I40 SOCIAL REFORMAlthough Fan preferred the older system of the Former Han by which top offi-
cials selected candidates by reviewing their life histories and examining their
merits, he conceded that during the decade ofTso's incumbency his reforms had
been effective. 56 Tso's contemporaries like Chang Heng (ca. 126-45), however,
did not fail to notice that written examinations were more likely to test one's
skill with the pen than one's capacity for virtue, a complaint that was repeated
frequently after the permanent adoption of the examination system in 606.57
Sui and T'ang: The Evils of the Examination System
The reunification of China under the Sui dynasty in the late sixth century marked
the end of the Chung-cheng and chiu-p 'in systems and the beginning of the exam-
ination system and the bureaucratization of appointment procedures. 58 Con-
temporary historians of China have usually seen the examination system of the
Sui and rang dynasties as striking a serious blow at the old aristocracy because
it allowed people from lower strata to move up the social ladder, and increased
the power of the throne at the expense of the social elite. 59 Yu's Chinese sources
did not explicitly attribute the weakening of the aristocracy to the examination
system, but he might have drawn this conclusion anyway but for two important
factors. The Chinese writers he studied were almost totally consumed with the
flaws in the examination system rather than any benefits it might have conferred
because they felt that it was as far removed from the ancient Chinese ideals of
education and recruitment as the Chung-cheng system.
One of the main criticisms involved has already been mentioned, the misuse
of the written word itself, which was supposed to remain a neutral instrument
for conveying the moral truths of the sages. Instead, it had become the end rather
than the means of education. The moralists constantly deplored the loss of moral
understanding produced by excessive respect for skill in the formalistic use of
language, the style of prose. or in the composition of tasteful and aesthetically
pleasing poetry.
One writer of the Sui remarked that the desks of the scholars of the Southern
dynasties were piled high with slips of paper devoted to lyrical meanderings on
the moon, dewdrops, wind, and clouds.6o Liu Yao acknowledged that the
ancients used poetry to illustrate and enhance the emotions proper to loyalty
and filial piety but criticized the exaltation of writing skill and style over moral
behavior.
Liu Chih argued that in ancient times the purpose of poetry was to allow the
people to communicate their feelings, even their ridicule, to their rulers, imply-
ing that grace of expression would soften the otherwise harsh and disrespectful
edge of more direct prose. Now, unfortunately, style was everything, and as The
Book of History made clear: "If you choose men on the basis of their words,
they will represent themselves by their words; if you select them on the basis
of their deeds, they will represent themselves on the basis of their deeds."6!
Hsieh Ch'ien-kuan and others pointed to the total lack of utility in education.