CivilexaminationsandmeritocracyinlateImperialChina.BenjaminA.Elman.Cambridge,MA:HarvardUniversityPress,2013.416pp.,(hardcover),$45,ISBN:978-067-472-495-2.DOI10.3868/s110-004-015-0023-1CivilExaminationsandMeritocracyinLateImperialChinaisBenjaminElman’slatestmonograph.ItrevealshisbroadsociologicalunderstandingofChinesecivilexaminationandimperialpolitics.SinceElmanbegantoexplorethehistoryofChineseeducationandculture,hehasbeenfascinatedbythevasthierarchicalstructureoftheancientChinesestatewhichstaff