the most consequential emperor, now?
This evening I came across this short article on Think China asking, and answering, "Who was the most consequential emperor in Chinese history?" by Yasheng Huang.
The answer Professor Huang provides is interesting, and he makes some very good points. But perhaps it's a little overstated? Still, it's a short article with not a lot of space for nuance or detail.
But I do like the basic point: The emperor who had the greatest impact on China's historical development is not any of the big famous ones, but Yang Jian, Emperor Wen, the founder of the Sui Dynasty.
Why? He was the one who started the keju/科举/civil service exam system.
Given the fascination with which many a European Enlightenment philosopher viewed China's imperial civil service exams, one could argue Emperor Wen also had an outsized influence on European history.
But here's the thing: Legalism, Taoism, Buddhism, these all still exist. They persisted all the way through China's history up to the modern day. There are those who would argue that although Confucianism was the official philosophy of the Chinese imperial state, it was really a veneer, and the core of imperial Chinese governance and law enforcement was really Legalism. Also, commerce, science, and technology persisted throughout China's history.
Yes, Emperor Wen's institution of the keju system had a profound impact on China's development, and it's hard to not see the parallels with the modern Gaokao system. But it could never be so all-consuming as Professor Huang's short article seems to suggest.