Editing Civil service (section)

====China====

===== History =====
One of the oldest examples of a civil service based on [[meritocracy]] is the Imperial bureaucracy of China, which can be traced as far back as the [[Qin dynasty]] (221–207 BC).
However, the civil service examinations were practiced on a much smaller scale in comparison to the stronger, centralized bureaucracy of the [[Song dynasty]] (960–1279). In response to the regional military rule of [[jiedushi]] and the loss of civil authority during the late Tang period and [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period|Five Dynasties]] (907–960), the Song emperors were eager to implement a system where civil officials would owe their social prestige to the central court and gain their salaries strictly from the central government. This ideal was not fully achieved since many scholar officials were affluent landowners and were engaged in many anonymous business affairs in an age of [[Economy of the Song dynasty|economic revolution in China]]. Nonetheless, gaining a degree through three levels of examination—prefectural exams, provincial exams, and the prestigious palace exams—was a far more desirable goal in society than becoming a merchant. This was because the mercantile class was traditionally regarded with some disdain by the [[scholar-official]] class.

This class of state bureaucrats in the Song period were far less aristocratic than their Tang predecessors. The examinations were carefully structured in order to ensure that people of lesser means than what was available to candidates born into wealthy, landowning families were given a greater chance to pass the exams and obtain an official degree. This included the employment of a bureau of [[copyist]]s who would rewrite all of the candidates' exams in order to mask their handwriting and thus prevent favoritism by graders of the exams who might otherwise recognize a candidate's handwriting. The advent of widespread [[printing]] in the Song period allowed many more examination candidates access to the [[Chinese classics|Confucian texts]] whose mastery was required for passing the exams.

===== Current =====
{{main|Civil Service of the People%27s Republic of China|}}

Hong Kong and Macau have separate civil service systems:
* [[Hong Kong Civil Service]]
* [[Secretariat for Administration and Justice (Macau)|Secretariat for Administration and Justice]] is responsible for the civil service in [[Macau]]