Philippine E-Journals

Why the Scholar is a Seer is a Poet is a Ruler

Shirley O. Lua

Discipline: Literature

 

Abstract:

Scholars' in old China who took the exams were presumed to be well-versed in poetry. In other words, in order to pass a civil service exam, and be eligible for an official post, a person had to know the rudiments of poetry, and furthermore, how to compose poems. Poetry was literature in the ancient days. An intensive background in literary writings qualified a person to participate in the administration of the county, province, or even the whole kingdom.