When Imperial China Had a Vietnamese Prime Minister: The Surprising Origins of Meritocracy—And Why It Outperforms the West More Than Ever
Long before the West imagined equal opportunity, China practiced it. The Tang civil service offers lessons for a world torn between Chinese meritocracy and Western plutocracy.
(Illustration by Felix Abt)
China’s Legacy of Innovation: Breaking the Western Copycat Myth
In 2014, Harvard Business Review asked: “Can China innovate?” The West has long portrayed China as a land of copycats, incapable of originality, and more recently, as a rising threat to global peace. This persistent narrative — deeply rooted in Cold War reflexes and colonial-era attitudes — ignores thousands of years of Chinese history marked by commerce, creativity and invention, pragmatism, and a deeply ingrained anti-war philosophy.Over 2,000 years ago, Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War that the highest form of strategy was to “subdue the enemy without fighting.” This ethos reflects a fundamental truth: the Chinese political tradition values harmony and competence over domination and dogma. Unlike the missionary zeal often seen in Western foreign policy, China’s concept of Tianxia — “All Under Heaven” — envisions a world governed through moral example, not conquest.
If the West cannot undermine China through opium wars and other violent aggressions, it will resort to economic warfare. The notion that “China can’t innovate” has been thoroughly disproven—Chinese innovators continue to lead. The only area where Western rivals excel is in devising coercive tactics to push superior competitors out of so-called “free” markets.
The Secret to China's Longevity: A System Built on Merit
If China has endured and thrived for millennia, it is not by accident. Its survival owes much to a unique political architecture rooted in meritocracy — a concept formalized during the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE) but inspired by Confucius centuries earlier. While aristocratic Europe still clung to bloodlines, China developed a bureaucracy that judged candidates by knowledge, ethics, and performance.
The Tang’s imperial examination system, or Keju, allowed anyone — including peasants, foreigners, and even women in rare cases — to rise based on merit. This wasn’t an abstract ideal. A recent peer-reviewed study of epitaphs from Tang elites found that elite lineage had virtually no effect on success in the exam. In terms of social mobility, Tang China resembled 1960s America — a time when the American Dream was still somewhat real.
Foreign Prime Ministers, Female Innovators, and Confucian Feminism
Among the system’s remarkable outcomes: Khương Công Phụ, a Vietnamese scholar, rose to become Prime Minister of China. Japanese prince Abe no Nakamaro and Korean philosopher Choe Chiwon also passed the imperial exams and held high office.
Remarkably, the system was formalized under Wu Zetian, China’s only female emperor — a powerful symbol of women’s intellectual potential, even if the bureaucracy remained male-dominated at the time. Today, that legacy continues, with women increasingly holding leadership roles across Chinese institutions.
Confucius and Plato: A Tale of Two Meritocracies
Confucius envisioned a society where ability and virtue—not birth—determined leadership. Plato, who lived 150 years later, also promoted a meritocratic ideal, but retained hereditary privilege in his political vision. Confucius rejected hereditary rule, recognizing its tendency to breed corruption, decadence, and dynastic collapse — a cycle he sought to break through education and moral leadership.
He called for rulers to be practical, generous, and just — people-centered in the truest sense. He famously declared: “In education, there should be no class distinctions” (Analects, 15.39). And he insisted that trust — not force — is the foundation of any legitimate government. If something must be sacrificed, he said: abandon the army before the grain, and the grain before trust.
A Model That Inspired the Enlightenment — and Alarmed the British Aristocracy
China’s examination system influenced European modernity. The British adopted it for their colonial administration in India in 1832, then for their own civil service in 1846 — much to the horror of the nobility, who saw their grip on government slipping.
Thinkers like Voltaire were openly inspired by China’s governance. He translated Chinese plays and lauded Confucian values for their rationality and moral clarity. A statue of Confucius even graces the U.S. Supreme Court building, alongside Moses and Solon — representing the foundational thinkers of the world’s great legal traditions.
Meritocracy vs. Plutocracy: A Tale of Two Systems
China’s modern examination system, the Gaokao, continues the legacy of the historic Keju, ensuring that entry into elite institutions like Tsinghua University—which trains many of the country’s top leaders—is fiercely competitive. Out of 10 million high school graduates each year, only 3,000 secure admission.
John L. Thornton, former chair of Goldman Sachs Asia, observes:
"The CCP functions more like a meritocratic elite than a traditional party—akin to the historical mandarin class. It’s performance-based, much like the U.S. military."
Thornton emphasizes that only the most capable individuals ascend within the party and government. In contrast, Western political systems increasingly rely on billionaire-funded campaigns, media narratives shaped by elite interests, and a declining trust in democratic institutions. As the voices of the dwindling middle class grow quieter, governance in the West is drifting toward oligarchy and away from true democracy.
The competition between the United States and China is no longer just economic or geopolitical—it has become a clash between plutocracy and meritocracy, with profound implications for the future of global leadership.
Resilience Through Reinvention
China is shifting away from its overheated real estate sector, redirecting investment toward high-value manufacturing, AI, and green energy. While Western analysts call this pivot “risky,” it reflects a long-term vision for sustainability. In China’s meritocratic system, leaders are cultivated to think strategically and plan for the future—rather than merely until the next election cycle.
Even Elon Musk, who once mocked Chinese carmakers in a 2011 Bloomberg interview, recently admitted:
“Chinese car companies are the most competitive in the world… If no trade barriers are put in place, they’ll demolish most competitors.”
Western Mockery, Eastern Ingenuity
When China cracked down on its bloated private tutoring industry, Western media accused it of stifling opportunity. But David P. Goldman, a U.S. expert on China, praised its rigorous public education and digital regulations aimed at curbing youth addiction and inequality. Children under 8 in China are limited to 40 minutes a day of supervised screen time — a far cry from laissez-faire digital chaos in the West.
As China improves education for all, wealthy elites who move their children abroad are making space for motivated students from modest backgrounds. Confucius would approve.
Why Meritocracy Is a Global Imperative
While China reinforces its social contract through education and competence, the West grapples with democratic decline. Political leaders are often selected not for their wisdom but for their charisma, wealth, or populist appeal—and, most critically, their allegiance to the interests of elite donors. Meanwhile, rising inequality and eroding public trust signal a system in distress.
As Confucius warned: “A government without trust cannot stand.”
The lesson from China’s Confucian model is clear: meritocracy is not just an ancient ideal—it is a modern necessity. If the West hopes to reverse its decline, it must restore its commitment to competence, character, and equity in public life. Whether the ruling oligarchs will allow it is another matter entirely.
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Read my related articles that deal with Western stereotypes of China:
Revelation: Repressive China Suppressed A Popular Toy Bear — Or Was It the Western Fake News Media?
How the Media Misuse Sport as a Propaganda Weapon in the Information Warfare
In China, the Communist Party is saving capitalism. — One of the countless pieces of information that the media withholds or misrepresents
China’s economy is now a staggering 22% bigger than America’s, but for differing reasons, neither nation wants to acknowledge this fact. And why the Europeans don’t (want to) get a bigger slice of the growing cake
Western Media Rely on Dubious Sources in Smears Directed Against China
No Evidence Required: When you’re working with the U.S. to destabilize China, no lie is big enough or bad enough for U.S. proxies.
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This article was first published by the Asian internet magazine Eastern Angle.