In the Qing Dynasty, 6,472 people were admitted to the Hanlin Academy, forming a huge Hanlin group and having a huge impact on Qing Dynasty society. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, China's feudal autocracy and imperial examination system were becoming increasingly decadent and backward. As Western learning spread to the east, there were also voices in the Imperial Academy advocating reforming the education system in order to save the nation and strengthen itself. The leaders of the Westernization Movement, Zeng Guofan, Zhang Zhidong, Li Hongzhang, Shen Baozhen, etc. were all born in the Imperial Academy. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the remaining Hanlin groups were still active in the political, military, diplomatic, cultural, educational, and economic arenas. During the Republic of China, Cai Yuanpei, the Minister of Education, Xu Shichang, the President of Beiyang, Zhang Jian, the national industrialist, Tan Yankai, the chairman of the Wuhan National Government and calligrapher, Yan Huiqing, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Pan Linggao, the calligrapher, were all members of the Imperial Academy.
There are many descendants of Hanlin in the late Qing Dynasty who became writers and educators due to the academic influence of their parents and ancestors. Examples include Fu Sinian, a descendant of Fu Yijian, the first scholar in the Qing Dynasty and a famous educator; Lu Bicheng, the daughter of Lu Fengqi in the Han Dynasty and a pioneer in women's education; Zhang Ailing, a granddaughter of Zhang Peilun in the Han Dynasty and a famous writer; Lu Xun (Zhou Shuren), a grandson of the common scholar Zhou Fuqing; ) and Zhou Zuoren, as well as those who followed: Shang Chengzuo, the son of Shang Yanliu, a flower explorer at the end of the period, and a Chinese scholar, Yu Pingbo, a great-grandson of academic giant Yu Quyuan and a red scholar, Qu Tongzu, a social historian and grandson of military minister Qu Hongtu, and the empress of Jiaqing champion Zhao Wenkai Zhao Puchu, a Buddhist scholar, Qi Gong, the grandson of the royal family member Yulong, a master of Chinese studies and a master of calligraphy, Chen Daisun, the nephew of Puyi’s teacher Chen Baochen and an economist, etc.
To sum up, the glory of Hanlin Academy and Hanlin has become a thing of the past, but it has left huge spiritual wealth to the world. It is the unshirkable mission of our generation of scholars to take inventory and evaluate this wealth so that it can benefit the current world and enlighten future generations.