A universal gem in sarcasm…

         [ CE)
         translated by Arthur Waley (1919)

The Confucian examination system for recruiting officials into the bureaucracy may have been far more egalitarian than anything comparable in its heyday; yet it had its limits. Wealthy men were able to hire tutors to ensure their success, and poor but intelligent men seldom rose to the top.

Su Tung-p’o, usually considered the greatest poet of the Sung Dynasty, often commented cynically on the system he considered corrupt and was dismissed from various positions for his pains. His sarcasm in the following poem sounds a strikingly contemporary note in this age of cynicism about politicians. The poet’s revenge lies in the fact that his poems are still read and memorized when all those who persecuted him have been forgotten.

— Raj

Martin adds

There’s a wonderful takeoff on the examination system in Pratchett’s “Interesting Times”, though that poked fun not at its fairness, but at its utility in selecting capable people. I’m also reminded of the President in Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator”:

    It soon began to dawn on me
    He wasn't very bright
    Because when he was twenty-three
    He couldn't read or write

    'What shall we do?' his parents sob
    'The boy has got the vapors!
    He couldn't even get a job
    Delivering the papers!'

    'Ah-ha!' I said, 'this little clot
    Could be a politician.'
    'Nanny', he cried 'Oh, Nanny, what
    A super proposition!'

Any resemblance to actual presidents is strictly coincidence (and mighty prophetic coincidence at that). Great book, for those of you who’ve never encountered Dahl.

— Martin