Assortative Mating in the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE): Imperial Examination, Aristocracy, and Elite Adaptation

Fangqi Wen, Ohio State University
Erik Haixiao Wang, New York University
Michael Hout, New York University (NYU)

Who marries whom is one of the central questions in social stratification research. Extensive research has examined the degree to which marriages occur within or across social boundaries. Whether or not accepting out-group members as marriage partners indicates the openness of a society. In recent years, a growing volume of historical data has been digitized and become available to researchers, providing unique opportunities to expand social stratification research to pre-modern settings. In this study, we utilize tomb epitaphs of Chinese couples in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) to examine marital sorting patterns during a grand social transformation — a transition away from aristocracy and the rise of meritocracy. Our statistical results suggest that with the development of the Imperial Examination System (Keju) and the growing significance of passing the exam in determining a man’s career advancement, both aristocratic family pedigree and exam success mattered for a man to marry a high-status spouse. By the 9th century, men who combined aristocratic lineage with exam success had become the most sought-after suitors in the Tang marriage market. In an era of rising meritocracy, we identify a phenomenon in which the old elites culturally adapted despite the ever-shrinking political privileges.

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 Presented in Session 61. Historical Social Sciences and China (I): New Approaches to Studying Elite Politics