VOLUME IV, CHAPTER 5
The Examination System Is Not History, It Is a Present Law
Part One finished with enfeoffment and made clear how a position comes to be. But enfeoffment settles only half of it. The position exists, so who fills it? This Part is about the examination system, a thing one layer above enfeoffment: how the people in the positions get chosen. This chapter has three sections that set out its three joints. The first lays down a judgment that may surprise you: the examination system is not a thing in history, it is running this very moment, and it began the instant a child first sat down in a classroom, assessment, merit selection, streaming, and rising running through nearly the whole of a modern working life. The second is about the will of the people, the face of enfeoffment that runs from below: a person may test brilliantly and is still only nominated to the position, and to sit in it steadily takes the acceptance of six layers, superiors, peers, subordinates, local gentry, the common people, and history. The third is about the enlightened ruler, the face of enfeoffment that runs from above: a person with ability and with the people behind him still has to meet someone above who can recognize talent, dare to use it, protect it, tolerate it, and cede the seat. This chapter shows one thing clearly: the examination sifts people out, but what lets a person truly hold the seat and spend his ability is the two faces of enfeoffment, the will of the people and the enlightened ruler.
Chapter contents
Section One. The child sits down in the classroom, and the examination begins
Section Two. The will of the people, enfeoffment runs from below
Section Three. The enlightened ruler who knows talent, five things one can do
Credit to the ancestors; the mistakes are mine: Tiger Lyon.
Section One. The child sits down in the classroom, and the examination begins