Education in Joseon

Education in the Joseon dynasty of Korea was largely aimed at preparing students for government service.

The civil service examinations, known as gwageo, assessed a student's ability to interpret the Chinese classics, in terms of official Neo-Confucian ideology.

The upper class, referred to as yangban, was split into two groups: munban or mungwa, who were civilian officers and military officials.

The sogwa consisted of two smaller exams, known as the saengwon-si, which examined Confucian classics, and the jinsa-si, which contained essay writing.

Up until then, all social status systems, the number of candidates, procedures, methods of testing, and agency were stringently enforced and maintained.

Commonly, they disciplined themselves in Confucian teachings, with the aim of improving their learning and character which would eventually render them capable of governing the general populace.