Chinese Education

"Schooling in imperial China reflected social class background to a very great extent.  Although private schools existed for the children of merchants and artisans, as did private tutors, the focus of most schooling in China was on the preparation of the sons of the elite for the imperial civil service examinations." - Developing the Chun-tzu

The traditional Chinese education used to be a system where only the elite would be able to stay on time whereas the poorer people had to remain in the same socioeconomic status their past generations have been living in.  After the fall of the Mongol's, China recognized the importance of education and took radical steps to changing the system so that an equal opportunity would be given to all, no matter what their economic status may be like.  That was the beginning of the Chun-tzu.

The Chun-tzu was an interesting take on how to make the education system on level playing field because the outcome was not so that a person would get to attend college nor was it a certification to becoming a professional in a specific field.  This test was set to determine who would be able to work in the government and/or for the emperor.  Holding a position in these ranks would qualify you as one of the elites and certainly would bring much wealth, fame, and honor to your name as well as your family.  The rich along with the poor were allowed to take this test and the person that scored the highest would be given the highest position in the government and those that followed would be given positions according to their ranking.  These tests were very long, tedious, and difficult because of all the memorization that is done in preparation for this very important exam and only a small percent would be given government positions.