Wanted to understand of the truth of the "Chinese Caste System" beyond the satire.
While it is basically irrelevant now (Hukou system is something else I'd say), there seems to be a myth of individual mobility being available to all.
While any male, regardless of birth, could take the exam in theory, actual practice meant:
-10-20 years of full-time study of Confucian classics
-The ability to write in classical Chinese
-Mastery of the 8-Legged Essay, a highly rigid composition with formal structural requirements
-Various other scholarly stipulations that most likely could not be afforded to 95%+ of Chinese males
This was all supposed to either self-taught or of course more commonly at the feet of an expensive tutor.
What about rich merchants at the bottom? Prior to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), they were banned from even participating.
So who actually took the exam?
In Benjamin Elman's book, Civil Examinations & meritocracy in Late Imperial China, he notes that while millions would gather every 2-3 years outside official exam compounds, only 1% of candidates actually completed the academic regimen to earn them a post in the imperial administrative bureaucracy.
During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), examinations were mostly concentrated amongst aristocratic families with 6,688 (or 20 individuals per year) breaking through the most prestigious ranks of jinshi.
The opposite end of this is the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), where 37-45% of top degree holders came from families with no prior official lineage for 3 generations. This is mobility, but it can also mean from gentry, not simply a poor peasant farmer. Nonetheless, only 26,840 achieved top ranks of jinshi (102 per year).
My point being, the idea of individual mobility is EXTREMELY overrated & on a societal level is essentially non-existent.
And that is actually fine. Most pre-industrial societies had low mobility in general.
It had failed multiples time.
During reign of Akbar, it failed so hard that even Jhelum dried up. Before that, it failed big at start of Anno Domini.
This year's monsoon failure was forecasted. One of the strongest El-Nino on record with neutral Indian Ocean Dipole.
@L5nc_Yu5_0sx1 Every major ancient civilization has been invaded by an outsider, yet we r the only nation still holding on to its native religion and traditions. Cant say the same for every other pre abrahmic nation out there, except arabia and levant obv.
Doesnt that say a lot?
@mainbhiengineer Because the ethanol stuff is linked to farmers now essentially.
Middle class just isnt a consistent and large enough voting bloc.
democracy is just a tetris game to get the biggest blocs to vote for u anywho