Affirmative Action
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In the Ming dynasty, civil servants were selected on the basis of the imperial examinations just like the Tang and Song dynasties before.
Traditionally southern China was culturally more advanced than northern China. As a result, those who passed the imperial examinations had mostly been southerners. The result of the examination in 1397 was more extreme. Not a single northerner passed the exam. This caused an outcry among northerners who accused the chief examiner, a southerner, of discriminating against them.
The founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, ordered an investigation which revealed no foul play. Nevertheless the northerners were not satisfied and social unrest was looming. The emperor decided to allow sixty-two northerners to pass the examination because northerners were needed in the civil service to help maintain social order and political stability in the north.
It was not until twenty-five years later that imbalance was redressed once and for all. Under the instruction of Emperor Renzong, the fourth emperor of Ming, his ministers devised a quota system to guarantee that there would be forty northerners and sixty southerners every year to pass the imperial examinations.
Emperor Renzong was satisfied with the new system. He said, “Northerners will be discouraged if they cannot pass the examination. Under the new system, they will be motivated to work hard and make a career in the civil service.”
The quota system was later refined. The examination paper of each candidate would be marked “South”, “North”, and “Central” according to where he came from and successful candidates were selected from each province to work in the civil service. Consequently the rule of the central government was strengthened.
The Qing dynasty, which succeeded the Ming, kept the system.
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Wise Proverbs
- A single tree cannot make a forest.
- 独木不成林。
- A single flower does not make a spring.
- 一花独放不是春，百花齐放春满园。
- A great ocean can accommodate hundreds of rivers, for it is open and forbearing.
- 海纳百川，有容乃大。
Editor Says:
The affirmative action taken by the emperor addressed the very purpose of the imperial examination which was to select civil servants. While it might be unfair to southerners, the affirmative action served a larger purpose of the nation.