Red Mansion, Second Master Lian is too despicable

Chapter 117 Miscellaneous Talk: Ancient Talent Selection
The dialogue between Zhen Shiyin and Jia Yucunjia involved the selection of talents in ancient my country and the imperial examination system, which will also be used later in the article. I will discuss it here and try to be as concise as possible. .

Human beings live in groups to form tribes, and those who can solve the tribe's feeding problem become leaders.The population continued to multiply, and the material needs exceeded the capacity of the place of residence. The tribe either continued to expand its territory, or migrated, or even separated.The scope of human activities continues to expand, and tribes continue to increase. At this time, those who can recruit good warriors among the tribes become leaders. At this time, the leader's main task is to lead the tribe to resist foreign enemies and protect the territory, followed by developing production, fighting disasters, and improving life.I think the selection of talents in the tribal period was based on strength. Whoever can make the tribe strong is the leader and talent.

Productivity continues to improve, the population continues to increase, the scope of human activities further expands, tribal wars continue to be staged, small tribes are reduced to slaves and merged into large tribes, and large tribes with comparable strength merge, resulting in tribal alliances, and on the basis of tribal alliances, tribal alliances are born Early States.In a tribal alliance or a country, the more people there are, the more talents there will be. How to divide the labor of talents is a problem that must be faced.Therefore, in order to ensure that the group he belongs to continues to grow and develop, there is a legendary "abdication", which is to actively give way to someone who is more talented than himself.Legend has it that Yao, Shun, and Yu were all abdicated as the supreme leaders, so other positions can be imagined.

What we need to pay attention to is that tribal wars forged hatred, prisoners of war became slaves, and the descendants of slaves were still slaves. The number of slaves continued to increase, and centralized management became more difficult, so slaves were assigned to each member of the tribe for management. , slaves became private property.The living conditions of slaves were poor, while the living conditions of slave owners were further improved. With the development of productivity, large slave owners with more slaves gradually took a dominant position in tribal alliances or early countries.When Dayu controlled the floods, he had to mobilize many slaves. With this foundation, his son Qicai could "succeed after the death of his father."

The tribal alliance led by Xia Qi has become so powerful that no other tribal alliance can compete with it. Since he created the "family world", he needs the support of all the tribal leaders in the alliance. Winning other tribal leaders to do the same, most of the other tribal leaders were unwilling to "give in" and chose to support the "hereditary" proposed by Xia Qi.Xia Qi combined the paternal patriarchal system in the late primitive society with state management, and promoted the continued development of the power distribution system characterized by the primogeniture inheritance system.

The king, who is ordered by heaven to rule over the world, is regarded as the original son of heaven, so he is called "the son of heaven".The emperor is the eldest son of the world, and his eldest son is called the "eldest son". He is the successor to the throne and the hereditary heir, also called the crown prince.The remaining sons can only be made princes, or stay with the king as ministers, officials, and scholars.For princes, ministers, officials or scholars who have not become kings, their eldest son is the successor to the position.Other sons will be entrusted to the next lower level.According to this deduction, the ancestors belong to the king, and the descendants have become ordinary people.Liu Bei said that after he became King Jing of Zhongshan, he could not get enough to eat even though he farmed, and he had to make straw sandals and sell straw mats.

Xia and Shang's talent selection did not look at ability, only family background.If Chen Sheng had asked at that time: "Does Prince General Xiang Ning have the seed?", the answer would definitely be: "Yes."It seems ridiculous now that a child is destined to be a talent when he is born, but when Xia Qi founded the country, it did play a role in attracting supporters and stabilizing society. People in the "circle" will always be talents and will always be the managers of the country.However, as time goes by, the enfeoffment continues, and some people in the "circle" are continuously demoted and eventually excluded from the "outside the circle."The most important thing that the excluded people bring out from the "circle" is knowledge and culture. I mentioned it in the sixth episode of "I Read a Dream of Red Mansions" when I discussed Chinese characters with everyone.

Once these educated and educated people leave the "circle", they will never be able to get back in.Talented people at the bottom of society cannot enter the national management, and those who are in the national management do not have to work hard. As long as their lives are good, they can occupy the latrine without shitting. After shitting, they still occupy the latrine. No country.When you meet a wise king, you will adjust the "hereditary" system appropriately and cultivate and select talents through education.

By the Western Zhou Dynasty, the talent selection mechanism had improved a bit and had linked the three links of school education, talent selection, and official appointment.During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the government-run schools mainly educated the children of nobles with the privilege of "Shiqing". They were sent to further their studies in Chinese studies to cultivate their talents. They were examined every other year. On the basis of their academic success, they were selected and the list of selected candidates was reported. Reviewing moral abilities and then determining promotions and appointments has greatly improved the quality of talents and the level of management.

At the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, several generations of foolish kings engaged in military warfare and depleted the country's power. The emperor of Zhou used up all the central military power that could check and balance the princes. The princes began to become powerful, and the Zhou royal family lost control of the country.The princes imitated the emperor and opened schools one after another in order to cultivate their own talents. The objects of education were no longer limited to the nobles. Some capable civilians were absorbed, trained, selected and appointed.Civilians who were educated but did not get appointments started private schools when they had knowledge and culture. This promoted the progress of education. Private schools gradually emerged and continued to expand the scope of education.

In order to strengthen their power, the princes and officials from all over the world recruited scholars widely and competed to support them.Scholars became a social class, their status continued to improve, and their influence expanded.The trend of cultivating scholars began to prevail, which created a large number of outstanding talents at that time, further promoted the development of private education, promoted the prosperity of academic thought, and created conditions for the contention of a hundred schools of thought during the Warring States Period.

Qin Xiaogong made reforms to strengthen his power, appointed Shang Yang, and implemented the military merit system, which mainly included two contents: First, anyone who has achieved military merit, regardless of family origin, class and class, can enjoy titles and promotions as officials.Second, the hereditary privileges enjoyed by the clan aristocrats should be abolished. They can no longer obtain high-ranking officials, generous salaries, titles, and fiefdoms based solely on blood ties as in the past.Under the historical conditions at that time, the military merit system showed great vitality. Until Qin Shihuang swept across the Liuzhou and annexed the nine states, the military merit system was the main mechanism for selecting talents in Qin. Compared with Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, and Wei in the same period, The style of cultivating scholars is more superior.

After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the world was unified, and the country gradually became peaceful and stable. The military merit system and the style of raising scholars did not meet the needs of talent selection. In the 11th year of Han Emperor Gaozu (196 BC), Liu Bang began to implement the election system.This system was originally a recruitment system to supplement officials, including recruitment by the emperor, personal recommendation, etc., and gradually evolved into the inspection and promotion system.

The inspection and promotion system is generally divided into two categories: one is regular subjects, and the most important subject is filial piety and integrity. Each state and county recommends filial piety and integrity in proportion to the population every year. "Integrity is the basis for being an official and engaging in politics", and "filial piety" and "integrity" are the basic conditions for becoming a talent.The other type is special subjects, in which the emperor temporarily specifies the selection standards and titles according to needs. The subjects can be opened as he pleases. The most important subject is virtuous and upright, which is to recruit people who can "outspokenly give advice" so as to broaden the way of speech and correct the emperor's mistakes.In addition, there is Ming Jing Ke and Ming Jing, which means being proficient in the classics and reading well. "Jing" originally refers to the pre-Qin classics. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty respected Confucianism, "Jing" has specifically referred to Confucian classics.There are also subjects such as Yin and Yang and the Art of War.

At the beginning of the implementation of the inspection and examination system, it could reflect the principle of selecting talents based on merit and appointment. At the same time, it greatly promoted the formation of the social atmosphere of teaching Confucian classics and the development of education.The premise of the investigation is the recommendation of the competent officials, and there are no objective assessment standards in the recommendation.If you want to attract the attention of officials, let them see you and recommend you, reputation is very important. Therefore, in order to become famous, some people try to gain reputation, flatter each other, cling to powerful people, and bribe others.In order to reverse this situation, in the first year of Yangjia (AD 132) of Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty, examinations were added to the examination system. Confucian students tested Confucian classics, and literary officials tested memorials and laws.The probation system developed into a combination of recommendation and examination. If you want to pass the examination, you must study hard, and the school has become an auxiliary institution for the selection of talents.At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial examination system was manipulated and exploited by noble families. They influenced the public opinion at that time. Corruption was serious during the recommendation and examination process. Warlords were divided. All heroes came together, and Cao Cao stood out.Cao Cao did not come from a famous family, his grandfather happened to be a member of the eunuch group that was opposed to the famous.Many celebrities looked down on Cao Cao and opposed Cao Cao's regime.Therefore, Cao Cao not only wanted to win over some celebrities to cooperate with him, but also suppressed the local powerful forces represented by celebrities. He repeatedly issued orders to select talents based on merit, bypassing some famous noble families in selecting talents.After Cao's death, Cao Pi adopted Chen Qun's suggestion and implemented the "nine-rank Zhongzheng system" as a supplement to the investigation system at that time.

The "nine-grade Zhongzheng system" is a policy in which the central government (the Ministry of Personnel) directly sends people to the states or counties to serve as Zhongzheng officials, large and small, and the Zhongzheng officials recommend talents, and the central government reviews and selects talents.There is a Dazhongzheng in the state and a Xiaozhongzheng in the county. The Xiaozhongzheng in the county divides the famous people in the jurisdiction into "nine grades" or "nine grades" according to their virtues and talents, and reports them to the Dazhongzheng. After verification by the Dazhongzheng, Report to Situ, and finally to the Ministry of Civil Affairs for review. After review, they will be selected as backup candidates for the appointment of large and small officials based on their grade.

This situation seems to be bringing the power of recommendation and review of talent selection to the central government, which is conducive to cracking down on local powerful families.But on the other hand, it is convenient for the powerful central families, who gradually control local and even central elections.Those local aristocratic families with low official positions or those who failed to become officials were declining day by day, and the status of the central wealthy families with vested interest groups was further consolidated. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the powerful noble families reached their peak, and the selection of talents paid special attention to blood lineage and ignored character and talent. You were born in the right place, so long as your life is good!This has resulted in a setback in the development of school education.Therefore, some policies are good when they are proposed, but become worse and worse during the implementation process. When they are bad enough, they will be replaced by more advanced and scientific policies.

After hundreds of years of war in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Emperor Wen Yang Jian of the Sui Dynasty unified China. He continued to attack the power of the clan, and the gentry system gradually collapsed. The talent selection system based on examinations began to implement the imperial examination system.In the Tang Dynasty, the transition from the "Nine Grades Zhongzheng System" to the imperial examination system was completed, and the imperial examination selection was fully implemented.

The so-called imperial examination system is a selection policy in which the central government or the emperor personally conducts (subject) examinations and admits talents without recommendation.The imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty were divided into three levels, namely the rural examination - the provincial examination - and the civil service examination.After passing examinations, open competition, and selection at all levels, only those who passed the civil service examination were appointed as officials.

The Song Dynasty basically followed the imperial examination system of the Tang Dynasty, and carried out reforms and innovations in the following aspects: First, the palace examination system was established, and the emperor directly participated.The second is to stipulate the examination cycle, with the provincial examination, general examination and palace examination being held every three years.The third is to limit the power of examiners and formulate a series of measures to prevent cheating in exams.

During the Liao and Jin Dynasties, no attention was paid to the imperial examination system. It was only established for the Han people and became a means to win over Han intellectuals.

The Yuan Dynasty continued to reform and innovate the imperial examination system: first, clearly determine the specific date of the examination.It also stipulates that the exam will be held in three sessions, with three days between each session.The second is to clarify the scope of the examination. The scope of questions is "The Analects of Confucius", "Mencius", "The Doctrine of the Mean" and "Great Learning", and the scope of answering questions is Zhu Xi's "Collected Commentary on Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books".

The imperial examination system of the Ming Dynasty was further improved on the basis of following the old system, mainly in the following aspects: First, in the 17th year of Hongwu (1384), the system of "three-year competition" was officially stipulated, and the provincial examination was held in the "year of competition" , Scholars can participate in the township examination, once every three years, on the [-]th, [-]th, and [-]th of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, three exams, each three days.It is autumn, so it is called "autumn test", also known as "autumn".Those who pass the provincial examination can take the examination in the second year, which is also held every three years, on the [-]th, [-]th, and [-]th of the second lunar month. There are three examinations, each lasting three days.Therefore, it is called "Spring Examination", also called "Chun Wei".Second, the Ming Dynasty stipulated that examination papers must be written in stereotyped style.Third, the examination process was changed to four stages.On the basis of retaining the provincial examination, general examination, and palace examination, the imperial examination in Ming Dynasty added the children's examination.

The Tongsheng Examination is a selection competition to obtain the qualifications to participate in the imperial examination. It includes three stages of examinations: county examination, government examination and college examination. By the Qing Dynasty, the Tongsheng Examination system was more complete.

County examinations were held in each county and were presided over by the county magistrate. Candidates who participated in the county examinations had to register at the ceremony room of the county. We know that the central government had the State Council, which corresponded to the county government in the county. At that time, the six central ministries of the imperial court had the Ministry of Rites, which corresponded in the county. ceremonial room.To register in the ceremony room, you need to fill in the registration form, place of origin, name, age, physical health, resume of three generations of ancestors, etc. It is similar to filling out the student status form now, but there is no need to fill in the gender, and women cannot take the exam.After filling out the registration form, you need to find four candidates who are preparing to take the exam at the same time. Then these five people will jointly guaranty each other, sign and pledge, and you will also need to find a junior student who has passed the childbirth examination to be a special guarantor.It is so complicated. The main reason is to ensure that the candidates are native to the county to prevent impostors. They also need to ensure that the three generations of the candidates' ancestors have not been dismissed from office or have served prison terms for crimes. They also need to ensure that the candidates are clean and are not the descendants of untouchables such as slaves and slaves. Make sure that candidates do not mourn for their parents.Then, according to the stamp on the exam paper, you will be seated in a single room for four consecutive exams.

(End of this chapter)