The Confucianism and the cult of literacy in Ancient China

This considers the process of the development of cult of literacy and education in Ancient China. The cult of literacy is inextricably connected with the Confucian philosophical doctrine, and to some extent predetermined by it. The system of state examinations «ke ju» was a means of selecting candidates for bureaucratic positions. The content of the examination system concluded to the knowledge of the Confucian canons. The humanitarian character of education had been unchanged till the XVII-th century. The education in the ancient and medieval China, first of all, was the main tool of state administration, by means of which the authorities controlled the political and ideological aspects of social life. The Confucian classical education was rather narrowly focused on training of the personnel for the bureaucracy, thus it disregarded the technical applied sciences.