According to Castilla in phys.org:
Many in the United States may not realize that one of the world's earliest formal meritocracies emerged in China during the Han and Qin dynasties more than 2,000 years ago. As early as 200 B.C.E., the Chinese empire began developing a system of civil service exams in order to identify and appoint competent and talented officials to help administer government operations throughout the empire.
According to fool49;
Maybe China is outcompeting USA in many new technologies, because as an economy and society, it is more objective or meritocratic. And culturally USA is more aristocratic or plutocratic. Chinese value learning or knowledge, as do the Indians. That will allow them to catch up with the West.
Reference: https://phys.org/news/2026-01-meritocracy-hard.html
Is China still more meritocratic than the West?
byu/fool49 ineconomy
Posted by fool49
4 Comments
Fairly speaking, it was until Song dynasty that China adopted civil exams to appoint officers in central governments.
It’s not easy to determine merit from exams or papers really. You can just spot it in other people from limited interaction if you’re also capable in whatever it may be. A lot of paper geniuses being automatically rushed to the top of society in the name of meritocracy has very much to do with America’s present decline.
China is also based very heavily on informal assessments of or relationships with power brokers. Obviously that means nepotism but also capable people can be attractive as well and you can be subject to nepotism because people admire you for that.
Was it really a meritocracy when literacy was gatekept and the examination system focused on calligraphy, rote memorization, and poetry?Depending on the dynasty, key topics like mathematics were not included at all and/or looked down upon. More often than not, the examination system co-existed with other venues for officialdom such as sale of titles, clerical nominations, etc.
It was an interesting system but let’s not pretend it was meritocratic.There’s a reason it did not survive.
Look up literacy rates in China vs anywhere else in the world.
[This article is also useful in answering your question.](https://www.noemamag.com/what-the-west-misunderstands-about-power-in-china/)