<p>(For reference only)</p>

<p><a href="http://www.bastillepost.com/hongkong/70446-%E6%AD%B7%E5%8F%B2%E9%95%B7%E6%B2%B3/978540-%E7%A7%A6%E6%BC%A2%E6%99%82%E4%BB%A3-%E5%8F%A4%E4%BA%BA%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E8%AD%98%E5%AD%97%EF%BC%9F" rel="nofollow noreferrer">秦漢時代 古人如何識字？</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>據了解，在沒有普及教育時，這批識字之人大多是世襲官員，在家裡受教育。
  他們在秦與西漢稱為「史」、「卜」及「祝」。
  按照職掌任務不同，基本上他們懂三千、五千或七千字，還能背誦文獻。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>It is understood that, in the absence of universal education, most of these literate persons were hereditary officials who were educated at home.
They were called 史, 卜 and 祝 in the Qin (221–206 BC) and the Western Han (206 BC – 9 AD) Dynasty.
In accordance with the different tasks, basically they understood 3,000, 5,000 or 7,000 words, and recited the literature too.</p>

<p>However, 张德芳 said <a href="http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_67cc3b260102v9py.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">当时要做“史”得识九千字</a>, which roughly translates into:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>At the time, to be a 史，one needed to know 9000 characters.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-05T10:18:44.333Z
2017-07-05T11:44:41.167Z
2017-07-05T11:44:41.167Z
young99
<p>It is said that today a university educated Chinese person knows some 5000-6000 different characters. In imperial times when the official language was literary/classical Chinese how many characters did an average scholar (someone who passed the official examinations or a government official for instance) know? </p>

<characters><classical-chinese>
Number of Characters an Average Imperial Times Scholar Knew
# Number of Characters an Average Imperial Times Scholar Knew

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-07-04)

It is said that today a university educated Chinese person knows some 5000-6000 different characters. In imperial times when the official language was literary/classical Chinese how many characters did an average scholar (someone who passed the official examinations or a government official for instance) know?

**Tags:** characters, classical-chinese

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-07-05. Score: 2

(For reference only)

[秦漢時代 古人如何識字？](http://www.bastillepost.com/hongkong/70446-%E6%AD%B7%E5%8F%B2%E9%95%B7%E6%B2%B3/978540-%E7%A7%A6%E6%BC%A2%E6%99%82%E4%BB%A3-%E5%8F%A4%E4%BA%BA%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E8%AD%98%E5%AD%97%EF%BC%9F)

> 據了解，在沒有普及教育時，這批識字之人大多是世襲官員，在家裡受教育。
> 他們在秦與西漢稱為「史」、「卜」及「祝」。
> 按照職掌任務不同，基本上他們懂三千、五千或七千字，還能背誦文獻。

It is understood that, in the absence of universal education, most of these literate persons were hereditary officials who were educated at home.
They were called 史, 卜 and 祝 in the Qin (221–206 BC) and the Western Han (206 BC – 9 AD) Dynasty.
In accordance with the different tasks, basically they understood 3,000, 5,000 or 7,000 words, and recited the literature too.

However, 张德芳 said [当时要做“史”得识九千字](http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_67cc3b260102v9py.html), which roughly translates into:

> At the time, to be a 史，one needed to know 9000 characters.


---

