Implemented for over 1,300 years, China’s imperial examination system (Keju) exerted profound and multifaceted influence on post-Tang-Song Chinese society, serving simultaneously as an institutional pillar and cultural lifeline. As an institutional pillar, it established a stable bureaucratic-political framework through continuous reproduction of civil servants, enabling shared governance between monarch and officials while providing foundational support for adjacent institutions. This institutional capacity stemmed from its uncompromising adherence to meritocratic principles, its irreplaceable talent-selection function, and its resonance with the Chinese pursuit of unified civilizational values. As a cultural lifeline, the system’s evolution from poetry-focused to classics-oriented examinations catalyzed Confucian intellectual development, ultimately cementing Neo-Confucian orthodoxy. During the Ming Dynasty, local gentry—empowered by examination credentials—implemented Neo-Confucian principles through lineage construction and community education. This process simultaneously embedded elite culture into local societies and forged a cohesive cultural identity across China’s vast territories. The dialectical unity of these dimensions embodied traditional Chinese wisdom of the Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong) and reveals the deep logic sustaining the system’s millennium-long endurance. A rigorous evaluation of Keju not only facilitates clearer understanding of Chinese institutional traditions but also enhances contemporary cultural and institutional confidence through historical perspective.