Why did civil-service examinations produce relatively few Tang officials?

During the Tang dynasty, the civil-service examination system was not the primary method for staffing the bureaucracy, as most officials continued to be drawn from the established aristocracy.12

While the Tang government created local schools to prepare scholars for the jinshi examinations, the old elite maintained a strong grip on political power throughout much of the dynasty. Consequently, the examination system served more as a mechanism to facilitate the entry of individuals from lesser aristocratic families into higher bureaucratic ranks rather than as a universal recruitment tool.312

It was not until the later periods of Chinese history, particularly during the Song and Ming dynasties, that competitive examinations became the dominant and most prestigious method for recruiting nonhereditary officials. During the Tang era, alternative avenues—such as hereditary privilege and personal recommendations—remained significant, and it was only after the social upheavals of the 9th century that the influence of the old aristocracy began to decline, eventually giving way to the scholar-gentry class.3412