100 RCs for Practice Questions- 55

Passage

In order to better understand conservatism in China, it is essential that one has a grasp of what the term "Chinese conservatism" means. Chinese conservatism is markedly different from the conservatism of the modern West. The political term "conservative" came about during the French Revolution and inspired men who were determined to preserve Christian and aristocratic elements in European society. Chinese conservatism began around the time of the Taiping Rebellion and had as its primary objectives the preservation of both Confucian society and non-feudal strains of pre-Opium War Chinese society. While western conservatism believes in the sacredness of private property and distrust of cosmopolitanism, Chinese conservatism is the defense of rational cosmopolitan order. Thus, the only common area of agreement between European and Chinese conservatism is the intent to conserve.
During the Tung-chin Restoration, the great aim was the revival of Confucian values and institutions. But these aims had to be modified so that they might endure. Restoration statesmen had no desire to create a new society - they wanted to restore a society that they believed had been based on truth. The statesmen of the Restoration stretched the traditional ideology to its limits in an effort to make the Confucian system under new conditions. They were true conservatives in a great tradition, living in an age when the revolutionary change was unavoidable. The aim of the Restoration was to restore to their original vitality the best of the ancient institutions. During the Restoration, the two immediate problems were the suppression of rebellion and the stabilization of foreign relations. In addition, the people were striving for a restoration of the system of government by superior civil officials.
The men in the hierarchy of the Restoration rose to prominence through proven ability in both civil and military affairs. They emphasized human and social training - that is, indoctrination, morality, and the art of leadership through the cultivation of character. The great majority of the officials rose through the examination system.
During the chaos of this period, the examination system had lost much of its effectiveness. This is important and must be noted because the examination system was the traditional avenue for selecting officials. The senior officials of Restoration realized that their policies would be ineffective unless the quality of the junior officials was improved, so it was their duty to weed out the officials who had attained office in irregular ways and to promote the examination system as the only way to high position. But these men of the Restoration had enough foresight to determine that it was impossible to select officials automatically on the basis of objective tests alone. As a result, the system of recommendation was ushered in, whereby, a high official sponsored the career of a promising young man. This acted as an important supplement to the examination system.