【Guangming Forum· Wen Gu】
Author: Gao Shouxian (Special Researcher of Beijing Xi Jinping Research Center for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Executive Vice President of China Ming History Society)
On January 7, 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the Central Political and Legal Work Conference: "To fulfill the glorious mission entrusted by the party and the people, political and legal organs must strictly enforce the law and administer justice impartially. 'Gong Sheng Ming, Lian Sheng Wei.' It is necessary to adhere to the professional conscience, enforce the law for the people, educate and guide the broad masses of cadres and policemen to consciously restrain themselves with professional ethics, achieve zero tolerance for the things that the masses deeply hate, zero slackness in the things that the masses urgently need and urgently look forward to, and establish a magnificent and upright atmosphere of punishing evil and promoting good, and enforcing the law like a mountain. Recently, the education and rectification of the national political and legal contingent has continued to advance, and a number of black sheep have been seriously investigated, and it is of practical significance to revisit the allusion of "public life is bright, honest and powerful" at this time.
"Gongsheng Ming, Lian Shengwei" comes from an official proverb that began to be popular in the Ming Dynasty, the full text of which is: "Officials are not afraid of my strictness but fear my honesty, and the people are not obedient to my ability but obey my father." Honest officials do not dare to be slow, and the public and the people dare not deceive. Gongsheng Ming, Lian Shengwei. "To the effect that my subordinates fear me not for my harshness but for my incorruptibility; the people have obeyed me, not because of my talents but because of my justice. For the sake of a clean and honest government, subordinates will not dare to be contemptuous of me; if we are fair, the people will not dare to deceive me. Only justice can produce the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, and only incorruptibility can produce a prestige that makes people respectable.
This official proverb is widely known thanks to the fact that it was carved in stone in the Forest of Steles in Xi'an. This carved stone was erected in the early years of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty, but according to the official proverb, its origin dates back to the Ming Dynasty official Nianfu. Nian Fu (1395-1464), with a large character, was a native of Huaiyuan County. In the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the official admission quota, a number of other names were often listed as deputy lists, and they could directly go out of low-level official positions such as instructors, and they could also enter the Guozijian to study for the next examination. Nian Fu was in the Yongle years of the vice-ranking of the middle school meeting, was appointed as the shandong Deping County instructor, when he was only in his early 20s, but he was already "as serious as an old Confucian" and had no impetuous and frivolous temperament. Since then, he has successively served as a minister, a political envoy, an inspector, and a shangshu, and his official position has been continuously promoted, but his disposition has never changed, and the "History of Ming" praises him as "bold and promising in the face of things, and the power cannot be scratched" and "honesty, integrity, and integrity, and unswerving."
"Gongsheng Ming, Lian Shengwei" was first published when Emperor Ming Yingzong Tianshun was rich in his early years as the governor of Shandong, "publishing to show him to those who have a position". Although it was first published by Nianfu, its content was not the first of Nianfu. The first four sentences are from the famous Ming Dynasty theorist Cao Duan (1376-1434). Cao Duan was a native of Shichi, Henan, who was also the deputy director of the examination and was appointed as the Xuezheng of Huozhou, Shanxi. At that time, people regarded Xuezheng as a "cold official", but he believed that teaching and learning could be "warm to the past" and "learn new", and he gladly took up his post. He held this position for 16 years, and "all beings obeyed his teachings, that is, the people of a state were transformed into shame and litigation." The prefect Guo Sheng asked for advice on the basis of government, and he replied: "Its publicity is incorruptible!" The ancients had a saying: Officials are not afraid of my strictness but are afraid of my honesty, and the people are not afraid of my ability but afraid of my husband. The public and the people do not dare to be slow, and the honest officials do not dare to deceive. Although Cao Duan said that "the ancients had words", but no similar expression was found before, when Cao Duan used his own words to outline the thoughts of his predecessors. The official proverbs published by Nianfu basically followed the words of Cao Duan, but added two sentences at the end, "Gongsheng Ming, Lian Shengwei", to make its meaning more complete and sober.
From the middle of the Ming Dynasty onwards, "Gongsheng Ming, Lian Shengwei" became an idiom to praise or encourage local officials. For example, during the Hongzhi period, Sang Yue praised the county order of "public life, honest life, and Yi use great governance". However, there were very few officials who could actually put those two words into practice at the time. Officials carry the word "honesty" in their mouths, but their actual behavior is "to send clothes and sacs, and to have the appearance of the city" in the direction of the column, turning the official position into a tool for personal wealth and prosperity. At the time of the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the Chongzhen Emperor sighed and said: "Now the emperor is specially designed for his own sake, and the officials have trade with each other." As for the word "public," of course, corrupt officials are all "fake and private because of public affairs."Although clean officials do not want money, they often have the disadvantage of "partiality and darkness." The late Qing Dynasty novelist Liu Yan said: "Corrupt officials are hateful and everyone knows them; Qing officials are especially hateful, and many people don't know." The officials who cover the stolen goods know that they are sick and dare not openly act wrongly; the Qing officials think that I don't want money, why not, just use themselves, kill people in small ways, and mislead the country when they are big. Although this is a joke, it also tells some truth.
The reason why "Gongsheng Ming, Lian Shengwei" was difficult to take root in ancient times was that at that time, only "Gong" and "Lian" were regarded as moral requirements for officials, and no corresponding institutional mechanism was formed. It is necessary to put power into the cage of the system, form a strict decision-making restraint mechanism and a supervision and prevention mechanism, set up a separation wall and a high-pressure line in all links of law enforcement and case handling, and persist in promoting fairness with openness and maintaining honesty with transparency, and enhance the awareness of taking the initiative to be open and accepting supervision.
Guangming Daily (October 15, 2020, 13th edition)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily