<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > introduction</h1>
"The Upper Realm Foot Mansion, who immortals should retire." The poem shows Su Shi's indifference and freedom, which also points out that the retirement system is not unique to us today, he is an integral part of China's ancient bureaucracy that has lasted for thousands of years, and it is compatible with the ancient bureaucracy, breathes together, and shares a common destiny. Although we look at retirement under the feudal system from today's perspective, there are many shortcomings and drawbacks, but as a process of social development, anything that appears in it has its own reason and law. The ancients did not retire like we do today, and all walks of life had their own retirement regulations, and it was the bureaucratic class that could talk about retirement.
Etiquette. Qu Li has "The Doctor is seventy and to the Shi." "Zhi shi" is a Confucian saying that officials retire, seventy years old Zhi Shi is the Qin Emperor Han Wu, Tang Zong Song Zu has been continuing the age rule, but "people live seventy ancient rare", to some extent, the real seventy years of officials are relatively few. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the retirement age was lowered from seventy to sixty. This change is not only the reason for the times, but also an inevitable requirement for the abundance of talents for population development. "The back wave of the Yangtze River pushes the front wave", the predecessors always have to leave more opportunities for future generations to achieve the replacement of new and old, which is the trend of the times. However, the authoritarian ideology of the feudal era always has the characteristics of resistance and suppression of new things, so this retirement system ultimately has a lot of irrationality, reflecting the talent reserve situation in various eras. In general, the ancient retirement system has its warm side and cruel social reality.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > reasons for the retirement of ancient officials</h1>
The retirement of ancient officials is nothing more than two situations, in fact, returning to the old and being relieved
1. Tell the old people to return home
The ancient officials who retired on the grounds of returning to their hometowns, first of all, the first type was indeed because they were weak and sick, and it was difficult to take on heavy responsibilities, so they applied to return to their hometowns and recuperate their bodies. For such people, because of the force majeure of life, aging and death are the only way for people. After suffering from illness, the ancient officials have largely lost most of their ability to handle affairs, and continuing to stay in the official field has great inconvenience for their own health and the effectiveness of things. At the same time, 70 years old in the ancients to see is already a very old age, the eyes and ears have long lost a certain degree of agility, handling affairs will become confused, this age natural retirement belongs to the natural reason. For example, during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Jing, the founding father of the people, was hindered by sentimental illness, so he "returned to his hometown after illness" at the age of sixty-four.
Figure 1: Ancient officials went into hiding
Secondly, part of the reason for retirement is that the power struggle in the ancient official arena is far more brutal than it is now, and the slightest carelessness is an abyss. Among them, such examples abound, like the famous Chancellor of the Han Dynasty, Huo Guang, the minister of the Humerus, did not end up in a tragic situation full of cuts, such examples of ancient famous ministers are not in the minority, Han Xin, Yue Fei, etc. are all due to being in the whirlpool of power struggle, and finally they are difficult to protect themselves. "Cunning rabbits die, lackeys cook; birds are exhausted, good bows are hidden; enemy countries are broken, and plotters die" This is a portrayal of many dynasties in ancient times. Therefore, many officials who know this truth will beg for bones prematurely, that is, retire. Among them were Fan Li, who was boating on the West Lake; zhang Liang, who was immersed in asking questions and not asking about the world, all of whom retired prematurely and ended their political careers.
2. Have no intention of being in the official arena
Mindlessness and officialdom is a kind of soul that is indifferent and free. The officialdom is deceitful, and the knife hidden in the smile has long worn out their hopes for their careers. These people entered the career path, but because they did not want to go along with the flow, they finally reaped their own relief. Like Tao Yuanming, hanging the official seal, suddenly leaving is no longer attached to everything in the official field. More persistent than the song and dance of the warblers is the inner freedom and happiness. So there was Tao Yuanming's leisure and leisure of "planting beans under the south mountain, grass is full of beans and seedlings", and Su Shi appeared "bamboo sticks and mangshoes are lighter than horses, who are afraid, a smoke and rain let you live a life" free.
Figure 2, Tao Yuanming, who resigned from his official position and returned to hiding
These people who have no heart and power, resigning from office, that is, after early retirement, many people are attached to the mountains and rivers, in order to find that this form of resignation is a higher pursuit of the personal spiritual realm, both a protest against the dark side of the ancient bureaucracy and a release of following and self-nature. Get more beauty. In general, the retirement of the ancients is nothing more than these two situations.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > two, warmth in the official retirement security system</h1>
Ancient officials have been officials for a long time, and having their own Feng Lu can be used as the main source of income for the family economy, and once they retire, if there is no guarantee of Feng Lu, then it is very difficult for ancient officials to survive, and the most important thing in the ancient retirement system is to solve these retired people. Retired officials' realization of old age and respect for the elderly is a kind of respect for the people who created them and developed them.
Figure THREE, The Life of a Retired Elderly Official
In terms of political treatment, there was a certain difference between retired officials in ancient times and their positions, among which the titles were changed, for example, the ancients used to associate the surnames of officials with their official positions, and after retirement, with the surrender of official rights, this title was not allowed to be called again. For those who retire at the right age, in the ancient books, it is recorded that The Qing Doctor zhi shi called "the old man of the country", and the general official Zhi Shi called "shu lao", as a person who dedicated his life in the dynasty, naturally should get flowers and applause. During the Tang Dynasty, in order to show respect for the old courtiers, emperors would generally beat gongs and drums to congratulate officials on their glorious retirement.
Economically, retired officials are treated generously. Different dynasties treated differently. Under the Han Dynasty and the Qin dynasty, both dynasties stipulated that after retirement, officials could receive one-third of the Feng Lu on time every year. In the Wei and Jin dynasties, retired officials were placed in idle positions, so that they could spend their old age in peace. During the Tang Dynasty, the size of officials was also used as the standard for distributing pensions to retired officials. Meritorious ministers, higher officials can get more retirement pay, and sometimes they are rewarded with a considerable number of fiefs for pensions. The placement and preferential treatment of retired officials during the Two Song Dynasties can be said to have reached a peak. Especially after Emperor Shenzong of Song, he was allowed to retire with a post. When officials are appointed, they are promoted to the first level. After receiving the title, he can still be promoted to the rank and participate in the government of the dynasty. Compared with the serving officials, it is only a little less real power. Later, the Ming and Qing dynasties were almost the same, and they all had a similar retirement system.
Figure 4: The Book of Rites, the earliest record of the retirement system
In these seemingly ordinary regulations, the warmth reflected in the ancient political system. The two sides of the guarantee, both political and economic, allow retired officials to have a late life that does not have to run for their livelihood and does not have to seek perfection for fame. Although this kind of warmth is not the loyalty of love, nor is the blood in the affection thicker than water, it is only the pity and care of the feudal dynasty for its own officials and people. In feudal society, even if the imperial power is supreme, but the goodness between human nature still exists, the old Ji Futuo, the official who has struggled for the dynasty all his life should naturally receive the preferential treatment of the dynasty when he is white, and will not fall to the point of starvation. "Do not let the payroll freeze to death in the wind and snow, and do not let the forerunners be trapped in thorns", to some extent, the official is equivalent to a dynasty of the salary holder, as an important force to maintain the stability of the country, but also the promoter of change, if even these people can not get good treatment, then how many ancient officials can do their best for the people, for the king to seek a prosperous world.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > dynasties that retired at the age of three or 70</h1>
1. The talent reserve situation reflected by Qin Han
From the Qin Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, the system of 70-year-old retirement lasted for almost a thousand years, and the reasons for each dynasty were different. As the first dynasty after the collapse of slavery, although slavery completely collapsed, the aristocratic atmosphere of the slavery period was still inherited. These aristocratic forces developed into the Qin Dynasty and became a major force that dominated politics. In order to maintain the balance between these interest groups, the distribution of political power becomes an important issue. Because the empire had just been established, it needed a lot of talent to consolidate the foundation of the country, and the cultivation of talents was almost difficult to cultivate in an era of low knowledge dissemination like the Qin Dynasty. Therefore, most of the officials of the Qin Dynasty were the ones who gave advice when they attacked the Six Kingdoms, and these people, because of their own excellence, naturally did not allow them to return to their hometowns until they were 70 years old.
Figure 5, Wang Qi, who voluntarily applied for retirement during the Qin Dynasty
In the Han Dynasty, inheriting the Qin law, it was still stipulated that officials should be 70 years old. This also contains the drawbacks of the Han Dynasty in selecting talents. When the Han Dynasty entered the dynasty, it was either an official with a prominent status or a prominent position. The key to the probation system is to examine the filial piety of the individual and select him as an official. However, filial piety does not mean that talents are outstanding, and most of the people who joined the political establishment of the Han Dynasty through inspection or family relations lacked real talent and practical learning, and belonged to paper talk. This kind of influx of people makes the political system mixed, the talent reserve in this period can be said to be weak, the imperial court needs the injection of fresh blood, but unfortunately, few people who can govern the country are still inexperienced, and can only make more officials help the country develop stably for a few years through age restrictions.
2. The talent reserve situation reflected by the Tang and Song dynasties
By the time of the Tang and Song dynasties, the popularity of the imperial examination system did gather a large number of talents for the two dynasties, and the frequency of alternating between the old and the new would naturally accelerate, but this condition did not make the retirement system age lower. First, because premature retirement will lead to the change of the rights of the nobility, many news of the loss of the dependent nobles who have gained power is difficult to achieve. For example, huangchao, who later launched the Yellow Nest Rebellion, was because of the monopoly of the scholar clan on the ancient officialdom, which made him run into walls everywhere, which gave birth to his growth in such a living environment. The second is that the imperial examination system brought about a major change in the status of the noble son who could appear in the cold door and realize his own life status, but the imperial examination system selected too many talents, making the Tang and Song dynasties the most devalued period in the history of the Central Plains, like Li Bai who gave gold and released, like Du Fu who was degraded one after another, like Su Shi who suffered from the Wutai poetry case, and so on. The large amount of derogatory behavior has caused many officials to be in vacant positions, and some people have left the official field early, so many people have not yet reached the retirement grade of 70 years old and are forced to retire, which is also a big reason why the retirement age has not changed.
Figure 6, Li Bai who gave gold and put it back
In addition, at the time of the Tang and Song dynasties, as a peak of cultural development, literati and inkers continued to emerge, but not every literati and inker had the ability to benefit the people. Therefore, the imperial court prefers to appoint not the constant appearance of new people, but the floating and floating officials in the official field. Just like Xin Abandoned Disease, he planned to entrust him with heavy responsibilities many times, but almost all of them quickly returned to the original point, and even in his white-haired age, he was always ready to go out for the country. Another difference in the retirement system of the Song Dynasty is that military generals retire longer than civilian officials, because the Song Dynasty emphasized literature over military force, resulting in it. There were a large number of vacancies in the military generals, and at the same time there was no one to fill them.
Figure 7, Xin abandoned the disease after retirement
All in all, the retirement system guarantee at the time of the Tang and Song dynasties was constantly improving, and the retirement age should have been lowered but not adjusted, which reflected that the bureaucratic composition of these two dynasties was filled with many corpse vegetarians. At the time of the Tang and Song dynasties, there was no shortage of talents, what was lacking was the screening of bloated personnel institutions, what was lacking was a promotion of the replacement of the old and the new, and the encouragement of introducing fresh blood into the official field.
4. A dynasty that retires at the age of 60
The first retirement at the age of sixty in history was in the Jin Dynasty, a contemporary with the Song Dynasty, which first pioneered retirement at the age of 60. Kim Sejong uses the phrase "use people in the way of people when they are energetic in their prime." Kim Sejong pays great attention to the promotion of new people, and the prime minister appointed during his reign can be said to be the youngest in the entire ancient world, which is why Kim Sejong wants to change the ancient law and change the retirement age. Newcomers do have more energy and courage to dare to fight than the elderly, and there is no sleek sophistication after too much secular rendering, so from a certain point of view, the bureaucracy of the Jin Dynasty is more active than that of the Song Dynasty.
Figure 8, Kim Sejong finishes a portrait of Yan Yong
The retirement of the Jin Dynasty at the age of 60 made the bureaucracy extremely active, and this system was inherited by the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was born in Caomang and naturally had a profound understanding of the hardships of life, so the Ming Dynasty was frugal, and this frugality was also one of the main reasons why he insisted on retiring at the age of 60. The Ming Dynasty was at the end of the development of the bureaucracy, and in this case, the official apparatus was bloated and the personnel were dull. The Ming Dynasty, which advocated thriftiness, naturally relied on an earlier retirement age to eliminate officials who were vegetarian meals, and then reduced the expenditure of the national treasury. For the use of new people, no matter whether they were born in the early Ming Dynasty, those who were talented in the world could be officials, but in the Yongle years, the Ming Dynasty began to prevail in the official atmosphere of seniority, which caused a rapid decline in the talent reserve, and retired officials could not be replenished by timely ability, many faint and incompetent officials began to appear in large numbers, and talents were buried, resulting in the section of the Ming Dynasty's talent reserve, and it was difficult to appear as ministers who had been famous throughout the ages.
Figure 9, a courtier during the Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty, as the last empire under the feudal era, he still used the time of retirement at the age of 60, but during the Qing Dynasty, almost all the people who could reach the level of a senior member of the imperial court entered the old age, and although such ministers experienced a sea of people and had rich experience as officials, it was difficult for them to support them to continue to govern. Among them, there is the stipulation that "everyone who is born in thirty-five years and desires for thirty years", from entering the career to the promotion of official positions, many Qing Dynasty officials survived on their official positions. Such a system is very discouraging for officials.
Coupled with the qing dynasty's eight strands of soldiers, the literati's thinking was imprisoned, and this result made the probability of the general appearance of talents lower and lower. The maintenance of the feudal state is indispensable to the ability of capable people and subjects, and it is the mainstay of the feudal empire. Behind the Qing Dynasty's system was more of a stifling of talent. The lack of young talents, the middle level, and the retirement of the elderly and talented people, caused the overall ruling level of Qing officials to continue to decline, until the final collapse of the Qing Dynasty.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h1>
Looking at the ancient retirement system, it was created to maintain the stable position of feudal rulers and achieve their long-term peace and stability, so such a retirement system has two sides. From the perspective of officials, this is a kind of warmth from the feudal ruler, and from the imperial level, it reflects the sympathy for his subjects. From the problems he mapped out, whether it is 70 and Zhishi, or 60 Zhishi reflects the defects in the talent reserve and utilization situation under this retirement system, the replacement of new and old is not perfect, and the fresh blood reserve is sufficient, but it is very lacking in the bureaucracy. The ancient retirement system has dissipated in the long river of history, but his experience is worthy of our criticism of inheritance and development today.
Resources:
1. Wei Hong, "The Old Yi of Han Guan"
2. The Book of Han
3. Book of Wei
4. "History of Jin, Kim Sejong"
5. Collected Writings of the Qing Dynasty Ancestors
6. The relevant retirement system information comes from Baidu Inquiry