Journey to the Imperial Examination in Ci Poetry of the Song Dynasty

Abstract

China’s imperial examination played an important role in the Song Dynasty. It not only followed the state policy of stressing civil matters and lessening the military, but was also the way to shift one’s social status from scholar to bureaucrat. Ci poetry of the Song dynasty reflected the importance of the imperial examination as the way to gain reputation and dignity. It illustrated the poets’ emotions during their journey and their disappointment after they failed. The imperial examination also showed the bureaucratic idea which followed the concept of the relationship between monarch and subjects.