Events

CHAIRPERSON

Prof Wei-Jun Jean Yeung, Asia Research Institute, Centre for Family and Population Research, and Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

We examine the role of Jinshi (进士) exam rank and other characteristics of degree holders in shaping civil service careers in the Qing civil service. We investigate how exam rank interacted with other characteristics such as Eight Banner affiliation to influence the chances of being appointed to a position and the type of position, including whether it was in the capital or the provinces, and which ministry or office it was. We also investigate how exam rank interacted with location of first appointment to influence length of service and the chances of eventually attaining a high ranked position. We make use of a database of quarterly personnel records of civil servants in the Jinshenlu (缙绅录) linked to records of Jinshi degree holders in the Timinglu (题名录). By spring 2018, we expect the personnel record database to contain more than 2.2 million records of 325,000 officials. Meanwhile, the Timinglu is a complete record of Jinshi degree holders that includes information about their rank on the exam and other details. Linkage of these two sources and construction of career histories from the Jinshenlu has proven straightforward. Initial results reveal that less than two-thirds of Jinshi degree holders ever obtained a position, at least as indicated by being listed in the Jinshenlu. Moreover, the chances of appointment depended heavily on exam performance. Among degree holders with similar exam ranks, Banner affiliates were substantially more likely than non-Banner affiliates to attain a position.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Cameron Campbell is Professor in the Division of Social Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Associate Dean for Research and Postgraduate Studies in the School of Humanities and Social Science. He is also Chang Jiang Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of History and Culture at Central China Normal University. His early research focused on kinship, inequality, and demographic behaviour in China and in comparative perspective. With collaborators in the Lee-Campbell group, he published on a wide variety of related topics, including economic, family and social influences on demographic outcomes such as birth, marriage, migration, and death, fertility limitation in historical China, and the role of kin networks in shaping social mobility. More recently, his research has focused on stratification and inequality, especially in China. With other members of the Lee-Campbell group, he is conducting a study of the careers of bureaucrats during the Qing. He is also participating in studies of educational elites during the Republican era, and family organization and social mobility in mid-20^th century China. He was named a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2004. He has co-authored multiple books and published in American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, and Demography.

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