The correct answer is D) Chinese government officials were selected based on their abilities rather than their family history.
<em>The statement that describes an important effect of the civil service examination system used by the Tang dynasty is "Chinese government officials were selected based on their abilities rather than their family history."</em>
During Imperial China, Civil Service Examinations were a requirement to select the appropriate candidate to occupy an office in the bureaucracy. During the Teng Dynasty, the government moved from the military aristocracy ruling the government to a more type of bureaucratic system run by civilians in the Chinese bureaucracy.
