The Ebb And Flow Of The Imperial Examination System And It's Enlightenment On The Reform Of The College Entrance Examination In China

The Imperial Examination System is a kind of system of selecting the civil servants on the basis of examination. Originating from Sui Dynasty, it had undergone 6 dynasties for about 1,300. It has played a very important role in the education of the Chinese feudal society and in the modern education. The Imperial Examination System based on the principle of depending on your paper ,got rid of the family backgrounds and social system and conveyed the concept of fairness. In other words, everyone, whether he is poor or rich, noble or humble, can work in the government after passing the examination. It provided many excellent servants for the government which created novelty and equality in selecting excellent servants in ancient China and in the world. Many western scholars believe that the establishment of the Imperial Examination System is one of the great contributions to the western society and the world. In a way, the Imperial Examination System can be regarded as the fifth World Invention in ancient China.The formation and development of any system is related to its historical background and special needs. However, with the development of times, there are some factors inadaptable to the society, so is the Imperial Examination System. Therefore, focusing on rise and fall of the Imperial Examination System, this paper is trying to investigate the reasons of its coming and going, to evaluate it scientifically, to correct the wrong opinions about it in order to inherit and consult the positive ideas and get rid of and criticize the negative ones. Thus we can learn from its virtues and experiences of failure to find its true historical value to contribute to the world.Just as the college entrance examination is the focus of the modern society, so is the Imperial Examination System to the ancient society. Seen from its form and impact, in a way, the two have many similarities. Hence, studying the Imperial Examination System contributes greatly to the all kinds of examinations especially to the college entrance examination nowadays.Three methods used to investigate the rise and fall of the Imperial Examination System and its enlightenment to the college entrance examination are as follows: the research on bibliography, the research on history and the research on comparison. The paper investigates from the following four aspects: firstly, the question of the Imperial Examination System is raised and some concepts are explained. Secondly, the reasons of the rise and fall of the Imperial Examination System are analyzed and its reasons for existence, value, influence and defects are studied. Thirdly, the reasons for the Imperial Examination System and its enlightenment to the college entrance examination are related in detail. Fourthly, based on the former analysis, the future of reforming the modern college entrance examination is prospected. This study shows that these exam systems are closed related and the former has a great impact on the latter, and that reforming and perfecting the exam subjects, contents, methods and styles of the modern college entrance examination can help us to use it to advantage.The Imperial Examination System as an ancient examination system has disappeared already from history. However, as a cultural spirit, its advantages have a great influence on the modern exams and education.The modern college entrance examination and systems of state civil servants are connected closed with the Imperial Examination System in form and inherit its fairness in competition and contest mobility. Based on the former analysis, we can draw the conclusion that as the contest system, the college entrance examination must keep up with the times, regarding novelty and reform as its main regularity and characteristic, make a long term plan for the reform to make it the baton, understand the nature and phenomenon of the competition the college entrance examination and defects of the college entrance examination in China to find the excellent way of reform on the basis of the current situation, give the students the right to choose some subjects, provide more ways to select the excellent people and set up suitable laws of exam to protect the fairness of examinations.