The Imperial Exams In The Examination By Malcolm Bosse

In the book, The Examination by Malcolm Bosse, two brothers travel across China in their journey to pass the Imperial Examinations. The Imperial Exams were tests created during the Song dynasty which was prior to the Ming dynasty to help better the government and allow China to become a semi-meritocracy. The brothers’ names are Chen and Hong. Chen is very intelligent and is taking the Civil Service Exams hoping to gain job as a high-ranking government official. Hong, on the other hand, is a well-known cricket fighter and joins the White Lotus Society; this was a secret Buddhist sect/society in Ming China. The Examination takes place in Ming Era and accurately portrays what Chinese society was like during that time. In, The Examination, Malcolm

Porcelain was expensive in Ming era China and it was used to make containers and urns. The “Landlord” (Hong’s opponent) had a porcelain cricket urn and was wearing silk which meant he had wealth because those were both luxury goods in that time. The word urn can refer to a casket-like compartment or just a cage like in this quote. Many goods were made out of porcelain and they were expensive because porcelain clay is rare and firms at very high heat. Only specialized merchants could run porcelain kilns because they required a high temperature which most people couldn’t afford. Hong, Chen’s brother, was a well known cricket fighter. Cricket fighting is a sport/hobby in China and it has been for hundreds of years. Porcelain is a strong white- translucent ceramic produced in China and is very durable. In the book Hong keeps his crickets in cages made out of hollow gourds. Hong describes his opponent’s elegance in this way “ …...the man wore a black silk gown and held a cricket cage. It was made of porcelain.“ (Bosse 14) This quote shows that porcelain was used in Ming era China. This shows the cost of porcelain as well because “The Landlord” is wearing black silk robes which required a lot of silk and dye which were expensive as well during the period. According to The Song Dynasty in China “Song kilns produced many kinds of cups, bowls, and plates, as well as boxes, ink slabs, and pillows (headrests). Techniques of decoration ranged from painting and carving to stamping and molding.” (Columbia.edu) This quote shows that Bosse did his research on ancient China while writing The Examination. It shows this because in the quote from the book talks about a porcelain urn and the quote says that Song kilns produced “boxes” out of porcelain. Bosse researched his historical content very well because these details are quite meticulous and accurately depict the