The Imperial examination cubicles, Koong Yuin, Canton, c.1875, University of Bristol Library, Special Collections, UB01-17
Inexorably the exam season is upon us, a testing time for students, and also for admin staff and markers. Spare a thought for candidates in the examination system in Imperial China – applicants would think, write, eat and sleep, sometimes for several days on end, in small spartan cells such as in this nineteenth century photo (UB01-17) taken in Canton (Guangzhou).
Chinese students nowadays have national exams in June. At the Confucius Temple, Shanghai, students tie prayers for success with red ribbons to the camphor trees in front of the temple.
Confucius Temple, Wenmiao Lu, Shanghai, May 2011. Photo by Jamie Carstairs
More info from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination
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