China has one of the oldest educational testing systems in the world, yet its modern form was influenced by various western educational modes borrowed during the twentieth century. This essay reviews the history of the Chinese traditional educational testing system: its origin, features, and its past impact on Chinese people's lives as well as on modern education. It then examines the western influence on the Chinese educational testing system in the twentieth century, focusing on two historical periods, from 1905 to 1949 and post-1980, when western influences were most vigorous. It concludes with a discussion of the characteristics of Chinese assimilation to western educational models and the impact of such assimilation on Chinese people's lives. (Contains 1 table and 4 notes.)