In The Scholars, Wu Jingzi mocks the imperial examination system.
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history
Born into a rich family in 全椒, Anhui, he spent his inheritance, moved to Nanjing and lived in poverty. A friend recalled that on cold nights he and his companions walked round the city walls to keep warm, and called it 暖足 'warming the feet'.
culture
The novel's best-known episode is 范进中举, in which an old candidate goes mad with joy when he finally passes the provincial examination.
