to protect individual liberties, and robust debate.

Yasheng Huang, economist at MIT, summarized these distinctions in a 2023 essay:¹⁶

And so while there is much to celebrate and learn from in regards to Imperial China’s focus on education, transmitting common societal values, empowering meritocracy, and demanding the upmost competence in government, the means by which America achieves these today will — and should — look very different.

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1  "Tang Dynasty." Teaching China with the Smithsonian. Smithsonian Institution, Asia Archive. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://asia-archive.si.edu/learn/for-educators/teaching-china-with-the-smithsonian/explore-by-dynasty/tang-dynasty/.

2  "Education in Ancient China." Chinese Culture. Raider Pressbooks. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://raider.pressbooks.pub/chineseculture/chapter/1-education-in-ancient-china/.

3  Huang, Yasheng. "Why Chinese Minds Still Bear the Long Shadow of Keju." Aeon, June 19, 2018. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://aeon.co/essays/why-chinese-minds-still-bear-the-long-shadow-of-keju.

4  Cartwright, Mark. "The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified September 11, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1335/the-civil-service-examinations-of-imperial-china/.

5  Charles Holcombe, A History of East Asia, 2nd ed. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 137.

6  Huang, Yasheng. "Why Chinese Minds Still Bear the Long Shadow of Keju." Aeon, June 19, 2018. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://aeon.co/essays/why-chinese-minds-still-bear-the-long-shadow-of-keju.

7  Cartwright, Mark. "The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified September 11, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1335/the-civil-service-examinations-of-imperial-china/.

8  Charles Holcombe, A History of East Asia, 2nd ed. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 137 - 138.

9  Cartwright, Mark. "The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified September 11, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1335/the-civil-service-examinations-of-imperial-china/.

10  Charles Holcombe, A History of East Asia, 2nd ed. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 138.

11  Elman, Benjamin A. "Civil Service Examinations." Princeton University. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://www.princeton.edu/~elman/documents/Civil%20Service%20Examinations.pdf.

12  "Keju, Science and Technology: A Human Capital-Based Perspective." The Journal of World Economy 47, no. 3 (2024): 30–65. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://manu30.magtech.com.cn/sjjj/EN/Y2024/V47/I3/30.

13  "The Virtue of Education." These Truths. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://www.these-truths.com/p/the-virtue-of-education.

14  "Keju, Science and Technology: A Human Capital-Based Perspective." The Journal of World Economy 47, no. 3 (2024): 30–65. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://manu30.magtech.com.cn/sjjj/EN/Y2024/V47/I3/30.

15  "The Domino Effect: Abolishing the Imperial Examination System and the Downfall of the Qing Dynasty." National High School Journal of Science, 2023. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://nhsjs.com/2023/the-domino-effect-abolishing-the-imperial-examination-system-and-the-downfall-of-the-qing-dynasty/.

16  Huang, Yasheng. "Why Chinese Minds Still Bear the Long Shadow of Keju." Aeon, June 19, 2018. Accessed February 18, 2025. https://aeon.co/essays/why-chinese-minds-still-bear-the-long-shadow-of-keju.