Eight-legged essay
Essay style in Chinese imperial examinations / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The eight-legged essay (Chinese: 八股文; pinyin: bāgǔwén; lit. 'eight bone text')[1] was a style of essay in imperial examinations during the Ming and Qing dynasties in China.[1] The eight-legged essay was needed for those candidates in these civil service tests to show their merits for government service, often focusing on Confucian thought and knowledge of the Four Books and Five Classics, in relation to governmental ideals.[1] Various skills were examined, including the ability to write coherently and to display basic logic. In certain times, the candidates were expected to spontaneously compose poetry upon a set theme, whose value was also sometimes questioned, or eliminated as part of the test material. This was a major argument in favor of the eight-legged essay, arguing that it were better to eliminate creative art in favor of prosaic literacy. In the history of Chinese literature, the eight-legged essay is often accused by later Chinese critics to have caused China's "cultural stagnation and economic backwardness" in the 19th century.[1][2]
Eight-legged essay | |||||||||||
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Chinese | 八股 or 八股文 | ||||||||||
Literal meaning | Eight-legged Essay | ||||||||||
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