The imperial examination system was one of the primary ways to attain government positions in ancient times, similar to national examinations nowadays. The competition was intense. Aside from years of rigorous studying, there were inevitably cases of cheating. The most common form of cheating involved smuggling in cheating notes, often in form of silk scrolls or pocket-sized booklets . Silk was easy to fold and conceal, while pocket-sized booklets could be easily hidden.

The cheating notes displayed in this exhibition are pocket-sized booklets, but the authorship and the exact time of their creation are unknown. Among them, the "Hongwu Edition" contains content from the Four Books, with each character measuring less than 0.5 centimeters. The content was likely produced through a printing process, suggesting that it circulated in the market for examination candidates. However, reading such tiny characters required keen eyesight and was no easy task!