Ancient vest used to cheat in exams

[Cao Cao]

Ancient vest used to cheat in exams

China Daily

The mandarin jacket used by cheating students in exams​

​

An ancient vest, used by Chinese students to cheat while sitting for imperial examinations, has been unveiled. The overcoat - a ropey-looking mandarin vest – has about 50,000 Chinese characters written on both sides. And the content is about "The Four Books and Five Classics" (a series of Chinese classical works).

The overcoat has some 50,000 Chinese characters written on both sides​

A 50-cent coin placed on the jacket shows eight characters huddled within the 1.5cm diameter. It was specially designed for cheating during the Imperial exams, the highest-level exam presided over by the emperor, in the Ming Dynasty (1369-1644).

"It caught my eyes once I saw it," said its current owner, who only identified himself as Song. "He even annotated in the text with much ado," he added. "Generally it takes three or four years to complete this," said a staff member with the Laizhou museum in Shandong Province. "It is also the first time we have found clothes used for cheating in exams."