Hyeollyang Examination

At Jo Gwang-jo’s urging, the court recruited recommended men of learning and virtue through a simple test; 28 Sarim scholars were chosen.

After the 1506 restoration, Jungjong raised Jo Gwang-jo and other Sarim scholars to check the entrenched merit subjects. Jo used the hyeollyang recruitment to bring Sarim into office, abolished the Daoist sacrificial bureau Sogyeokseo, and promoted village codes (hyangyak) and the Elementary Learning.

When he then moved to strip 76 undeserving merit subjects of their titles, the old guard struck back: in the eleventh month Jo fell in the Gimyo purge and was put to death, and the examination was abolished.