<P> A pivotal point in the development of imperial examinations arose with the rise of Wu Zetian . Up until that point, the rulers of the Tang dynasty were all male members of the Li family (李 氏). Wu Zetian was exceptional: a woman not of the Li family, she came to occupy the seat of the emperor in an official manner in the year of 690, and even beforehand she had already begun to stretch her power within the imperial courts behind the scenes . Reform of the imperial examinations to include a new class of elite bureaucrats derived from humbler origins became a keystone of Wu's gamble to retain power . </P> <P> In 655, Wu Zetian graduated 44 candidates with the jìnshì degree (進士), and during one 7 - year period the annual average of exam takers graduated with a jinshi degree was greater than 58 persons per year . Wu lavished favors on the newly graduated jinshi degree - holders, increasing the prestige associated with this path of attaining a government career, and clearly began a process of opening up opportunities to success for a wider population pool, including inhabitants of China's less prestigious southeast area . Most of the Li family supporters were located to the northwest, particularly around the capital city of Chang'an . Wu's progressive accumulation of political power through enhancement of the examination system involved attaining the allegiance of previously under - represented regions, alleviating frustrations of the literati, and encouraging education in various locales so even people in the remote corners of the empire would work on their studies in order to pass the imperial exams, and thus developed a nucleus of elite bureaucrats useful from the perspective of control by the central government . </P> <P> In 681, a written test on knowledge of the Confucian classics was introduced, meaning that candidates were required to memorize these works and fill in the blanks on the test . </P> <P> In 693, Wu Zetian's government further expanded the civil service examination system, part of a policy to reform society and to consolidate power for her self - proclaimed "Zhou dynasty". Examples of officials whom she recruited through her reformed examination system include Zhang Yue, Li Jiao, and Shen Quanqi . She introduced major changes in regard to the Tang system, increasing the pool of candidates permitted to take the test by allowing commoners and gentry previously disqualified by their non-elite backgrounds to attempt the tests . Successful candidates then became an elite nucleus of bureaucrats within her government . </P>

When were the confucian classics first implemented by the chinese government