Abstract
This article describes the beginnings of the Chinese Empire and its government structure: the bureaucracy of learned-public officials (Mandarins), a class with a small number of people that had all the power and was the major owner of great areas of land. These officials were in charge of all the administration and mediation functions. They were trained and indoctrinated according to the principles of Confucianism and had a strategic position from which they could influence the rest of the government policies and assured their permanence. In that way, a lifetime career civil service was established, that had the tasks of governing and administering, and at the same time provided to the Imperial regime with the rational approval and ethics needed for the exercise of authority. The secret of its continuity and survival consisted of the system of examinations to recruit officials for the State.
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