odern Chinese reformers was to get it swept away. Li Ung Bing[23]
says:

In spite of the many good things that may be said to the credit
of Hung Wu, he will ever be remembered in connection with a form
of evil which has eaten into the very heart of the nation. This
was the system of triennial examinations, or rather the form of
Chinese composition, called the "Essay," or the "Eight Legs,"
which, for the first time in the history of Chinese literature,
was made the basis of all literary contests. It was so-named,
because after the introduction of the theme the writer was
required to treat it in four paragraphs, each consisting of two
members, made up of an equal number of sentences and words. The
theme was always chosen from either the Four Books, or the Five
Classics. The writer could not express any opinion of his own, or
any views at variance with those expressed by Chu Hsi and his
school. All he was required to do was to put the few words of
Confucius, or whomsoever it might be, into an essay in conformity
with the prescribed rules. Degrees, which were to serve as
passports to Government positions, were awarded the best writers.
To say that the training afforded by the time required to make a
man efficient in the art of such writing, would at the same time
qualify him to hold the various offices under the Government, was
absurd. But absurd as the whole system was, it was handed down to
recent times from the third year of the reign of Hung Wu, and was
not abolished until a few years ago. No system was more perfect
or effective in retarding the intellectual and literary
development of a nation. With her "Eight Legs," China long ago
reached the lowest point on her downhill journey. It is largely
on account of the long lease of life that was granted to this
rotten system that the teachings of the Sung philosophers have
been so long venerated.

These are the words of a Chinese patriot of the present day, and no
doubt, as a modern system, the "Eight Legs" deserve all the hard things
that he says about them. But in the fourteenth century, when one
considers the practicable alternatives, one can see that there was
probably much to be said for such a plan. At any rate, for good or evil,
the examination system profoundly affected the civilization of China.
Among its good effects wer