rank. If the jangwon was already employed in a position of rank, he was raised 4 levels. The candidates with second and third highest scores were given posts of the 7th junior rank. The rest were not guaranteed a post, but had to wait until one became vacant. The miscellaneous examinations had only the first two stages; their candidates were not ranked. Testing procedures were a frequent flashpoint of controversy, with various factions vying for control of the examination criteria. In particular, the question of whether the first phase of the higher examination should be oral or written became a hot topic of debate in early Joseon. Literary examinations The literary examination was divided into a lower and higher examination. In turn, in the lower literary examination some candidates applied for a "classics licentiate" (or saengwon) and others for a "literary licentiate" (or jinsa). After passing these lower examinations (saengjin-gwa), they could proceed to the higher examination. This lower examination may have originated in the entrance examinations for the Gukjagam of Goryeo. In the lower examination, the literary licentiate tested compositional skill in various forms of Chinese poetry and prose, including shi poetry, fu rhyming prose, piao documentary prose, and ts'e problem-essays. The classics licentiate tested knowledge of the Four Books and Five Classics from an orthodox Neo-Confucian interpretation. From each regular administration of the test, a total of 100 successful candidates were selected for each licentiate. These were drawn from a pool of 600 (for each licentiate), of which 200 were chosen from the capital and 400 were apportioned from the various provinces. The higher literary examination was administered every three years, and a total of 33 successful candidates were selected from a pool of 240. These 240, in turn, were sent from the Seonggyungwan (50), the capital (40), and the Eight Provinces (the number sent from each province varied, with Hwanghae and Yeongan sending only 10 while Gyeongsang sent 30). Each of the first two of the higher examination was in turn divided into three parts: in the first section, the candidates showed their understanding of the Confucian canon, in the second part they demonstrated their ability to compose in various literary forms, and in the last portion they wrote a problem-essay which was intended to show their political aptitude. Over the course of the Joseon Dynasty, a total of 14,620 men passed the literary examination. The triennial