Eight-legged essay

The eight-membered essay (Chinese八股 文章bā gǔ Wenzhang ), a highly ritualized and regulated essay, was under the Ming and the Qing Dynasty to 1902, one of the pillars of the civil service exam in China.

Theme of these essays were the teachings of Confucius. Each of the eight sections had a fixed function (such as introduction, opening the discussion, abstraction, etc. ), and there were separate rules for each part, such as the number of sets, format and style, as well as rhyme laws, rules of symmetry and the like. Since the essay should explain the importance of Confucian quote by saying " for the wise said ," were words, expressions and events ( 479 BC) came from the period after the death of the master, not be used.

The eight-membered article did not reflect reality and was exclusively for passing the civil service exam. The genre is considered among today's scholars as pedantic and trite.