<P> The examination helped to shape China 's intellectual , cultural , political , shopping , arts and crafts , and religious life . The increased reliance on the exam system was in part responsible for Tang dynasty shifting from a military aristocracy to a gentry class of scholar - bureaucrats . Starting with the Song dynasty , the system was regularized and developed into a roughly three - tiered ladder from local to provincial to court exams . The content was narrowed and fixed on texts of Neo-Confucian orthodoxy . By the Ming dynasty , the highest degree , the jinshi ( Chinese : 進士 ) , became essential for highest office , while there was a vast oversupply of holders of the initial degree , shengyuan ( 生 員 ) , who could not hope for office , though these were granted social privilege . Critics charged that the system stifled creativity and created officials who dared not defy authority , yet the system also continued to promote cultural unity . Wealthy families , especially from the merchant class , could opt into the system by educating their sons or purchasing degrees . In the 19th century , critics blamed the imperial system , and in the process its examinations , for China 's lack of technical knowledge and its defeat by foreign powers . </P>
<P> The examination helped to shape China 's intellectual , cultural , political , shopping , arts and crafts , and religious life . The increased reliance on the exam system was in part responsible for Tang dynasty shifting from a military aristocracy to a gentry class of scholar - bureaucrats . Starting with the Song dynasty , the system was regularized and developed into a roughly three - tiered ladder from local to provincial to court exams . The content was narrowed and fixed on texts of Neo-Confucian orthodoxy . By the Ming dynasty , the highest degree , the jinshi ( Chinese : 進士 ) , became essential for highest office , while there was a vast oversupply of holders of the initial degree , shengyuan ( 生 員 ) , who could not hope for office , though these were granted social privilege . Critics charged that the system stifled creativity and created officials who dared not defy authority , yet the system also continued to promote cultural unity . Wealthy families , especially from the merchant class , could opt into the system by educating their sons or purchasing degrees . In the 19th century , critics blamed the imperial system , and in the process its examinations , for China 's lack of technical knowledge and its defeat by foreign powers . </P>
han dynasty favored this religion and based civil service exams on it
han dynasty favored this religion and based civil service exams on it
Neo-Confucian
Neo-Confucian