With Sui dynasty origins and largely formalized in the T’ang and Sung dynasties, the imperial examination system of traditional China developed as a means to identify men of talent and select officials for government service. Practiced more than a thousand years, it came to an end in 1904 with the education reforms as part of modernization efforts at the end of the Ch’ing dynasty. To take part in the imperial examinations and be chosen as the elite of the “golden list” became the ultimate path to success in imperial China.
The “golden list” was announced by posting the names of those successful participants in the palace examinations and was also known as the “yellow edict,” so named because it was written on yellow imperial paper. In addition, because the list was issued by the emperor himself, it was called the “imperial edict.” In terms of the nature of historical documents, it belonged to “decrees,” meaning it was intended as a stock announcement for officials in general. It often began with the phrase, “The Emperor, who governs with the Mandate of Heaven, declares that…” and would end with “Let such be known by imperial manifestation.”
The third installment of “Highlights of Ch'ing Historical Documents” also includes displays of special loans from the collection of the Institute of History and Philology at Academia Sinica of the major and minor “golden lists” as well as the painting “Reviewing Examination Results” from the National Palace Museum collection along with other precious historical archives concerning the imperial examinations.
