In ancient [[China]] ''literati'' referred to the government officials who formed the ruling class in China for over two thousand years. These '''[[scholar-bureaucrats]]''' were a [[status group]] of educated [[laymen]], not ordained [[priest]]s. They were not a [[hereditary]] group as their position depended on their knowledge of writing and literature. After 200 B.C. the system of selection of candidates was influenced by [[Confucianism]] and established its ethic among the literati. The [[Hundred Flowers Campaign]] in China was largely based on the government's wish for a mobilization of intellectuals; with very sour consequences later. | In ancient [[China]] ''literati'' referred to the government officials who formed the ruling class in China for over two thousand years. These '''[[scholar-bureaucrats]]''' were a [[status group]] of educated [[laymen]], not ordained [[priest]]s. They were not a [[hereditary]] group as their position depended on their knowledge of writing and literature. After 200 B.C. the system of selection of candidates was influenced by [[Confucianism]] and established its ethic among the literati. The [[Hundred Flowers Campaign]] in China was largely based on the government's wish for a mobilization of intellectuals; with very sour consequences later. |