The Final Curtain Call on Imperial Examinations

On July 4, 1904, as dawn broke over Beijing’s Forbidden City, 273 solemn men filed through the Zhongzuo Gate toward the Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohedian). These were not ordinary candidates—they were gongshi, the empire’s most elite scholars who had triumphed in provincial and metropolitan exams. Now, they stood at the precipice of their ultimate challenge: the palace examination (dianshi), personally presided over by the emperor.

Unbeknownst to them, history would mark this as the last imperial examination—not just for the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) but for China’s 1,300-year civil service system. Within a year, the court would abolish the exams, replacing them with modern schools. The top candidate crowned that day, Liu Chunlin, became a living paradox: the first-ranked scholar of a terminated tradition.

The Evolution and Crisis of Keju

China’s imperial examination system (keju), established during the Sui Dynasty (581–618), was a revolutionary meritocracy. By the Qing era, candidates endured six grueling tiers:

1. County exams (xianshi) → Tongsheng (entry-level scholars)
2. Prefectural exams (fushi)
3. Academy exams (yuanshi) → Xiucai (qualified scholars)
4. Provincial exams (xiangshi) → Juren (recommended men, eligible for office)
5. Metropolitan exams (huishi) → Gongshi (tribute scholars)
6. Palace exams (dianshi) → Jinshi (advanced scholars, ranked in three classes)

The 1904 exam reflected desperate reforms. After the humiliating Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901), even the conservative Qing court acknowledged the system’s obsolescence. Gone were the rigid Eight-Legged Essays; instead, questions fused classical knowledge with pressing issues:

– Modern governance: How to train officials in policing, diplomacy, and industry?
– Military reform: Comparing ancient Chinese and contemporary global armies.
– Fiscal policy: Contrasting traditional taxation with Western budgeting.
– Education’s role: Combating corruption among scholars.

One question starkly revealed the era’s tensions: “The U.S. Chinese Exclusion Act renews this year. How should China leverage international law to amend this unjust treaty?” Such topics demanded worldly awareness—a far cry from rote Confucian memorization.

The Controversial Coronation

At dawn on July 7, 1904, the candidates assembled at the Qianqing Gate. When the grand secretary announced “Liu Chunlin!” as the top scorer, it sparked enduring legends.

The most persistent tale involves Empress Dowager Cixi’s interference. Initially, top honors allegedly belonged to Zhu Ruzhen, a scholar from Guangdong—a region Cixi loathed for producing reformers like Kang Youwei. Worse, his name contained “Zhen”, evoking her drowned rival, Consort Zhen.

Liu’s scroll, placed second, reportedly won Cixi’s favor:
– His calligraphy dazzled with elegant kaishu (regular script).
– His name, “Spring Rain After Long Drought”, seemed auspicious.
– His hometown, Sunning (“Tranquil Peace”), resonated with her desires.

Historical records remain ambiguous. Some argue the top ten scrolls were anonymized; others cite third-ranked Shang Yanliu’s memoir confirming rank adjustments. Regardless, Liu’s victory became symbolic—a reformed yet doomed system’s final laureate.

A Scholar in a Shattering World

### From Humble Origins to Palace Honors
Born in 1872 to a Hebei peasant family, Liu’s path defied Qing laws barring yamen clerks’ descendants from exams. Adopted by an uncle, he studied at Baoding’s Lianchi Academy, where reformist educator Wu Rulun blended classical texts with Western political theory.

His 1904 triumph followed a steady ascent:
– 1890: Xiucai at 18
– 1902: Juren at 30
– 1904: Jinshi and Zhuangyuan (top scholar) at 32

### Political Whiplash: Reformist to “Old Guard”
Liu’s post-exam trajectory mirrored China’s chaos:
– 1905–1908: Studied constitutional monarchy at Tokyo’s Hosei University.
– 1909–1911: Advocated for Qing reforms as a provincial assemblyman. His fiery critique of arbitrary bond issuances even challenged the regent, Prince Chun.

Yet the 1911 Revolution rendered him a “Qing loyalist”. By 1914, he served as President Yuan Shikai’s secretary—a role that later tarnished his legacy when he endorsed Yuan’s abortive monarchy (1915).

### Resistance and Redemption
Liu’s later years oscillated between compromise and defiance:
– 1917: Donned Qing robes to kneel during Zhang Xun’s brief restoration.
– 1931: Condemned Emperor Puyi’s divorce as “betraying ancestral laws.”
– 1934–1937: Refused positions in Japan’s puppet states, declaring: “The ruler is no longer the ruler; the subject no longer the subject!” After spurning the collaborator Wang Yitang, Japanese troops looted Liu’s home.

He spent his final years selling calligraphy—his exquisite xiaokai (small script) earned the adage “Learn Yan Zhenqing for large characters; Liu Chunlin for small.”

Legacy: The End of an Epoch

Liu’s death in 1944 (from heart disease) closed a symbolic chapter. His life encapsulated China’s painful transition:
– Cultural Impact: The exams’ abolition severed literati-official unity, destabilizing Confucian social order.
– Modern Parallels: Contemporary gaokao (college entrance exams) inherit keju’s meritocratic ideals—and criticisms of rigidity.
– Historical Irony: Liu, the system’s last perfect product, became its most poignant relic.

As China’s “first among lasts”, Liu Chunlin remains a contested figure—a reformer trapped by tradition, a loyalist who resisted occupation, and ultimately, a monument to a bygone intellectual world.