EDUCATION AND EXAMINATION

In 682, the Silla dynasty (57 bc–ad 935) established a royal Confucian academy. Its core curriculum consisted of the Analects and Book of Filial Piety as well as specialization in one of the following: the Book of Songs, Book of Documents, Record of Rites, Zuo Commentary, and Selections of Refined Literature. Students ranged in age from fifteen to thirty and studied for nine years. In 788, a state examination system was instituted whereby students were categorized into three classes, but the system lasted only briefly.

Under the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392), the civil service examination system began in 958, and the fixed number of 300 students was enrolled in the national academy (Kukchagam) from 992. The students studied the Confucian canonical texts for from a minimum of three to as many as nine years. The qualifying examination for entrance to the national academy included composition in poetry (shi) and rhymeprose (fu). The biennial final examination in literary composition, consisting of three sessions, tested students in the classics, poetry (old-style poetry, quatrain, regulated verse, and regulated couplets [pailü]) and rhymeprose, and a problem essay. The classics examination, again in three sessions, tested them on from five to nine classics. The literary composition examination was considered more prestigious, however, and the classics examination was held less frequently. In 425 years of Koryŏ history, some 251 examinations were held with 6,671 graduates in literary composition and 415 in the classics.