This blog post explores the possibility of institutional reform, focusing on the limitations of the civil service examination system in the late Joseon Dynasty and attempts to overcome them by reintroducing feudal elements.
Yoo Hyung-won’s proposal for the public selection system was a representative bureaucratic reform theory in the late Joseon Dynasty. It was intended to overcome the weaknesses of meritocratic and results-oriented talent selection, while also recognizing the problems of hereditary privilege. Yoo Hyung-won sought to realize a Confucian ideal society while also striving to solve the practical problems of the time. He pursued harmony between social status and ability, and proposed the public selection system as a more fair and efficient bureaucratic selection system.
In China, around the 17th century, reform theories emerged that sought to partially reintroduce feudal elements such as hereditary succession in the selection of bureaucrats. Go Yeom-mu proposed maintaining a meritocratic system for the upper echelons of the bureaucracy while allowing local officials (jihan) to retain their positions for life after undergoing a certain period of verification, thereby opening the door to hereditary succession. This approach was intended to maintain the efficiency of the central government while promoting the stability of local administration. Huang Zongxi argued that the civil service examination system should be supplemented by reviving old systems such as “bixiao,” in which local officials independently invited and tested candidates before recommending them. He valued the autonomy and solidarity of local communities and sought to promote their development through these measures.
These reformist ideas did not emerge suddenly. In countries that had implemented the civil service examination system, there had been pressure to improve it over hundreds of years. The side effects of the examination system were a major issue. Fierce competition led to superficial learning aimed solely at passing the exam rather than deep academic study, and many talented individuals wasted their abilities by spending years preparing for the exam.
There was also skepticism about the anonymity of exams, as they were seen as incapable of evaluating character or practical skills beyond academic ability. This led to a broader reflection on the direction and values of education in society as a whole, rather than just a critique of the exam system. Recognition of the negative effects of the civil service examination system led to a critical view of the activities of officials appointed through the system. The meritocratic attitude was applied not only to exams but also to the evaluation of officials’ work.
Managers who were not hereditary and moved to different regions every few years needed to achieve quick results for promotion, leading to a tendency to prioritize visible, short-term outcomes over long-term policies for the benefit of local communities. This resulted in a conflict between personal motives and the public interest. Such situations were pointed out as hindering the sustainable development of local communities due to short-term performance pressures.
The weakening of community consciousness was also recognized as a negative outcome of the past system. Officials from the past system had low sense of belonging to the community and were career-oriented, resulting in weaker loyalty to the community compared to hereditary elites or officials recommended by the region. This phenomenon gradually intensified after the introduction of the past system and served as a cause for officials to focus on personal achievements rather than the needs of the local community.
Throughout the period when the civil service examination system persisted, there was a longing for the pre-examination system. This was because, in a situation where it was difficult to imagine any other political system, people judged that it was hard to secure the sense of belonging and loyalty that could be found in private and emotional relationships through the examination system. The argument for supplementing the civil service examination system by introducing feudal elements was not simply a nostalgic return to the past. It was an attempt to address the paradoxical situation created by a rational system by utilizing historical experience and available ideological resources. Such efforts reflected the desire to build a more sustainable and efficient bureaucracy by addressing the shortcomings of the civil service examination system. This reformist perspective emerged in the process of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the civil service examination system in a balanced manner and seeking a more advanced system based on that evaluation.
