 The Hongwu emperor from 1373 to 1384 staffed his bureaus with officials gathered through recommendations only . After that the scholar @-@ officials who populated the many ranks of bureaucracy were recruited through a rigorous examination system that was initially established by the Sui dynasty ( 581 – 618 ) . Theoretically the system of exams allowed anyone to join the ranks of imperial officials ( although it was frowned upon for merchants to join ) ; in reality the time and funding needed to support the study in preparation for the exam generally limited participants to those already coming from the landholding class . However , the government did exact provincial quotas while drafting officials . This was an effort to curb monopolization of power by landholding gentry who came from the most prosperous regions , where education was the most advanced . The expansion of the printing industry since Song times enhanced the spread of knowledge and number of potential exam candidates throughout the provinces . For young schoolchildren there were printed multiplication tables and primers for elementary vocabulary ; for adult examination candidates there were mass @-@ produced , inexpensive volumes of Confucian classics and successful examination answers . 
