Part I. Becoming mainstream : "Way Learning" during the late empire: Ming Imperial Power, Cultural Politics, and Civil Examinations -- Ming to Qing: "Way Learning" Standards and the 8-Legged Essay
Part II. Unintended consequences of civil examinations Circulation of Ming-Qing Elites: Circulation of Ming-Qing elites -- Classical literacy in Late Imperial China -- Anxiety, Dreams, and the Examination Life
Part III. Retooling civil examinations to suit changing times: Limits of Dynastic Power -- From Ming to Qing Policy Questions -- Curricular Reform: From Qing to the Taipings.
Appendixes: 1. Dates of Chinese Dynasties. 2. Emperors of the Great Ming (1368– 1644). 3. Emperors of the Great Qing (1644– 1911).

"During China's late imperial period (roughly 1400-1900 CE), men would gather by the millions every two or three years outside official examination compounds sprinkled across China. Only one percent of candidates would complete the academic regimen that would earn them a post in the administrative bureaucracy. Civil Examinations assesses the role of education, examination, and China's civil service in fostering the world's first professional class based on demonstrated knowledge and skill."--Jacket.

Access online via Gleeson Library
Local access dig.pdf. [Elman-Civil Exams Meritocracy.pdf]

Rethinking the historical roots of late imperial civil examinations -- Imperial power, cultural politics, and civil examination in the early Ming -- Institutional dynamics and the mobilization of elites in late imperial civil examinations -- Examination compounds and the limits of dynastic power -- Classical literacy and the social dimensions of late imperial civil examinations -- Emotional anxiety, dreams of success, and the examination life -- The cultural scope of civil examinations and the eight-legged essay among elites -- Examiner standards, literati interpretation, and limits to the dynasitc control of knowledge -- Natural studies, history, and Han learning in civil examinations -- Acceleration of curricular reform under Ch'ing rule before 1800 -- Delegitimation and decanonization : the pitfalls of late Ch'ing examination reform -- Appendix 1 : civil examination primary sources, 1148-1904 -- Appendix 2 : civil examination primary sources in the Mormon genealogical library -- Appendix 3 : tables -- Appendix 4 : timelines for civil examination curriculum change, 650-1905 -- Appendix 5 : major types of civil examination sources besides gazetteers.

Physical copy Gleeson Library
Local access dig.pdf. [Elman-Civil_Exams.pdf]