ureau cr ats ▁and ▁military ▁officers ▁who ▁were ▁collect ively ▁called ▁Yang ban . ▁By ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 8 th ▁century , ▁the ▁y ang ban ▁had ▁acquired ▁most ▁of ▁the ▁tra its ▁of ▁a ▁her edit ary ▁nob ility ▁except ▁that ▁the ▁status ▁was ▁based ▁on ▁a ▁unique ▁mixture ▁of ▁family ▁position , ▁g w age o ▁exam in ations ▁for ▁Conf u cian ▁learning , ▁and ▁a ▁civil ▁service ▁system . ▁The ▁family ▁of ▁a ▁y ang ban ▁who ▁did ▁not ▁succeed ▁to ▁become ▁a ▁government ▁official ▁for ▁the ▁third ▁generation ▁lost ▁their ▁y ang ban ▁status ▁and ▁became ▁common ers . ▁For ▁most ▁part , ▁the ▁only ▁way ▁to ▁become ▁a ▁government ▁official ▁was ▁to ▁pass ▁a ▁series ▁of ▁g w age o ▁ex ams ▁( One ▁had ▁to ▁pass ▁" less er ▁g w age o " ▁exam ▁( 소 과 ) ▁in ▁both ▁of ▁two ▁stages ▁to ▁qual ify ▁for ▁greater ▁g w age o ▁exam , ▁which ▁again ▁one ▁had ▁to ▁pass ▁in ▁both ▁of ▁two ▁stages ▁to ▁become ▁a ▁government ▁official .) ▁The ▁y ang ban ▁and ▁the ▁king , ▁in ▁an ▁une asy ▁balance , ▁controlled ▁the ▁central ▁government ▁and ▁military ▁institutions . ▁The ▁proportion ▁of ▁y ang ban ▁may ▁have ▁reached ▁as ▁high ▁as ▁ 3 0 % ▁by ▁ 1 8 0 0 , ▁due ▁to ▁the ▁later ▁practices ▁of ▁transaction ▁of ▁y ang ban ▁status ▁to ▁pe as ants , ▁although ▁there ▁was ▁considerable ▁local ▁variation . ▁As ▁the