Civil Service Examination Paper Completed by O Se-chu

Sigwon is an answer sheet that was submitted by applicants for the civil service examination during Joseon Dynasty. This answer paper was prepared by O Se-chu, a scholar who lived during King Sukjong’s reign in Joseon, at the age of 35. The state examination of Joseon included a Composition Examination part to evaluate the applicants' writing skills In this paper, O wrote about the issues, concerning national politics of the time and his thoughts on the matter. Identity, name, age, family origin, address, as well as the identities of test-taker’s ancestors of four generations (father, grandfather, great grandfather, maternal grandfather) were listed on the right side of the answer sheet. At the examination site, this section of each paper was cut and separated, and they were bound together with a string for safekeeping after the examination. On the top right corner of this paper, a passage, excerpted from Doctrine of the Mean, was written in small letters, and applicants were asked to read the passage and reflect on it. At the bottom of this sheet, O Se-chu’s applicant number '3-16' is specified. The center of the paper reads “次下”in red, which is Se-chu’s examination result the third grade out of four.