Juren

Juren
Wei Yuan, a Qing dynasty juren scholar
Traditional Chinese舉人
Simplified Chinese举人
Literal meaningrecommended man
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinjǔrén
Wade–Gileschü3-jen2
IPA[tɕỳɻə̌n]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationgéoi-yàhn
Jyutpinggeoi2-jan4
IPA[kɵɥ˧˥ jɐn˩]

Juren (Chinese: 舉人; lit. 'recommended man') was a rank achieved by people who passed the xiangshi (Chinese: 鄉試) exam in the imperial examination system of imperial China.[1] The xiangshi is also known, in English, as the provincial examination.[1] It was a rank higher than the shengyuan rank, but lower than the jinshi rank, which was the highest degree.[2]

To achieve the juren rank, candidates, who had to already hold the shengyuan rank, had to pass the provincial qualifying examination, held every three years in the provincial capital.[2] A second, less widespread pathway to gaining the juren rank was through office purchase.[3]

Those with the juren rank gained gentry status and experienced social, political and economic privileges accordingly.[4]

The juren title was also awarded in the military examination system in imperial China.[3]

  1. ^ a b Wang, Rui (2013). The Chinese Imperial Examination System: An Annotated Bibliography. Rowman & Littlefield.
  2. ^ a b Bai, Ying; Jia, Ruixue (2016). "Elite Recruitment and Political Stability: The Impact of the Abolition of China's Civil Service Exam". Econometrica. 84 (2): 677–733. doi:10.3982/ecta13448. ISSN 0012-9682.
  3. ^ a b Theobald, Ulrich. "The Chinese Imperial Examination System (www.chinaknowledge.de)". www.chinaknowledge.de. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  4. ^ Zhang, Lawrence (2013). "Legacy of Success: Office Purchase and State-Elite Relations in Qing China". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 73 (2): 259–297. doi:10.1353/jas.2013.0020. ISSN 1944-6454. S2CID 154135928.