[3] Those with the juren rank gained gentry status and experienced social, political and economic privileges accordingly.

[3] The term juren was first used in the Han Dynasty to refer to individuals at the provincial level who were recommended for civil service.

[5] Those who were recommended for civil service were required to pass a central government examination before they were awarded an official title.

[7] During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were two pathways to gaining the juren rank: one, through the civil examination system; the other, through office purchase.

[4] The juren rank was awarded for candidates who passed the provincial level of the civil examination system in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

[3] The provincial examinations, called xiangshi (Chinese: 鄉試), were written exams which occurred in three stages.

[11] Obtaining the juren degree through the civil examination pathway was a difficult process, with competition notably increasing during the Ming dynasty.

Shengyuan degree holders were required to travel to their respective provincial capitals to take three written examinations which were conducted over a week.

The examination hall was divided into long alleys lined with open cells, in which candidates took their exam.

[16][2] In the early- and mid-Ming dynasty, juren served as prefecture, county, and department education officials.

Juren who had failed to obtain the jinshi degree were immediately eligible to become education officials and act as directors and subdirectors of prefectural and county schools.

[17] In the late-Ming dynasty, juren were placed in posts of county magistrates, as well as directors and subdirectors of schools.

Additionally, magistrates were responsible for maintaining law, order, and the moral and ethical standards in the areas under their control.

In imperial China, examinations and merit were strongly associated with social status, wealth, prestige, and political power.

[17] Gaining the juren rank brought the degree-holder social privileges such as improved prospects for good marriages.

[4][7] For example, juren degree-holders were eligible to erect flagpoles with red and gold silk flags at their residences to announce their achievements.

[20] The legal privileges experienced by juren include exemption from labour services required of all commoners except civil examination degree-holders.

[17] They were also exempt from normal penal codes and corporal punishment, and could not be arrested without special imperial order.

[17] Juren households also had economic privileges in the local community, such as a guaranteed minimum level of employment and pay, as well as tax reductions and exemptions.

[4][15] Other privileges of the juren rank included the right of having different clothing, carriages, guards, servants, and funeral and grave ceremonies than commoners.

[3] Military examinations involved various physical tests, such as ability in archery, equestrianism, and handling polearms.