WORLD RELIGIONS

Detailed explanation-1: -In a society in which most people were illiterate, scholar-officials stood out by virtue of their reading and writing skills. Their Confucian education encouraged them to aspire for government service, but also to speak up when they thought others were pursuing the wrong course, making them courageous critics of power.

Detailed explanation-2: -The scholar-official was a civil servant appointed by the emperor to perform day-to-day governance from the Han Dynasty to the end of Qing Dynasty in 1912 (about 400 years). They were chosen from the scholar-gentry who were thoroughly trained in the art of calligraphy and Confucian texts.

Detailed explanation-3: -Shiren (scholars or scholar officials) is the collective term of the ancient Chinese intellectuals, and is also an elite social group unique to ancient China. They learned and spread knowledge; they participated in politics; they carried on and carried forward Chinese traditional culture.