Gwageo
The ' or kwagŏ were the national civil service examinations' under the Goryeo and Joseon periods of Korea. These typically demanding tests measured candidates' ability of writing composition and knowledge of the Chinese classics. The form of writing varied from literature to proposals on management of the state. Technical subjects were also tested to appoint experts on medicine, interpretation, accounting, law etc. These were the primary route for most people to achieve positions in the bureaucracy.
Based on the civil service examinations of imperial China, the first arose in Unified Silla, gained importance in Goryeo, and were the centerpiece of most education in the Joseon dynasty. The tutelage provided at the hyanggyo, seowon, and Sungkyunkwan was aimed primarily at preparing students for the and their subsequent career in government service. Under Joseon law, high office was closed to those who were not children of officials of the second full rank or higher, unless the candidate had passed the. Those who passed the higher literary examination came to monopolize all of the dynasty's high positions of state.
Overview
Korea started implementing examinations for the selection of administrative posts during the Silla period and some Sillans even took the imperial exam in the Tang dynasty, receiving degrees after passing it. In 788, under the influence of Confucian scholar Ch'oe Ch'i-wŏn, Silla implemented an exam system that allowed lower nobility to take exams without attending the Gukhak, which was a national education institution exclusive to the aristocracy.During the Goryeo period, a Chinese style civil service examination system was imported from China through the Hanlin scholar Shuang Ji, who visited Goryeo in 958. Shuang Ji was invited by Gwangjong of Goryeo to stay at his court permanently and set up the civil examination system. According to a Song dynasty writer named Xu Jing, the Korean examination recruitment system was largely the same as the Chinese one with some differences. Unlike in China, the examination papers were written in both the Idu script and Classical Chinese. The exam takers did not sit in separate cells like in China, but rather sat on the ground in the open under sunshades.
By the end of the Goryeo period, a military exam had been added, the triennial schedule observed, and the exam hierarchy organized into provincial, metropolitan, and palace levels, similar to the Chinese. Other practices, such as the inclusion of exams on Buddhism and the worship of Confucius, were particular to Korea and not shared with China. Outside China, the examination system was most widely implemented in Korea, with enrollment rates surpassing even that of China. In theory, any free man was able to take the examinations, but in practice the yangban aristocratic class eventually monopolized the system. At the start of the Joseon period, 33 candidates were selected from every triennial examination, and the number increased to 50 later on. In comparison, China's selected candidates after each palace examination were no more than 40 to 300 from the Tang to Ming dynasties while encompassing a landmass six times larger than Korea. By the Joseon period, high offices were closed to aristocrats who had not passed the exams. Over the span of 600 years, the Joseon civil service selected more than 14,606 candidates in the highest level examinations on 744 occasions. The examination system continued until 1894 when it was abolished by the Gabo Reform.
Pre-Joseon
Silla
In the 7th century, the Gukhak of Silla taught its students the Confucian Classics and assigned its graduates into three categories based on their knowledge of Confucian literature. The graduates were all invariably members of the aristocracy and were appointed to administrative posts.The first national examinations were administered in the kingdom of Silla beginning in 788 after the Confucian scholar Ch'oe Ch'i-wŏn submitted the Ten Urgent Points of Reform to Queen Jinseong, the ruler of Silla at the time. The exam system, known as Sambun-gwa, allowed lower nobility to take the exams without attending the Gukhak. However the exams were still only available to aristocrats.
In the 9th century, Koreans directly participated in the Chinese imperial examination system and as many as 88 Sillans received degrees after passing the Tang examinations.
Goryeo
In 958, an envoy from the Hanlin Academy of Later Zhou named Shuang Ji visited Kaesong and advised Gwangjong of Goryeo to establish a Chinese style civil service examination system. Gwangjong was highly pleased with Shuang Ji and requested that he remain at the Korean court permanently. The examination system expanded the bureaucracy and opened it to a wider demographic, breaking the hold of a few powerful families over the government. Throughout the dynasty, they retained this character of strengthening the throne against the aristocracy. This also took the form of aligning the throne with the provincial elites, and the kings of Goryeo strove to extend educational opportunities to the local elites throughout the country. Any member of the yangmin freeborn class was permitted to take the examination, although the descendants of monks, criminals and cheonmin were excluded.The major examinations were literary, and came in two forms: a composition test, and a test of classical knowledge. The composition test, which tested Chinese literary forms, came to be viewed as more prestigious, and its successful applicants were divided into three grades. On the other hand, successful candidates of the classical examination, which tested for knowledge on the Confucian Classics, were not ranked. In the course of the dynasty, some 6000 men passed the composition examination, while only about 450 passed the classics examination. These tests were supposed to be held on a triennial basis, but in practice it was common for them to be held at other times as well.
The classics examination was revised in 1344, under the reign of Chunghye, on the model of the examination system then employed in the Yuan dynasty. The Yuan examination hierarchy of local, provincial, and metropolitan exams were instituted in 1369 by Yi Saek. The former examination system based on the traditional classics was replaced with one based on Neo-Confucian interpretations of the classics. By 1390 there was a military exam. The national examinations became more systematic and powerful under Goryeo than they had been under Silla. However, they remained only one among several avenues to power. A man who had reached a position of the fifth rank or higher could automatically have one son placed in a position of rank. Over time government-run educational institutions such as the hyanggyo and Gukjagam lost ground to private institutions like the Twelve Assemblies.
There were other miscellaneous examinations that were administered in various fields. One among them was Buddhism; monks who passed received a special clerical title, beginning with daeseon, or "monk designate." The Buddhist examinations were ended in the 15th century as part of a Buddhism suppression campaign. Another examination was the chapkwa, which tested fields such as law, mathematics, medicine, p'ungsu, and divination. The chapkwa examination was mainly taken by the jungin upper middle class.
Joseon
Under the Joseon Dynasty, the examinations fell under three broad categories: the literary examinations, military examinations, and miscellaneous examinations covering topics such as medicine, geography, astronomy, and translation. As other roads to advancement were much more closed than during the Goryeo period, the became virtually the only pathway to a position of rank.In theory, anyone other than nobi could take examinations, but in reality only yangban who had the luxury of spending much of their childhood and early adulthood studying could hope to pass the exam. In the case of literary administration, children of remarried women, concubines, and officials who were dismissed for corruption were excluded from taking the exam. examinations were very important not only for an individual but for his family because a yangban family that did not produce a government official for four generations lost their status as yangban.
When writing the examination, candidates had to record the names and positions of their four great-grandfathers. The higher literary examination was restricted to those who either were already in a position of rank, or who had already passed the lower examination. The miscellaneous examinations were looked down upon by the yangban, and were generally restricted to the chungin class of hereditary technical workers. Criteria for the military examination varied, but over time it became open even to members of the lowest class.
The provided a basis for various forms of regionalism. Due to the strength of regional factions in Joseon Dynasty politics, scholars from out-of-favor factions often did not bother to take the examination at all. In the late Joseon Dynasty, an increasing percentage of successful candidates came from the northern province of Pyongan, and the small county of Chŏngju came to produce more successful candidates than any other county.
Administration
The were originally administered every three years; these regular examinations were known as the singnyeonsi. However, the singnyeonsi became less important over time, and an increasing percentage of candidates took the on special occasions. These included the alseongsi, which were administered when the king visited the Shrine of Confucius at the Seonggyungwan royal academy, the jeunggwangsi held during national celebrations, and the byeolsi held on other special occasions. However, these special examinations were usually limited to the literary and military examinations. Over the course of the dynasty, a total of 581 irregular examinations were held, in comparison to 163 of the triennial singneonsi examinations.The literary and military examinations were administered in three stages: an initial qualifying test administered in the provinces, a second examination conducted in the capital, and a third examination in the presence of the king, in which the successful candidates were ranked in order. Each stage was norm-referenced, with a set number of successful applicants. The candidate who received the highest score in the literary examination was given a post of the 6th junior rank. If the jangwon was already employed in a position of rank, he was raised 4 levels. The candidates with second and third highest scores were given posts of the 7th junior rank. The rest were not guaranteed a post, but had to wait until one became vacant. The miscellaneous examinations had only the first two stages; their candidates were not ranked.
Testing procedures were a frequent flashpoint of controversy, with various factions vying for control of the examination criteria. In particular, the question of whether the first phase of the higher examination should be oral or written became a hot topic of debate in early Joseon.