were very important not only for an individual but for his family because a yangban family that did not produce a government official for four generations lost their status as yangban. When writing the examination, candidates had to record the names and positions of their four great-grandfathers. The higher literary examination was restricted to those who either were already in a position of rank, or who had already passed the lower examination. The miscellaneous examinations were looked down upon by the yangban, and were generally restricted to the chungin class of hereditary technical workers. Criteria for the military examination varied, but over time it became open even to members of the lowest class (the cheonmin). The gwageo provided a basis for various forms of regionalism. Due to the strength of regional factions in Joseon Dynasty politics, scholars from out-of-favor factions often did not bother to take the examination at all. In addition, for much of the dynasty candidates from Hamgyong were forbidden to attempt the gwageo. In the late Joseon Dynasty, an increasing percentage of successful candidates came from the northern province of Pyongan, and the small county of Chŏngju came to produce more successful candidates than any other county. Administration The gwageo were originally administered every three years; these regular examinations were known as the singnyeonsi (식년시). However, the singnyeonsi became less important over time, and an increasing percentage of candidates took the gwageo on special occasions. These included the alseongsi (visitation examinations), which were administered when the king visited the Shrine of Confucius at the Seonggyungwan royal academy, the jeunggwangsi (augmented examinations) held during national celebrations, and the byeolsi (special examinations) held on other special occasions. However, these special examinations were usually limited to the literary and military examinations. Over the course of the dynasty, a total of 581 irregular examinations were held, in comparison to 163 of the triennial singneonsi examinations. The literary and military examinations were administered in three stages: an initial qualifying test (chosi) administered in the provinces, a second examination (hoesi) conducted in the capital (in which the qualifying candidates were selected), and a third examination (jeonsi) in the presence of the king, in which the successful candidates were ranked in order. Each stage was norm-referenced, with a set number of successful applicants. The candidate who received the highest score (jangwon) in the literary examination was given a post of the 6th junior (jong)