Imperial civil-service examinations were a historical route into government service, not a modern universal aptitude test.
Reference context#
Columbia’s teaching reference discusses examinations in recruitment and identifies their abolition in 1905. It does not support invented national pass rates or a claim that every official was recruited in the same way.
Checking a claim#
Check the period, examination level and eligibility rules of the particular account. Do not compare two pass rates without knowing the population counted. Distinguish a qualification, an appointment and later career progression.
Scope#
These questions are editorial suggestions. This introduction does not reproduce a speech or literary passage and is not a complete historical survey.