 In 1885, he obtained the position of a "juren" () in the imperial examination and was appointed as a "houren langzhong" ().When Cen Yuying died in 1889, the government took into consideration his service to the Qing Empire and decided to appoint Cen Chunxuan as a "shaoqing" (少卿; a fourth-grade official position) in the Taipusi (), a government agency in charge of the imperial transport system.In 1898, the Guangxu Emperor personally interviewed and tested Cen and was so impressed with his response that he made an exception by promoting Cen to the position of a "buzhengshi" (布政使; a second-grade official position) in Guangdong.