How China’s Imperial Exam Created the World’s First Meritocracy

What if your future didn’t depend on your family name—but on one brutal exam?For over 1,300 years, China’s Imperial Examination system promised to turn peasants into officials and redefined what power meant in one of the world’s greatest civilizations.In this feature-length documentary, discover the epic rise and fall of the world’s first meritocracy—a system that shaped dynasties, transformed politics, and left behind a paradox that still echoes today.Chapters:The Birth of Meritocracy – How emperors used the exam to crush the aristocracy and centralize power.The Golden Age – The Song Dynasty’s innovations, including anti-cheating technologies that still inspire us today.The Rat Race & Collapse – How the exam became a suffocating “involutionary machine,” draining creativity and hastening a dynasty’s downfall.From revolutionary ideals to a soul-crushing rat race, the Imperial Examination reveals a timeless question:👉 Do our systems of education and selection create true opportunity—or just a smarter cage?https://youtu.be/bydM8n8v68U