Under Song dynasty, a large bureacracy formed, you'd have to pass civil service examinations to join. To become a civil servant, you had to pass lots of written examinations, similar to a quiz or something like that. These examinations tested a students view of Confucianism (and similar sorts of things). Students spent years preparing for these tests, because saying they were difficult, would probably be the biggest understatement in the century! ...but studying built up their knowledge, so they'd now be able to live the priveleged life of a scholar-official, who were VERY inportant in society. They were known and admired, they were gifted respect and punishments for breaking the law were less harsh, plenty became VERY rich, from people giving presents in return for advice or help. This was a major factor of the Song government.
Market
Lot's of trade occurred in the market, it wasn't actually all that different from the markets we have today! Y'know, bustling bargainers, booths, people advertising, I guess that even though our ways of doing things change, people's ideas don't!
School
Here's where people my age came in, well, where boys my age came in. That's right! Only guys went to school, they mostly learned to read, write, and religioously related things and Presto Whama! They're not sticking around, nope, they're going to help with the farm, well, that's sort off a lie, some boys stayed.... but most left the first chance they got! It's pretty simple, and you can't really say they weren't educated! Actually, this system seems to reoccur a LOT in history....