the eight-legged essay (, literally "eight share text") was a style of essay that exam-takers wrote to pass the imperial examinations during the ming and qing dynasties in china. the eight-legged essay was needed for those test takers in these civil service tests to show their merits for government service, often focusing on confucian thought and knowledge of the four books and five classics, in relation to governmental ideals. test takers could not write in innovative or creative ways, but needed to conform to the standards of the eight-legged essay. various skills were examined, including the ability to write coherently and to display basic logic. in certain times, the candidates were expected to spontaneously compose poetry upon a set theme, whose value was also sometimes questioned, or eliminated as part of the test material. this was a major argument in favor of the eight-legged essay, arguing that it were better to eliminate creative art in favor of prosaic literacy. in the history of chinese literature, the eight-legged essay is often said to have caused china's "cultural stagnation and economic backwardness" in the 19th century.