Yet Keju directly influenced civil service examinations in the West: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination#In_the_West https://en.wikipedia.org/wik

Yet Keju directly influenced civil service examinations in the West: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination#In_the_West https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination#In_the_We... The thing about socio-political systems is that their innovativeness doesn't last forever. Keju was innovative in the pre-industrial age because it provided a path to social mobility for those not born into hereditary nobility. Meanwhile European monarchs in the Early Modern era relied on nobility, landed gentry, and the clergy in administering their realms, none of which had academic competency as a requirement to entry. Of course, by the 19th century this has fallen dreafully behind as Keju curriculums were never updated to fit an evolving world. Confucian Classics were no better than the Bible or the Quran at guiding the development of elecrical generators, excavating coal, synthesizing chemicals, or smelting steel. At some point in the future, our current model of measuring academic competency will be seen as rigid and obsolete too. Standardized examinations aren't unique to China. The cut-throatness is a byproduct of China's large population base combined with limited possibilities of upward mobility due to its status as a developing economy not aligned with the most advanced economic bloc on the planet. >Keju was so precocious that it pre-empted and displaced an emergent society. Meritocracy empowered the Chinese state at a time when society was still at an embryonic stage. Massive resources and administrative manpower were poured into Keju such that it completely eclipsed all other channels of upward mobility that could have emerged. What pre-empted and displaced an emergent society was the creation and re-creation of unified imperial dynasties where emeperors were despots who were occasionally enlightened at best. Wealthy merchants existed in every Chinese Dynasty and "Ten Great Merchant Guilds" dominated the economic landscape of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The upper bound of society was not limited by Keju, but by China's position as an unchallenged hegemon in its sphere of influence until the industrial revolution.