My kids have always been good at tests—spelling tests, math tests, their SATs. The daughter who’s a lawyer passed her bar exam on the first try.
Another daughter, the structural engineer, works on projects all over the country. The various qualifying exams are notoriously difficult, the fail rate huge. My daughter has passed every one.
Yet another daughter is an actuary, a profession that thrives on tests. For years she was constantly preparing for an exam. Finally, having taken all they had to offer, she reached the level of a “high pooba,” as her husband called it.
So where do my children get all their test-taking skill?
Well, it’s not magic. They study. Still, I like to credit their great-grandfather. (It makes a better story.)
Rags to Riches
Don Carlos Palanca y Tan Qien-Sien
Their great-grandfather, Tan Chueco, was the son of a self-made man. His father, Tan Qien-Sien, was only a teenager when he left the poverty of his home in Fujian Province and sailed for Manila. After arrival, he kept body and soul together as a rag picker in the Quiapo Market—the lowest of the low-paying jobs. He applied himself, though, learning Spanish and Tagalog and working hard. Before long, he was a successful businessman on his way to becoming the richest Chinese merchant in the Philippines.
Having missed his own chance at having a classical education, the now rich and successful Mr. Tan sent his son, Tan Chueco, back to China to study.
Chinese Civil Service Exams
If you’ve ever sweated over a standardized merit test, blame China. They invented it. The intention of the Civil Service Examinations, begun in the year 605 AD, was to find the most qualified men to serve as government officials. Theoretically, anyone could take the exams. In practice, it was available only to those who knew how to read and who had the leisure to study for a very difficult test. An essay test on steroids.
For three days and two nights, the examinees wrote, each in his tiny private room or cell. The sparse furnishings included a desk, bench and simple bed. The men were told to bring their own food, water, writing implements and chamber pot.
The “eight-legged essays” the candidates wrote covered a lot of ground, from art, geography and literature to military strategy and civil law. They had to use exact quotes from the Classics. Hopeful scholars studied for years. But the quotas were tight and many failed … over and over again. (See China’s Examination Hell by Ichisada Miyazaki.)
Becoming a Mandarin First Class
Tan Chueco
Fortunately my grandfather-in-law, Tan Chueco, was good at tests. His first exam was at the county and district level. After what I assume to be months or years of study, he passed the test and became a xiucai. Then he studied again and passed the provincial level exams to become a juren. Next were the national level exams which he passed, becoming a gongshi.
He could have stopped right there and accepted a prestigious, lucrative position as reward for his years of study. Instead, he took up the final challenge: the imperial court examination. A challenge indeed with its pass rate of only two or three percent. And yet, he passed that test too and became a jinshi, a mandarin first class.
With that kind of heritage, it’s not surprising that my children and grandchildren are good at tests.
It is always a pleasure to read one’s family history. In where I live, the young Chinese people do not even know which part of China their ancestors came from!
😀
All over the world people would like to know their ancestors many generations back, but for most of us that isn’t possible, especially for those who move to a new town or country. One of my grandmothers is a great mystery to me. I never met her or even saw a photo of her.
Another great post and another great story! Your blog is preserving your family’s heritage! I can feel how proud you are of your children and grandchildren through your posts!
Thank you, Constance. In Taiwan you must know people who keep track of their family’s history over generations. My mother died more than two years ago, and my sister and I are realizing how many things about our extended family we depended on her to remember. Now it’s up to us.
Ancestry is an interesting idea for doing well on tests. I’m adopted and did well but I have no idea what influence my heritage played. I’ll think on it.
When I was about 13 years old, my dad and I liked to discuss (argue about) heredity vs. environment. I came down on the environment side. It’s an endless argument. If I understand it right, in epigenetics, a rather new field of science, they talk about heritable changes to DNA that are caused by the environment. Fascinating! Anyway, I don’t pretend to know whether test-taking skills can be inherited, but it’s fun to play with the idea.
Would love to have any skills for tests but sadly it seems that I could not inherit it from anyone.
Those Chinese Civil Service Exams would be the end for me. No idea even where I would start to study 😮
Studying for the Chinese Civil Service Exams was said to be a full-time, multi-year job. It sounds brutal.
“An essay test on steroids”…love that! I struggled with major test anxiety in high school and college. I would study for hours and know the material, until the test was put in front of me.
I’m curious, Nicki, how were your test taking abilities? 🙂
I don’t have any mandarin ancestors, but I did pretty well on tests when I was in school–no freezing up or anything.
Ann Nicki-pure magic in the telling and the examination of the subject and the discipline behind it.
I don’t know too much about the discipline behind the old Chinese civil service exams, but I’ve read little bits and pieces about them, and they sound brutal.
Your girls are amazing Nicki and so successful in a world where women still struggle for equality in those fields. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about their heritage too!.
I guess there are lots of female lawyers these days, (and hurray for Janet Yellen, our new Federal Reserve Chair!)but women still have a long way to go in the field of engineering. I don’t know about actuaries. It’s kind of a hidden career.
There is a knack to passing tests but I must say, your kids picked some of the toughest professions!
My granddaughter who’s a freshman in college surprised me last week. She said her favorite class first semester was physics. “It’s challenging,” she said. Oh dear! With that attitude, she’ll probably choose a tough profession too.
Wow, a jinshi in the family? That’s extraordinary Nicki — and definitely something worth remembering (and sharing)!
My sister has taken on the job of preserving the family photo albums. This is my contribution to family lore.
Hi Nicki, I just read your story (via Gretchen’s facebook) and found it wonderfully charming. Congratulations to you and your daughters!
Ted
Thank you, Ted. But you don’t need to find my blog via Gretchen’s page. You’re also my facebook friend.