REMOLDING THE RULING CLASS 129however, was less physical than social - demotion from the ranks of the privi-
leged scholar category and reduction to the rank of commoner.Student vs. Feudal Status: The Two-track SystemThere was no ambiguity in the understanding of the Chou model of schools and
recommendation in the minds of later scholars that the system produced a rul-
ing class of merit and worth defined in moral terms and that this moral elite
deserved to be afforded the marks and privileges of status through tax exemp-
tions, rank, and sumptuary advantages.^27 The model was unclear or contradic-
tory, however, about the degree to which the system of merit would interfere
with the inherited privileges of the feudal order in Chou times. The Shang-shu
ta-chiian commentary noted that in ancient times the eldest legitimate son
(chOkcha) usually assumed his father's office. The Wang -chih section of the Book
of Rites described the elite as consisting of the princes. queens, legitimate sons
of the high officials (kyi)ng), middle-rank officials (taehu), and lower-rank offi-
cials (w6nsa). A later commentator equated those of base status in society with
commoners and those of noble status with the hereditary salaried families. In
several instances the sons of this feudallbureaucratic elite were called "sons of
the state" (kukcha).28
One of the most interesting illustrations of the conflict hetween feudal inher-
itance and equal opportunity was atTorded by the remarks of a commentator on
the Wang-chih section of the Book of Rites, a Mr. Liu. According to him there
were two routes to schools and office in the Chou. The common people were
taught in the hyang or local schools, while the kukcha along with selected out-
standing commoners were taught in the National Academy (Kukhak). Those stu-
dents selected and promoted from the hyang schools. the selected scholars
(s6nsa), were appointed to, but could not be promoted above, regional orprovin-
cial official posts, while the advanced scholars (chinsa) chosen from the National
Academy could be appointed to posts at court or in the central government. In
other words, the distinction hetween sons of the nobility and high officials on
the one hand and commoners on the other was maintained by separate modes
of education and recruitment.
Nevertheless, some opportunity for the sons of commoners to hold high office
was allowed if the Ssu-t'u recommended them for promotion from the hyang
school to the National Academy. Once in the National Academy they were treated
as equal in status to the sons of the elite and could then be recommended for
promotion to high office. Another commentary on the Wang-chih also made the
point that the official in charge of instruction in the National Academy (the Lo-
cheng) ranked the students only according to age and not according to the noble
or base status of their fathers.29
This idealized model of the Chou system presumed a society in which two
contradictory principles operated without conflict. Hereditary privilege and sta-
tus was correct and proper for society at large and the sons of the elite rightfully