The Hanlin Academy (Chinese: 翰林院; pinyin: Hànlín Yuàn; literally "brush wood court") was an academic and administrative institution founded in the eighth century Tang dynasty China by Emperor Xuanzong.
Membership in the academy was confined to an elite group of scholars, who performed secretarial and literary tasks for the court. One of its main duties was to decide on an interpretation of the Confucian classics. This formed the basis of the Imperial examinations, which aspiring bureaucrats had to pass to attain higher level posts. Painters working for the court were also attached to the academy.
Read more about Hanlin Academy: Academy Members, Bureau of Translators, 1900 Fire
Famous quotes containing the word academy:
“I realized early on that the academy and the literary world alike—and I don’t think there really is a distinction between the two—are always dominated by fools, knaves, charlatans and bureaucrats. And that being the case, any human being, male or female, of whatever status, who has a voice of her or his own, is not going to be liked.”
—Harold Bloom (b. 1930)