Researchers delving into social mobility in today’s industrialized nations often turn to data from sources like the World Economic Forum or the General Social Survey in the United States. However, investigating the same phenomena in past centuries poses a greater challenge due to the scarcity of relevant statistics.
A recent breakthrough comes from a social science research team exploring professional advancement during the Tang Dynasty in medieval China (618–907 CE). By tapping into tomb epitaphs, which meticulously detail ancestral lineages, names, office titles, career history, and educational credentials, the team found a rich source for measuring social mobility across generations.
Fangqi Wen, an assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University, notes, “Epitaphs written in medieval China, including the Tang Dynasty, tend to be highly detailed descriptions of an individual’s life with stylized prose and poems, and they contain granular information about the ancestral origins, family background, and career history of each deceased individual.”
Collaborating with Erik H. Wang, an assistant professor in NYU’s Department of Politics, and Michael Hout, a sociology professor specializing in social stratification and mobility, the researchers leveraged 3,640 epitaphs and other historical sources. Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), reveal intriguing parallels between Tang Dynasty China and the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.
The analysis highlights a decline in medieval Chinese aristocracy and the emergence of meritocracy, akin to the trends observed in the U.S. several centuries later. A pivotal factor in this shift was the Imperial Exam, or Keju, instituted during this period to select officials for civil service roles. The Keju, administered until the early 20th century, remarkably mirrored the role of higher education in fostering social mobility in the U.S. from the 1960s onwards.
The researchers emphasize that coming from a prominent ancient lineage mattered less for career success after roughly 650 CE, while passing the Keju became a more significant determinant. The competitive exam not only played a crucial role in social mobility but also equalized chances of success, irrespective of a father’s status.
“Education is central to our understanding of intergenerational mobility,” observes Michael Hout. “Many think it was a 20th-century development. But, as we can see from centuries-old data, there are phenomena linking origin, education, and careers very much like contemporary patterns.”
Source: New York University