The Origin of "Civil Service Examination"
To be an official, the ancients must first have a "birth", such as being a son under the door, inspecting and collecting, collecting military achievements, and taking the imperial examination. With the background, you must pass the examination held by the personnel department before you can be formally appointed.
About the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, some measures were introduced one after another, for example, doctors must try to teach posts and officials must try to write laws first, which is probably the origin of the "civil service examination" system in the sense of investigating cultural quality and official ability.
By the Eastern Han Dynasty, it gradually spread from point to surface. Let's start by recommending and calling several most unfavorable qualifications. The principle put forward by Emperor Guangwu is: "From now on, all those who try to recruit four subjects, as well as the secretariat officials, those who test Cai Mao with two thousand stones, those who are exceptional and dutiful, should be given a trial position", that is, those who enter the official position with this qualification must pass the examination before they can be appointed.
But in practice, this practice, which was still a "new thing" at that time, seemed to be institutionalized only in Anshun period. Generally speaking, anyone who has obtained these qualifications will take a written test at Sangong Yamen first. The original identity is the "home test method" of students and a professional classic taught by teachers. The original identity is a scholar's "lesson notes", that is, official document writing. A copy of the test paper should be copied and sent to the end door of Shangshu's office (the south gate of the palace master) for review by Shangshu. This is what Wang Guangqian said in Hanshu. But the Book of the Later Han Dynasty is recorded in 6 1 volume. Later, there was a saying in Shangshu Province: Shangshu Zhangsheng suggested canceling the method of "trying to promote officials first, then covering them". Huang Qiong, the leader of Shangshu, retorted: "The work of retest must be clear and turbid, which is not suitable for reform." It seems that it can also be understood as trying in the government first and then going to the door for a second interview.
There is also an example in Volume 44 of the Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Hu Guang, a native of Birong, Nanjun, was "lonely and poor" and "learned the Five Classics and all the ancient and modern techniques". Perhaps because of poverty, I didn't go to imperial academy for further study, and "went to the county with my peers". Later, Fazhen, the son of Taifa Shouxiong of Nanjun, came from his hometown to visit his father. Father held an organ concert. He hid behind the window to observe and told his father that Hu Guang was a talented person. So Fazhen granted Hu Guang the qualification of "Cha Xiaolian" and sent him to Beijing. Because his original identity is an official, he can only "try to play by the chapter", not the Confucian classics he is best at. However, Hu Guang is really capable. After reading Zhang Zou's paper by Yu Lan, he was rated as "the best in the world" and was soon appointed Shang.
Judging from these details, the personnel department still seriously implemented the relevant regulations at that time. Chaju's filial piety (honesty), showing talents and recommending officials are common themes in the selection of reserve officials in Han Dynasty, and they have been followed by successive dynasties. Therefore, the establishment and practical implementation of this examination system not only opened the imperial examination system, but also had its symbolic significance in the history of China's official selection examination, or simply called "civil service" examination. At the same time, or before and after, such as the examinations of Ming Jing and Ming Fa, and the examination of doctoral candidates entering the official position, a detailed lottery examination (that is, the "shooting policy") system was established, and all those who failed were sent to business schools for re-reading. Generally speaking, the ancient "civil service" examination originated from the Qin Dynasty, appeared in the Western Han Dynasty and basically took shape in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
In the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination background became the most elite part of the official sources. Anyone who has obtained the background of the Ministry of Education (no) will be appointed directly by the official department, starting with internship officials. However, as far as the total number of officials is concerned, those who came from the door, army, school and miscellaneous stream far exceeded the imperial examination. Therefore, these origins can only be said to be qualified to apply for "civil servants." If you want to be an official, you have to pass the unified examination organized by the official department. The content is three trials, and Bitang has more than one trial in five dynasties.
During the "Qingli New Deal", Fan Zhongyan presided over the promulgation of the Civil Servant Examination Law, which was "the first complete legislation in the Song Dynasty to implement a systematic examination for officials of the Yin Department, with clear provisions on the object, method, content and employment after the examination" (Miao's Management System for the Selection of Officials in the Song Dynasty). To Zongshen, Wang Anshi presided over the "Xining New Deal", which was revised and promulgated, making it more complete. According to Professor Miao's summary of comprehensive nuclear historical materials, its characteristics are as follows: first, the scope of the examination is expanded, and the most obvious thing is that even those who are born in the imperial examination must pass the civil service examination of the official department before they can become officials; Second, the number of exams has increased, twice a year in spring and autumn; Third, the examination content is more abundant. According to different backgrounds, there are "judging cases" refers to judicial practice, "legal meaning" refers to knowledge of laws and regulations, "discussing time" refers to current affairs and politics, and "classics" refers to various papers such as classic questions and answers. In addition, there are more detailed regulations on what circumstances can be exempted from inspection.
The foundation of promotion
In ancient times, the selection and inspection of officials, the appointment, removal and promotion of cadres, and personnel management were collectively referred to as "elections", and the objects included in the scope were all called "candidates", which refers to those who are qualified to enter official positions and are candidates of personnel departments (official departments). Anyone who applies for "public election" or takes the corresponding examination must fill in a document similar to today's "cadre resume" as a personal file. The names of resumes vary from time to time, including "line", "family", "book cutting" and "origin", which was called "foot color" in Song Dynasty. The name "Foot Color" was inherited by Yuan Ming. There is a line "He showed me the color of my feet" in the Yuan zaju Qujiangchi. A poem by Huang Zunxian, a close friend, said, "Ask a guest at the table, and the color can be detailed" (Ke Fan Chapter), which shows that this title has been retained until the end of the Qing Dynasty.
Resume is the first basis for the country to choose officials. "The Biography of Lu Qiang in the Later Han Dynasty" said: "Choose the old classics ... ask their behavior and measure their ability." Behavior is the title of resume at that time, which shows that since the Han Dynasty, the first basis for the country to select cadres is to measure his character and ability from resume records. In the early Tang Dynasty, Chen Tong passed the national civil service examination and obtained the qualification of being an official. But I don't know which link went wrong, and the official department didn't find his resume, so he didn't have his name when he announced the list of "candidates", which led to an administrative lawsuit ("Feng Shiwen Ji Jian"). In the Northern Song Dynasty, Lv Liangqing, the younger brother of Vice Premier Lv Huiqing, wanted to be a supervisor. Lv Huiqing's "Don't judge whether the law can be used, but threaten to let civil servants set an example ... that is, teach them". To put it bluntly, he used his power to force the personnel department to handle the transfer formalities for his brother, so that he was qualified to be an official because he filled out a formal cadre resume and was immediately appointed.
On the other hand, if the current official needs to be transferred and promoted after the expiration of his term of office, or he needs to take time off to wait for the organization department to reassign his work because of mourning for his parents, as mentioned above, he should also attach the name, position and recommendation opinions of the recommender, as well as the previous reward and punishment records when filling out the form.
Resume notarization
In order to put an end to the fraud of resume from the system, the notary office was invented in Song Dynasty. Roughly speaking, there is a notary office called "Bookshop" from all counties to Beijing. Candidates from all walks of life, who want to take the exam in Beijing or are waiting for the exam, all the certificates, photos, foot colors and awards must be verified and printed by the local bookstore, and then taken to Beijing by the candidates themselves and sent to this central bookstore for the exam. After all these documents are verified again, they are sent to their respective elected organs or competent examination departments, which is called "submission", that is, personal files are sent. The relevant departments use this file as the main basis for selection, appointment or signing.
In Song Renzong, Lv Yijian was the prime minister and envoy of the Tang Dynasty, and his son Lv Gongzhu went to Beijing from his hometown Shouzhou (now Fengtai, Anhui) to take the exam. "Since opened a bookstore, we should have a family, dress like a donkey, and be modest. Although the audience likes Rong Zhi, they are no different. When I went, I asked the bookseller and knew it was Lu Ting's comment, but I was surprised. " The author's intention in describing this story is to show that Lu's political style is clean. His son should go to Beijing, still abide by the system, and go through the formalities of file notarization like other children, so we can see an example of notarization.
There is also a story about the notarization of the bookstore in Volume 11 of Dong Qiye's History, which refers to that when Qin Gui was a poor scholar, he went to a rich family to have a windfall, and Cao Yong, who was a tutor in a rich family, was also a scholar. He appreciated each other and gave him two silks. Qin Gui was grateful and wrote his name in a small notebook. After entering the Southern Song Dynasty, Cao Yong was awarded the title of meritorious service to supervise Huangyan's taxation. After his term of office expired, he went to Beijing as a candidate. The official department arranged a new position for him according to his file records and personal requirements. At this point, Qin Gui has served as the prime minister, and the letters of these new officials will be stamped by him as usual. When I saw this Cao Yong, I remembered the past and asked where this book came from. The secretary replied, "I wonder if this official department intends to make an explanation." Qin Gui is anxious to know the truth. "He ordered the bookstore on the right to look for him and summoned him. He said,' Gong, [Qin] Yan Enjia.' ..... "Behind it is Cao Yong, who ordered his children to worship, and Cao Yong, who used it to assistant minister of finance, and so on.
Accordingly, the Central Notary Office, namely Shi Jing Bookstore, will copy a copy, or at least an abstract, for the same person to check in the future, so that Qin Gui may find out Cao Yong's native place resume from the bookstore without going through the official department, including when he got the name of a scholar and what tutor he had done. Further analysis shows that even the bookstore knows where to live after the candidate is notarized, otherwise, Qin Gui will not be able to "find the bookstore and call it" immediately. Thousands of years ago, there was such a well-run notary office in ancient China, which should be at the forefront in the history of international notarization.
Preventing favoritism-"avoidance" system