Meaning of jinshi | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A county-level city of Changde, Hunan, China.
2. “advanced” or “entered graduate”, a scholar who had successfully passed the highest level of the Chinese imperial examinations (殿試), usually held triennially at the imperial court.

Examples

“Fan was a native of En-shih, Hupeh. Handsome and intelligent, he went to Peking and made a name⟳ for himself quickly after passing the chin-shih examination in 1877.”

“Again there is the story of the experience⟳ that befell Huang Yüeh, who obtained his chin-shih during the Ch’ien-lung era (1736-96) and rose to become⟳ director of the Board⟳ of Rites (li-pu shang-shu), equivalent to a minister of education. He went into the compound to take⟳ the examination and was sitting in his cell when a girl came flitting down his lane. Her dress was extremely shabby and her hair disheveled, but her face⟳ and figure⟳ were extraordinarily beautiful.”

“T'ien was a Shun-chih period chin-shih who received highest rating for his performance as magistrate of T'ai-k'ang county in Honan, and was subsequently appointed to a series of capital posts, including Vice Censor-in-chief, and Jr. Vice Minister of Works.”

“The centuries-old coins were first unearthed on a farm in the southern Hunan province in the 1960s, where they had been kept inside a small glazed pot. They arrived at Jinshi City's museum in the 1980s, and archaeologists have⟳ been puzzling over their markings ever since, the Xinhua news agency reports. Now the museum says it'll hand out 10,000 yuan ($1,500; £1,100) to anyone who can help⟳ to shed⟳ light⟳ on the meaning of the coins' etchings.”

CEFR level