A Comparison of Western Civil Service System and Chinese Imperial Examination System

By He Xiaoshuang

In partial fulfillment of the requirement

For the B. A. degree

Department of English

School of Language and Culture

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

May 20，2016

Acknowledgment

For this graduation thesis, first I’d like to show my appreciation to my supervisor Mr. Zhang, who took time from his busy schedule and gave me valuable advice which really matters to my paper, such as how to choose an appropriate topic and how to consult literature. It might be impossible for me to complete this graduation thesis without his careful reading, comprehensive consideration and expert instructions. Beyond that, I would like to avail myself with this opportunity to thank all teachers and professors in school of English Department, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, whose devoted teaching and enlightening lectures have benefited me a lot. Finally, I wish to acknowledge my friends and classmates for their invaluable support and help during the writing of this graduation thesis, especially to Danping, Lv, who are always around me when I need her.

A Comparison of Western Civil Service System and Chinese Imperial Examination System

He Xiaoshuang

Department of English

School of Language and Culture

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

Abstract: Western civil service system is built up on the basis of Chinese ancient imperial examination system in accordance with the requirement of Western civilization. Compared with contemporary Western system, we can say that ancient Chinese officers-selecting system is undoubtedly more advanced and comprehensive. However, as the civil service system is in full swing with the western countries, the Chinese imperial examination system has come to an end. Modern Chinese people re-established the civil servant system but it draws on rational part of the Western Civil Service system in turn. The paper presents a brief analysis of the mutual benefit between imperial examination system and the Western civil service system, which is embodied in cultural exchange and collision.

Key words: Chinese imperial examination system; Western civil service system; cultural exchange and collision

摘要：在借鉴中国古代科举制的基础上，西方文官制度依据其自身发展需要建立起来。可以说中国古代的选官制度——科举制，相比同时代西方的选官制度来说，无疑是具备更多超前因素的。然而，当文官制度在西方各国如火如荼地建立和发展的时候，中国的科举制却走到了尽头。此后，中国人在不断的摸索中重新建立起来的现代公务员制度，却反过来借鉴了西方文官制度的优秀的合理元素。本文简要评述了科举制和西方文官制度相互学习和共同促进过程中所表现的文化融合与文化碰撞。

关键词：中国科举制度；西方文官制度；文化冲击与碰撞，文化影响与借鉴

Contents

1. Introduction - 2 -

2. Chinese Imperial Examination System - 2 -

2.1 Examinees of Imperial Examination - 2 -

2.2 Form and Content of Imperial Examination - 3 -

2.3 Bottleneck effect in Imperial Examination - 4 -

3. Chinese Imperial Examination System Spread to the West - 4 -

3.1 The Role of Missionaries in the Spread of Imperial Examination System - 5 -

3.2 The Impacts of Imperial Examination System on Western Civil Service System - 5 -

4. Western Civil Service System - 6 -

4.1 The Inheritance of Western Civil Service System from Chinese Imperial Examination System - 6 -

4.1.1 The Open and Fair Competition of the Examination - 7 -

4.1.2 The principle of survival of the fittest - 7 -

4.1.3 Strict Legal Protection for examination - 8 -

4.2 Self Development of Western Civil Service System - 8 -

4.2.1 Improvement of Examination mechanism - 8 -

4.2.2 The Improvement of the Test form and Test Content - 9 -

4.2.3 The Refinement of Occupation Categories - 10 -

4.2.4 The Perfection of Corresponding Laws and Regulations - 10 -

4.2.5 The improvement of evaluation mode and promotion mechanism - 11 -

5. Different Outcomes from Chinese Imperial Examination System and Western Civil Service System - 11 -

5.1. Tragic End of Chinese Imperial Examination System - 11 -

5.2. Long-run Development and Evolution of Western Civil Service System - 12 -

6. The Inspiration of Western Civil Service System for Modern Civil Servant System in China - 13 -

6.1. Public Examinations and Merit-based Enrollment - 13 -

6.2. Civil Servant Training - 14 -

6.3. Legal Construction and Moral Construction - 14 -

7. Conclusion - 15 -

Reference - 16 -

1. Introduction

Chinese imperial examination system is a political system to select officials through public examination and it is the first civil service examination system in the world. Encyclopedia Britannica reads: “We know the first examination system in the world was used in China, which includes the electoral system and regularly tests.” And Sun Yat-sen said, "Almost all of the examination systems in the world now are learning from Britain. But quest for the root, the British examination system learned from our Chinese.” Therefore, when talking about the Western civil service system, no one can exclude the effect of Chinese imperial examination system.

Western civil service system is an integral part in the system of government, but also a more typical and perfect officer-selecting system. Britain was the first country to establish the civil service system in the world and this system has a history of over 100 years. However, the principle of the civil service system still stands, and provides a very useful experience for the reform and improvement of China's civil service system.

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