Emperor Wen of Sui grew up in a temple and was accustomed to a frugal life, so after becoming emperor, he maintained this good quality. He deeply understood the importance of thrift, and when he discovered that his crown prince, Yang Yong, was living extravagantly, he said to Yang Yong, "Throughout history, any emperor who lives in luxury will surely not sit on the throne for long. You are the crown prince and will one day become the ruler of the nation—how can you not pay attention to frugality?"
Yang Guang was the second son of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. Knowing that his father valued frugality, he deliberately lived a very simple life to win the emperor's favor. Emperor Wen deposed Yang Yong as crown prince and appointed Yang Guang instead. Once Yang Guang became crown prince, he dropped his pretense, and his vile character was fully exposed. Yang Jian deeply regretted this and planned to reinstate Yang Yong as crown prince. To seize the throne, Yang Guang ultimately murdered Emperor Wen of Sui.
In 604 AD, Yang Guang ascended the throne, changing the era name to Daye the following year. Yang Guang was Emperor Yang of Sui.
After Yang Guang ascended the throne, he placed great emphasis on education and paid special attention to selecting talented individuals. In an imperial edict, he wrote: "When a ruler establishes a state, education must come first; to transform customs and traditions, it must begin here." To better discover talent, Yang Guang ordered officials responsible for inspecting the various prefectures to actively seek out individuals with outstanding literary skills or special abilities, and after evaluation, send them to the capital. This brought many scholars to the capital. Yang Guang arranged for designated personnel to organize these scholars into academic debates, after which they were ranked accordingly. As a result, many scholars from humble backgrounds gained opportunities to enter officialdom.
Yang Guang also sought to recruit scholars to organize and compile classical texts. During his reign, a total of 130 works were completed, amounting to over 17,000 volumes. Additionally, he had scholars compile the "Quyu Tuzhi" in 1,200 volumes and the "Changzhou Yujing" in 400 volumes, successfully preserving a vast number of ancient texts.
In valuing education and selecting talent, Yang Guang's greatest achievement was establishing the imperial examination system.
Before the Sui Dynasty, each dynasty had its own system for selecting talent. Before the Han Dynasty, the system was mostly "hereditary nobility and hereditary emoluments." "Hereditary nobility" meant that high-ranking officials like ministers passed their positions down from father to son across generations. "Hereditary emoluments" meant that officials and their descendants inherited land and the tax revenues from it. By the Han Dynasty, to strengthen central authority, the emperor abolished the hereditary system and adopted the recommendation and recruitment systems. The "recommendation system" involved local governments recommending virtuous and talented individuals to the imperial court, while the "recruitment system" involved the court or local governments actively seeking talent from society. Candidates recommended by commanderies were called "filial and incorrupt," and those recommended by provinces were called "cultivated talents." Although these systems could uncover talent among the people for the ruling class, they had many drawbacks. For instance, the recommendation system lacked fair and objective evaluation criteria, leading many local officials to engage in favoritism and recommend unqualified individuals to the court.
During the reign of Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi, Chen Qun improved the recommendation system and established the Nine-Rank System. Under this system, appointed officials assessed talented individuals from the common people based on their moral character and family background, then classified them into nine ranks and assigned suitable positions accordingly. This system abolished the power of local officials to recommend talent, transferring it to centrally appointed officials. By the Wei and Jin dynasties, the influence of aristocratic families had grown immensely, causing many evaluating officials to overemphasize family background when assessing talent. Eventually, talent selection came to rely solely on lineage, with only members of prominent aristocratic families having opportunities for official positions, while capable individuals from humble origins had no chance to rise. This not only narrowed the scope of talent selection for the court but also led to the excessive power of aristocratic families, posing a serious threat to imperial authority.
By the Sui Dynasty, commoner landlords were rising continuously, while the aristocratic clans had already declined. The Nine-Rank System for selecting officials could no longer keep pace with societal development. Therefore, after Emperor Wen of Sui ascended the throne, he abolished the Nine-Rank System and began using examinations to select officials.
By the year 606 AD, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Guang, established the jinshi (presented scholar) examination, marking the official birth of the imperial examination system. The main content of the jinshi exam was political essays, through which the court selected talented individuals with outstanding literary skills and entrusted them with important positions. The following year, the number of examination subjects had already increased to ten.
Since its establishment, the imperial examination system was continuously used by later feudal rulers, exerting a profound influence.
First, the imperial examination system cultivated a large number of outstanding talents across successive dynasties. From its establishment during the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty to its abolition at the end of the Qing Dynasty, tens of thousands of candidates passed the exams to become jinshi (presented scholars), and most of these individuals became the pillars of the state.
Secondly, compared to hereditary and recommendation-based systems for selecting talent, the imperial examination system was undoubtedly fairer and more just. It was precisely for this reason that it was emulated by neighboring countries such as Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. During the European Enlightenment in the eighteenth century, many French and British thinkers held this fair and just system in high esteem. The method of civil service recruitment established in Britain in the nineteenth century was also influenced by the imperial examination system. Therefore, some have called the imperial examination system the fifth great invention of ancient China.
Third, the imperial examination system fostered a culture of learning. Because the exams did not consider family background, many common people encouraged their children to study, hoping to improve their social status through education. As a result, more and more people took up learning, and a widespread culture of scholarship emerged in society.
Therefore, the imperial examination system established by Emperor Yang of Sui was a very great innovation.