The way to success in ancient China was theoretically open to even the most low born via the uniform civil service examinations. These examinations dating from the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) were based upon the Classics. The country was run by local magistrates appointed by ministers who were appointed by the emperor. The examinations were held in each province with the successful candidates going to Beijing to compete. The scholars who scored number one in the examination rode the bronze tortoise. The scholar figure was as much revered by the Chinese as the military figures were in Europe. The literary tradition of China is some 3,500 years old. The first writing was pictograms inscribed on turtle carapace and cattle scapula, the so-called "oracle bones" or "dragon bones". The written language has not changed in the same way as the written languages in Europe. It is written so that each character is a complete word or thought. This means that the literary tradition of over three housand years is available to the present-day man of letters.

The ideal man of China or the wenren is very much like the Renaissance man but the wenren came about two thousand years earlier. He is a poet, artist, historian, philosopher, and strives to be "one with nature" in accordance with Daoism.... read more