This is the best summary I could come up with:

Men in medieval China could gain high status in society as easily as male Baby Boomers in the US, according to a new study released on Thursday.

The study, published in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed education, family status, and ranks of officials in the Tang Dynasty, and found that social mobility at the time was comparable to standards in the 1960s and 1970s in the US.

Their epitaphs are highly detailed, and provide a trove of information on the officials' ancestral origins, family backgrounds, and careers, the researchers said.

Under Empress Wu Zetian, a famed figure in Chinese history who ruled from the year 665 to 705, the imperial exam became far more prominent in the bureaucracy, with at least 16% of male elites after her reign obtaining a degree, the researchers said.

This social mobility from the imperial examination also probably didn't extend to the lowest rungs of Chinese society at the time, because the man had to be able to take the exam.

The rigorous exams are remembered today in China as a long-lasting symbol of meritocracy that was a game-changer for ambitious men in imperial times.

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