Good article review about choson civil service exams

The first part explains the purpose and role of civil service examination. It aims at picking out selective men who are good. They are singled out because their talents, abilities and skills, are needed by the government. The second part describes how civil service examinations are utilised currently. There are new examinations which add more names to potential civil servants. This comes before these potential men are cleared as qualified and fit for government service. These additional exams include those held on important anniversaries, at the National Academy for the students, on the provincial level and on occasions of joy for the birth of the crown prince. Thirdly, elaboration is made on why civil service examinations are used to obtain competent civil servants. The examinations are designed to asses’ candidates on their ability to read and write in agreement with the currently accepted standard essay format.
Candidates taking exams are advised to master both writing of rhyme-pose, poetry and the required prose styles in memorials. In addition, they must be able to reproduce the special prose text required for answering questions about these classics. There have been several cases of cheating in examinations. One of the common ways of cheating is the case where candidates take a chance and use other candidate’s words. When results are out, some candidates pass and others fail. Those who pass are directly appointed to public offices.
Civil service examination has changed over a long range if time. In the past, a maximum of four hundred students was recorded to sit for the examination. These candidates were summoned to be presented to the court. This is completely different for these days. There are one hundred times as many of them and exams are conducted in examination halls.