government held examinations through which to select officials and instituted such examinations into a system. The imperial examination system became part of feudal bureaucracy and gradually overrode school education. The imperial examination system was different from the Western educational system, under which knowledge is taught according to branches of learning. Under the imperial examination system, the content of teaching and examinations included poetry, essays, Confucian classics, and comments on strategies of governance advocated by past sages. The purpose was to instill into students feudal orthodox ideas such as royalty to the emperor and the duty to defend traditional moral principles. During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) periods, candidates sitting at imperial examinations were required to write essays strictly in accordance with

a rigid eight-part form. Essays of this kind were known for poverty of ideas. The imperial examination system became a narrow bridge, through which the educated in the feudal society acquired the benefits of a privileged class. It resulted in a lopsided development of educated people in China's feudal society. Along with progresses in science and technology, school education in feudal China, while dominated by Confucian teachings, began to cover math, astrology and traditional medicine. The Tang period (618-907) saw the establishment of a number of special schools and official organs such as the Imperial Medical Office, Office of Carriages and Horses and Office of Astrology. Students were enrolled for different branches of learning and became professionals. Such schools developed to a considerable extent during the Tang-Song periods (960-1279). But in the centrally-