Abstract: The large number of county-level examination halls in the late Qing Dynasty marked the beginning of the imperial examination system to sink into the local grassroots society. Taking Taihe County in northwest Anhui Province as an example, this article found that the "magnificent" examination hall in Taihe County was built in the 22nd year of Daoguang (1842). In order to emphasize the selection of talents, the county governor Lei Shixia ordered the construction of the examination hall, which was supported by the local Li family. The hall was located in the southeast of the country, adjacent to the main roads and close to the local Confucian temple, leading to the gathering of imperial examination landscapes. Because of its large-scale and well-preserved buildings, the Taihe County examination hall was transformed into a new-style school in 1903 to develop local new-style school education. In short, the building of the examination hall embodied the spirit of the impartial imperial examination, which was conducive to the fair selection of talents at the local level and had positive significance.

Key words: Taihe County in Anhui, county-level examination halls, the transformation of the examination hall