The Rise and Fall of the EASTThe long history of Chinas relationship between stability, diversity, and prosperity, and how its current leadership threatens this delicate balance Chinese society has been shaped by the interplay of the EASTexams, autocracy, stability, and technologyfrom ancient times through the present. Beginning with the Sui dynastys introduction of the civil service exam, known as Keju, in 587 CEand continuing through the personnel management system used by the