Abstract:

In order to deal with the impact on the official selection system that the group recommendation and donation methods of appointment had during the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Tongzhi-Guangxu period, the Qing Dynasty formulated the “expired screening system” which had the dual functions of assessment and reduction. This was an attempt to reconstruct the official selection system together with the division of ranks and vacancies. Afterwards, when the donation system was suspended, the orientation of expired screening system gradually shifted from screening to elimination. There were differences among provinces in the targets of screening, the methods used, and the follow-up measures. The expired screening system evolved over time, and its actual effect was not good. This reflected the differences between the efficacies of the orthodox and irregular methods of recruitment, as well as the differences between the imperial examination based on ability and the recommendation and the donation methods. It was difficult for the Qing Dynasty to reconstruct effective standards and assessment methods equivalent to the imperial examinations.The actual reason lies in the lack of reliable measures to deal with the aftermath of the group recommendation and donation methods, as well as the actual demand for the system of recommendation and donation, which meant that the Qing Dynasty's efforts to reconstruct the selection system were frustrated.