Hello.
Calligraphy skills were indeed an important part of the Chinese
Imperial Examination system through which bureaucratic jobs were
awarded.
Here are a number of references:
"During the Song dynasty, a new meritocracy of scholar-officials
emerged as a potent cultural force, as a result of civil service
examinations that placed a premium on the command of literature,
history, and calligraphy."
From the description of an exhibition called, "The Embodied Image:
Chinese Calligraphy from the John B. Elliott Collection" on the web
site of the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/EmbodiedImageCalligraphy/chinese_more.htm
"The imperial system of civil service examinations in China, which
endured until the early twentieth century, required scholar officials
to be versed in the classics and practitioners of calligraphy and
poetry."
From the preface to the book, "The Art of Writing: Teachings of the
Chinese Masters." Edited by Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping. Published by
Shambhala in 1996. On the web site of Barnstone.com:
http://www.barnstone.com/Books/artofwriting.html
"In addition to a hereditary aristocracy, the governing elite was
composed of scholar-officials recruited on the basis of merit through
civil examinations open to all. Many Chinese painters of the middle
Ming period were themselves officials, a situation unparalleled in the
West. The idea of artist-officials arose naturally in China, where
candidates for government were expected to practice calligraphy and
compose poetry."
From Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration, a pamphlet of the
National Gallery of Art, 1992.
Formerly on the web site of Columbia University, now cached by Google:
http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:M1q_vJTfiFQC:afe.easia.columbia.edu/teachingaids/china/trad/golden.htm+calligraphy+chinese+%22civil+service%22+examinations&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&client=googlet
"District exams included testing the candidate on his knowledge of the
classics, the ability compose poetry on given subjects using set
poetic forms and calligraphy."
From the web page, "The Chinese Imperial Examination System" at
California State University - Pomona :
http://www.csupomona.edu/~plin/ls201/confucian3.html
"The Tang era produced renewed urban expansion; renaissance in the
arts, scholarship, and invention; institutionalized education and
civil service exams for the (shi) scholar-bureaucrat testing knowledge
of imperial dynasties, painting, calligraphy, poetry, law,
mathematics, and astronomy."
From the web page, "Tang, Song, Yuan, & Ming Dynasties," at Central
Oregon Community College:
http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum210/tml/ChinaTML/chinatml3.htm
"The Qing government required intellectuals nationwide to write the
so-called Guange Style (Office Style) of calligraphy, which was
uniformed, smooth, dark and clear. It was a must. Otherwise, they
could not pass the national imperial examinations to become
officials."
From the lecture, "New Trends in Chinese Calligraphy (1898-1998)" by
Yingshi Yang:
http://www.asiawind.com/art/callig/modern.htm
"The ascendancy of intellectuals started with the Song Dynasty
recruitment of scholars for elite bureaucratic posts through open
exams that tested their artistry in calligraphy and their knowledge of
classic texts."
From the article, "Scholars Take the Measure of China's
Intellectuals,"
International Herald Tribune; Paris; Dec 22, 2000; Thomas Crampton;
(article found through searching an offline database).
search terms: calligraphy, chinese, civil service, civil servants,
exams, examinations, bureaucrats, bureaucracy.
I hope this helps. Good luck with your research. |
