Question: who created the civil service system in china
Answer: Although , in a general way , the formative ideas behind the imperial exams can be traced back at least to Zhou dynasty times ( or , more mythologically , Yao ) , such as imperial promotion for displaying skill in archery contests , the imperial examination system in its classical manifestation is historically attested to have been established in 605 , during the Sui dynasty ; which in the quickly succeeding Tang dynasty was used only on a relatively small scale , especially in its early phase .