UNDERSTANDING THE CHINESE IMPERIAL EXAM AND ITS ARCHITECTURE THROUGH A STUDY OF THE JIANGNAN EXAM COMPOUND

For more than two millennia, the distinctive social, political, and educational forces of Confucianism helped shape Chinese civilization. Out of this cultural phenomenon was born the keju, or civil service examination system, which influenced centuries of imperial rule and became one of the most exceptional components of traditional Chinese society. This thesis attempts to shed light on the built spaces that were designed to accommodate the testing practice; specifically, the gongyuan, or examination compound, an exclusive area only open to candidates during the testing period. For hundreds of years, the inner world and workings of the examination compound remained a mystery to the general public, and in many ways, it is still an unknown entity to most of the modern world. A comprehensive look at the history of the Jiangnan Gongyuan in Nanjing strives to reveal more about this type of enigmatic architecture.