The China's traditional civil service examination (Ko-Chu) system is the oldest merit system in the world. The examination system can be traced back to the Sui dynasty. In the interest of preserving the emperor's authority, the central government could not leave the whole administration with the hereditary nobility, hence it was found to look elsewhere for able men to take over important functions in the central and local administration. In the Ming dynasty the examination system assumed its final shape, which was taken over without any major change by the Ch'ing Dynasty and preserved to the beginning of this century. In the Ching dynasty, there were several grade of examination for the literate, especially the Shin-Shi who passed the last grade of examination in the capital of the empire enjoyed enormous prestige in the bureaucracy. There were many important official positions only the Shin-Shi could get On the other hand, The modem civil service system was established in the United Kingdom, and expanded to other countries. This article intends to describe and analyze the Ko-Chu system in the Ch'ing dynasty and compare with modem civil service system.