The imperial examination system (keju) embodied fundamental principles of selecting talent through examination-based meritocracy, equitable competition, and selecting the best. These principles maintain universal applicability transcending historical periods and cultural contexts. Within global civilizational development, China’s imperial examination system was not only adopted by ancient Japan, Korea, and Vietnam but also informed the establishment of modern Western civil service systems, representing a significant Chinese institutional innovation with worldwide impact. The system exerted profound political, cultural, and educational influence throughout Chinese history, particularly in maintaining national unity and consolidating the Chinese national community. While its abolition during the late Qing Dynasty was ostensibly motivated by the need for modern education reform, the termination ultimately reflected temporal obsolescence rather than institutional failure—it was “abolished by era, not by design.” Contemporary large-scale examinations—including civil service recruitment, the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao), and postgraduate admissions—share functional parallels with the imperial examination system. These modern assessments can benefit from historical insights.