The civil service examination is a recruitment examination organized by the competent civil service department for non-leadership positions below the chief clerk and other equivalent positions. The Civil Servant Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that civil servants who hold non-leadership positions and other equivalent positions below the chief clerk shall be employed by means of public examination, strict inspection, equal competition and merit-based admission. When recruiting civil servants in ethnic autonomous areas in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, appropriate care should be given to ethnic minority applicants in accordance with the law and relevant regulations.
In Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there were no civil servants in a strict sense. State officials are mainly relatives of the king, and their official positions are hereditary. There were many vassal States in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the monarch also wanted more talents to participate in management. Confucius put forward a slogan: "Learning to be excellent is to be an official". Confucius' slogan announced the idea of building a management and service team with high quality, high consciousness and high efficiency, and determined the basic development direction of the civil service system.