In order to ensure the selection and promotion of qualified personnel, the state has vigorously developed education on the one hand, and on the other hand, it has continuously explored and improved the system of selecting officials. "ZTE is talent-oriented", since ancient times, there is a saying that "those who win the people prosper, and those who lose the sages die". Therefore, conscientiously summing up the successful experiences and failed lessons of the selection and employment of officials in ancient China is still of great practical significance.
Before the Qin Dynasty, officials at all levels were created by the proverbial saying that "dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes give birth to phoenixes, and rats give birth to children who will punch holes." Such a system does not make full use of talents, but on the contrary, suppresses the enthusiasm of talents. In the pre-Qin period, because there were various princely states, the princely states implemented an aristocratic system. Among them, the princes, secretaries, and doctors all follow the hereditary system, and the fat water will not flow to the fields of outsiders at all.
In the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang invented and implemented the county system, so in addition to the officials at all levels who came from the imperial family, there were also officials selected from the localities in various forms. The Han Dynasty inherited the system of the Qin Dynasty, so the county system was naturally inherited, and then the selection system for officials began to mature and improve.
By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the official selection system had formed a complete set of methods.
The first channel is to cultivate talents first, and then select talents through examinations. The establishment of Taixue by the government, the cultivation of intellectuals, and the establishment of Taixue students as government officials were the main ways at that time. After graduating, too many students take the college entrance examination just like today's high school seniors. The students will participate in the unified examination organized by the central government, and through the screening of the examination results, the students will be divided into two subjects.
Jia Ke is a lang, will become a palace guard, through the emperor's investigation, generally as long as there are certain conditions can go out to become an official;
B is an official, usually returns to the original place, will not accept the appointment of the central government, but can become a subordinate bureaucrat of the local official.
This system of electing officials in the Han Dynasty has its scientific and reasonable side, so that talents are appointed by the central government, and the officials cultivated can also strengthen the central government. Lang guan's source is all over the country, and after the internship, he goes to all parts of the country to serve, but generally does not return to his place of origin, so the talent between the regions is transferred.
The responsible persons of various central departments and the county guards and county orders in various localities are all assigned and appointed by the central authorities. The place of origin of the local magistrate cannot be local, but the origin of the subordinate bureaucrat of the local magistrate can be local. Simply put, the appointment of subordinate bureaucrats is not allocated by the central government, and the actual appointment power is in the hands of local officials.
The second channel was the election of officials through elections, which were divided into three channels: meritocracy, special elections, and filial piety.
When the central government needs more officials, it will implement a system of electing officials in the form of meritocracy. The form of raising a virtuous person is to write down the questions that the central authorities want to evaluate on the bamboo sheet, that is, "policy and questioning", and those who participate in this election have become people who have made suggestions and suggestions, saying their own solutions to the problem, that is, "countermeasures". As long as his countermeasures can be selected by the central government, then he can be appointed as an official of the current dynasty.
People elected in this way are generally people with unique thinking, and thinking comprehensively and taking into account the overall situation is often their general talent, so their positions will also be arranged in a higher position, such as: the famous Dong Zhongshu, Jia Yi and others in history. Special elections, on the other hand, are the election of professionals needed by the country, such as diplomats, who can sign up for elections as long as they have specific talents.
"Filial piety" is a local official who elects filial piety and honest officials to the central government, and after a certain procedure of screening, they will be uniformly appointed by the central government. Although the "filial piety" was recommended to the central authorities, the actual initiative was still controlled by the local chief officials. The regular holding of the "filial piety" allowed the supplement of officials to be quickly resolved, and as a result, the previous two election methods were gradually eliminated.
Even so, the examination and examination of the two Han Dynasties are complementary and mutually useful. Examination and examination were two important steps in the Han Dynasty's system of electing officials. After the examination, whether or not to select the person must also pass the examination, and then, before the measure can be hired.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, chaju became the right way to enter the army, and filial piety and honesty also became a kind of political treatment and power. However, in view of the unfairness caused by the different populations of each county and the same number of places, when the Eastern Han Dynasty and Emperor Yongyuan came, they changed the population as the standard, and the population of 200,000 people raised one person per year, and 400,000 people raised filial piety and honesty two people per year, so as to extrapolate; the population was less than 200,000, and one person was raised every two years...
There are a large number of filial piety and honesty, so it is necessary to go through an assessment to select the best places to be the chief officer of the local government or the head of the central department. Judging from historical data, the personnel who cite "filial piety" in various localities are generally officials who were assigned out of the original Taixue examination, and then they become Lang officials by holding up "filial piety." The han dynasty's official selection system was very advanced at that time, like the form of selection, which is still used by reference to this day.
It can be said that in the same period in Europe, Asia and other places, when military officials and wives were still playing out politics, the official selection system of the Han Dynasty effectively avoided this situation. However, the Han Dynasty's official selection system still had its limitations, and local officials had the initiative of the inspection system, so local officials would recommend a large number of officials they trusted, so that eventually, a sect of forces was formed.
This is what later generations said: "With officials raising soldiers and exercising power above, the people must not participate, and the will of the people cannot be reflected." Most of the targets of the inspection are the children of officials and eunuchs, and their birth and status occupy a dominant position, showing a typical 'hereditary' state, and there is an embarrassing situation of 'it is difficult to produce noble sons in the cold door'. ”
History is a mirror, "taking history as a mirror, we can know the rise and fall, and with people as a mirror, we can see the gains and losses." "At present, our country is in a critical period of socialist modernization, and the country is in urgent need of all kinds of talents, so it is very necessary to learn from the gains and losses of China's ancient election system, and strive to achieve meritocracy, adapt to the conditions of talent, and give full play to the talents of the people, so as to promote the development of China's socialist modernization.
Resources:
[The Book of Han and Emperor Wu," "An Analysis of the Inspection and Juju System in the Han Dynasty," "The Book of The Later Han Dynasty," "The History of the Qin and Han Dynasties,"